Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. I found the book boring and overly detailed. The author included lengthy direct quotes from journals and letters, and these pulled me out of the story and made me lose interest.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Crown for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look for it in your local and online bookstores and libraries on September 24, 2024.

A very interesting book. I really enjoyed it. Highly recommend if you’re looking for a new interesting story to read!

GREAT. GOOGLY. MOOGLY.

This is a story, that if you heard about, or read about online, you['s have a hard time believing it; I am not sure that I have ever read a book that was so...CRAZY in every which way it could be [y'all, they were farming NAKED!!!, and that is one of the LESS weird things that happen in this book, if that tells you anything] and you are left wondering what really happened [poison or food poisoning? Who knows?] and how in the world did they not all die!! It just constantly blew my mind.

Brilliantly written and researched [make sure you check out the notes at the end], this book will blow you away with just the sheer scope of it all and leave you 1. wanting to visit the Galapagos [preferably clothed LOL] yourself, and 2. wondering just what the point of it all was [the original move, though even the "facts" behind the move were not completely true to begin with].

This was just a fantastic read and I highly recommend it!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Abbott Kahler, and Crown Publishing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Eden Undone by Abbott Kahler attempts to uncover the truth behind a sinister mystery set in paradise--a story with adventure, murder, sex, and anger...and it really is just WILD.

I have been slightly obsessed with the story since I first heard about "The Galapagos Affair" on the popular podcast @myfavoritemurder. I listened to that episode more than once, watched the documentary, researched photos and stories, and, then in February 2024, I visited the island of Floreana where it all took place...

I saw the caves where they first settled, had a drink on the black sand beach, visited the post office barrel, and I even met the daughter and granddaughters of one of the main figures.

It's hard to succinctly describe what happened on the Galapagos Islands in the early 30's when a vegetarian philosopher and his wife with multiple sclerosis, a German couple with their almost blind son, and a gun-toting Austrian baronness and her three lovers wanted to leave society behind...and somehow all ended up on the small island of Floreana.

There was a lot of bad neighbor behavior, at least two disappearances/suspected murders, and one other mysterious death.

While I thought I knew the story, Kahler's book took my knowledge to a whole new level. Thankfully for the rest of us, Kahler read through the dense books, journals and letters pulling them all together into this book making it a thorough, but easy-to-understand and engaging, read. (It's so well-resarched that 43% of the e-book version I read--which is admittedly an ARC--were references and source notes.)

I think I'm actually glad I *didn't* read the book before visiting--I had always thought of this as crazy true crime, but this reminded me there were real people involved with feelings and fears. And the book certainly gives the impression of a dark and disturbing presence on the island--not a location where we had mango margaritas and took pictures of a beautiful sunset. (Though I'm very glad it's turned into that.)

Thanks to @netgalley and @crownpublishing for the free book in exchange for an honest review.

Book: Eden Undone
Author: Abbott Kahler
Format: Digital
Genre: Nonfiction, True Crime
Places Featured: Floreana Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Review Score: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 (rounded up)

Thanks to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for this free ARC in return for my honest review.

Utterly amazing story of love, murder and the search for Utopia on the Galapagos Island of Floreana during the early years of the Depression. Abbott Kohler has written a page-turner that I could not put down. It non-fiction at its best, as she tells the story of Freidrich Ritter and his devotee Dore who move from Germany to Floreana to find inner peace and Utopia. That did not turn out too well. Ritter was a strange man, who espoused Vegetarianism but ate meat. Subject controlled Dore with wild mood swings he also could not stop making contact with the outside world which brought more people to live on the island. Nobody was compatible, some we really bizarre (The Baroness), and after a few years of living in semi-close proximity weird things start to happen. Some are killed on the island, others die as they leave the island, and nobody has the same story as to exactly what happened. It is a fantastic read and another great by this author. To this day, nobody really knows the true story of what happened on Floreana Island!!

If all nonfiction were written this well, I'd read a whole lot more of it. This book sounded interesting but it's much more than that! When several small groups decide to retreat from the world after WWI, they choose an island in the Gallopagos that most people would consider uninhabitable. Their expectations of privacy and self rule will put them at odds within the tiny population. These characters are not survivalists.....infact, it's much easier to describe what they aren't than what their groups become. EDEN UNDONE definitely falls into that truth is stranger than fiction and Abbott Kahler has a new fan club member. I can't wait until my reading group reads this one. Their reviews are sure to be over the top.

Eden Undone is an often fascinating account of a deadly mix of personalities thrown together on a small, remote island. Once all the people were in place, it was only a matter of time before disaster struck.

The remote Galápagos Island setting with its fascinating flora and fauna intrigued me, but I have to admit that I often found the backgrounds of the millionaires who visited to be more interesting than those of the people living on the island.

Ritter was so devoted to his idea of a splendid life in isolation that he had all his teeth extracted and wore a set of steel dentures. His patient/lover, Dore Koerwin, was dedicated to ensuring Ritter's brilliance to the world. But it was Ritter's insistence on spreading the word about his Utopia that brought about its downfall-- especially when newspapers were quick to emphasize that the two roamed around the island naked. Soon tourists were beating a path to the island.

Wittmer and his family wanted to escape a Europe that was rapidly descending into madness, and there was little strife between them and Ritter and Koerwin. It wasn't until the supposed baroness showed up with her lovers that emotions began to run high.

