Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand: A Novel of Adam and Eve by Gioconda BelliMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
A retelling of the Adam and Eve story, but from Adam and Eve's point of view. From the decision to eat the forbidden fruit (I was very happy the author didn't make it an apple). It covers the whole "Why create this Chekhov's gun of a tree in the first place if you don't want anyone to partake of its fruit?" issue, but takes it further. As in, God actually wanted humanity to have consciousness, but couldn't do it himself, so he had to create humans with the need for knowledge.
Regardless, it is interesting to see how they react to animals being hostile, different seasons, whether to kill animals in order to eat, pregnancy, etc., as well as the memory of the Garden of Eden while dealing with real life.
As for children, it seems to follow a version similar to the Quran (I think), where they have two sets of twins, Cain, Abel, and their sisters (Luluwa and Aklia). There also seems to be a tie into naming Cain after Adam's beloved pet dog. It's difficult to tell in translation, but I'm guessing it's a play on the Latin Canis.
I can't say I liked the ending. There was no mention of Seth. And I didn't really understand what happened to Aklia. Still, definitely an original and pleasurable read.
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