The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Harding, Paul. This Other Eden. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2023.

Paul Harding's novel This Other Eden is written from the third person point of view. The novel primarily takes place in 1911 and on the fictional Apple Island, located off the southern coast of Maine. The narrative takes some liberties with structure and form, and toys with the conventional narrative plot line. For the sake of clarity, the following summary abides by a largely linear and streamlined mode of explanation.

In 1793, Benjamin Honey fled enslavement. Together, he and his wife Patience discovered a small island off the Maine coast. Because the land was uninhabited, they decided to settle here. Benjamin planted apple seeds he had carried with him for many years. They soon became beautiful orchards. Meanwhile, Benjamin and Patience raised many children and grandchildren on the island.

By 1911, the majority of what came to be known as Apple Island was inhabited by Benjamin and Patience Honey's descendants. Their great-granddaughter Esther Honey resided here with her son Eha, and grandchildren Ethan, Tabitha, and Charlotte. The family shared the small island with their family and friends, the McDermotts, the Larks, and the Proverbs.

While waiting for her granddaughters to return from their foraging, Esther reflected on her past life. After her mother died, her father began molesting her and her sister Abby. Although Abby fled, Esther remained, soon becoming pregnant by her father, Grant. On the day her son was born, Esther almost drowned him in the river. Her neighbor and friend Zachary Hand to God Proverbs stopped her from doing so and led her home. Not long later, however, Esther pushed her father over the edge of the bluff to his death. Her action felt justified at the time. However, years later, Esther could not help wondering if her woes were punishments for her crime.

Matthew Diamond had been teaching at the island school for several years. As soon as the white retired schoolteacher arrived at Apple Island, Esther distrusted him. He reminded her of her father and she became convinced his presence on the island would lead to the destruction of their community.

Roughly five years into Matthew's tenure on the island, the governor sent a team out to the island to inspect Matthew's work, the settlement's infrastructure, and the inhabitants' wellbeing. Not long later, a journalist published an article deeming the residents mentally unstable and their lifestyle polluted and ungodly. The majority white population on the mainland was particularly troubled that the Apple Islanders' were people of mixed races and that their community was made up of individuals of various racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Because Matthew knew Ethan Honey was artistically talented, he arranged for him to stay with his friend Thomas Hale in Massachusetts. He thought Ethan could get an artistic education at the Enon estate and that he would be saved the trouble of losing his home along with his family.

At Thomas Hale's estate, Ethan met and befriended the maid, Bridget Carney. Bridget was an Irish immigrant who had been forced to leave her family and home to work for Mr. Hale. Because both teenagers were isolated and lonely, they quickly established a close connection. However, when Mr. Hale discovered the nature of their relationship, he kicked Ethan off the property. Ethan fled before boarding the train. Bridget left Enon shortly thereafter. She was pregnant with Ethan's child, and determined to find him.

As soon as Esther Honey saw Bridget Carney approaching her home on Apple Island, she knew the girl was with child and that her appearance had something to do with Ethan's disappearance. She had recently received word that Ethan had left the Enon estate and his whereabouts were unknown. Although Esther was overcome by sorrow when she learned that Bridget did not know where Ethan was either, she welcomed Bridget into her home and family.

After the governor and his councilmen assessed the Apple Orchard residents for a second time, the state decided to assume ownership of the land and kick the inhabitants off the island. Some of the islanders would be sent to state schools, hospitals, or asylums. When the officials came to take away the Lark family, Zachary burst out in anger. His pleas did nothing to reverse the councilmen's decision.

Shortly thereafter, the residents began to flee of their own volition. They deconstructed their houses and packed them onto their rafts.

Only one day later, the state sent a group of laborers to the island. The men were instructed to burn down the remaining structures and to dig up the islanders' graves.