Eden Undone: A True Story of Sex, Murder, and Utopia at the Dawn of World War II

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An incredible true story of murder, romance, and a fateful search for utopia in the Galpagosfrom the New York Times bestselling author of The Ghosts of Eden Park
At the height of the Great Depression, Los Angeles oil mogul George Allan Hancock and his crew of Smithsonian scientists came upon a gruesome scene: two bodies, mummified by the searing heat, on the shore of a remote Galpagos island. For the past four years Hancock and other American elites had traveled the South Seas to collect specimens for scientific research. On one trip to the Galpagos, Hancock was surprised to discover an equally exotic group of humans: European exiles who had fled political and economic unrest, hoping to create a utopian paradise. One was so devoted to a life of isolation that he'd had his teeth extracted and replaced with a set of steel dentures.

As Hancock and his fellow American explorers would witness, paradise had turned into chaos. The three sets of exilesa Berlin doctor and his lover, a traumatized World War I veteran and his young family, and an Austrian baroness with two adoring paramourswere riven by conflict. Petty slights led to angry confrontations. The baroness, wielding a riding crop and pearl-handled revolver, staged physical fights between her two lovers and unabashedly seduced American tourists. The conclusion was deadly: with two exiles missing and two others dead, the survivors hurled accusations of murder.

Using never-before-published archives, Abbott Kahler weaves a chilling, stranger-than-fiction tale worthy of Agatha Christie. Set against the backdrop of the Great Depression and the march to World War II, with a mystery as alluring and curious as the Galpagos itself, Eden Undone explores the universal and timeless desire to seek utopiaand lays bare the human fallibility that, inevitably, renders such a quest doomed.

Reviews

"We all long for utopias to escape into, but as Abbott Kahler brilliantly demonstrates in the sumptuous storytelling feat that is her latest nonfiction book, Eden Undone, there simply is no escaping the hell that is other people. I was wowed by her research, her depiction of the tropical magic of the Galpagos Islands, her empathy for such a vivid array of characterssome of whom behave very badlyand for the larger point that paradises can be squandered by human venality." Sarah Weinman, award-winning author of The Real Lolita and Scoundrel

"Absolutely riveting from start to the final twist of the knife, Eden Undone is a thrill ride of historical reportage. Abbott Kahler has woven an impossibly rich tapestry: an exotic locale, a cast of unforgettable characters, and a deeply haunting murder mystery. This is Kahler's most captivating book yet and will cement her place as a master of narrative nonfiction." Susannah Cahalan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Brain on Fireand The Great Pretender

Author Bio

Abbott Kahler, formerly writing as Karen Abbott, is the New York Times bestselling author of Sin in the Second City; American Rose; Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy; and The Ghosts of Eden Park. She is also the host of Remus: The Mad Bootleg King, a podcast about legendary Jazz Age bootlegger George Remus. A native of Philadelphia, she lives in New York City and in Greenport, New York.