Watching these personalities clash and resentments begin to fester and boil, disaster was a foregone conclusion, and Abbott Kahler gives readers ringside seats to the calamitous end of another dream of paradise.

Eden Undone: A True Story of Sex, Murder, and Utopia at the Dawn of World War II by Abbott Kahler #eightysecondbookof2024 #arc #edenundone #truecrime #galapagosaffair

CW: death, murder, mysterious disappearances

This book details the mysterious Galapagos Affair—nine people who decamp to Floreana to live a primitive lifestyle, only for some to disappear under mysterious circumstances.

When I heard a few years ago that Abbott Kahler was writing this book I was so excited. I had heard the story of the Galapagos Affair of the early 1930s on a podcast and was fascinated by it. I was thrilled that Kahler would be doing a deep dive into the story.

This book is meticulously researched—in fact, the book itself is 60% of the kindle version while the notes are the last 40%. This story is so interesting and weird, and Kahler is so detailed and specific that it feels like she was there taking notes as it all happened. This is a fascinating book and I highly recommend for anyone who enjoys true crime and unsolved mysteries.

Since I read the advanced e-book, it didn’t contain the photos that will make it into the finished version, and while I wish they had been included, there is a lot of material online that can be used to supplement. I learned that there is a documentary from about ten years ago that sounds great, and Kahler herself has been promoting a fictional movie named Eden directed by Ron Howard that’s not based on this book. Now I’m dying to see it.

Thank you to @crownpublishing and @netgalley for the advance copy. (pub date 9/24/24)

This was an absolutely stranger than fiction, shocking tale centered around the Galapagos Island of Floreana and what happened to its residents. I thought the writing was superb and this really read like your favorite fictional thriller.

It is a mystery with twists, turns, and parts that are never fully explained or solved. It begins with an oil mogul, Hancock, from LA and his crew of Smithsonian scientists traveling to the Galapagos islands and discovering two bodies mummified by the searing heat. For years before this discovery, Hancock and other American elites had traveled to the islands in search of exotic specimens for scientific research. On one of those trips, he discovered three groups of exotic European exiles who fled the political and economic unrest in their homelands in search of a utopian paradise. For me, the story was more about these exotic exiles than the mystery of how two people ended up dead. There aren't enough adjectives to describe these individuals, but suffice it to say that they were odd beyond imagination. Although I grew tired of the weird behaviors that resembled mental illness., I stuck with it until the end. I do like learning about history that I knew nothing about, and this odd history is one I won't soon forget. Abbott tells a story that is indeed stranger than fiction!

I really like books like this which illuminate a forgotten but fascinating part of our history. This book does just that with regard to the attempt at the creation of a utopia(a weird one-read the book) in a small island in the Galapagos. The people creating the uptopia are incredibly wierd(stranger than fiction really applies here) and what they do is almost unbelievable. Well written and fascinating this book is a winner. Read it - you won’t believe what youre reading actually happened and that the people populating this small island actually exsixted!

Bravo! A thoroughly engaging non-fiction account of murder in a utopian community on a remote island in Galapagos during WW II.

This reads like fiction, however as Abbott states in her Author’s Note, everything between quotation marks comes from an archive, diary, letter, newspaper article, book & unpublished manuscripts. The details & descriptions are spot on.

If you love history and want to learn the true life happenings of what becomes of the individuals searching for a utopian world of their own on the island of Galapagos, then you must read this novel. You will be intrigued & disgusted at the same time. These people were sociopathic, narcissistic, deceitful, cruel & greedy individuals. And oh the debauchery!

Favorite Lines:
“You never see the animal in man….And yet, there lies the root of every evil. It is the animal in us that torments us, and drives us from the path. That is the evil spirit which we must drive out, and it is all the more difficult because it appears so often in a charming mask.”

“ It could be so beautiful on earth…if humans weren’t animals.”

“Do you know that there may be moments in our relations with those we love, when we leave them to be nearer to them?”

Thank you to NetGalley, Crown Publishing & Abbott Kahler for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This true life tale of German and Austrian eccentrics fleeing civilization to build a utopia on a Galápagos island would be compelling enough even without the murders. A fascinating story well told.

This book is an account of the homesteading of ultimately 10 people on an uninhabited island in the Galapagos, Floreana. The initial settlers, a German couple, Dr. Ritter and Dore Koerwin, his enamored disciple. Choosing a simpler life in order to emulate and live Nietzsche’s teaching, Dr. Ritter demonstrates his extreme eccentricities. Totally emotionally and physically abusive toward Dare, she chose to stay in order to support him. After achieving some notoriety from wealthy capitalists, they are joined by a seemingly simple and normal German family of three, soon to be four, the Wittmers. Soon they are also joined by an evil megalomaniac, the Baroness and her two lovers and a laborer, who plans to open a hotel. I found Kahler’s depiction of this despicable woman very one-sided that I callously rooted for her ultimate demise. The book was interesting and well researched and I can see how it would be a good television series. Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.

'It could be so beautiful on earth, if humans weren't animals'.

The Great War had ended but the feeling of discontent still existed for many. In Germany, war reparations were crippling the economy and Hitler was beginning to garner support. Friedrich, a doctor, and his acolyte Dore, decide 'civilisation' isn't something they want to be a part of. The dream to create a utopia, supported by their own, unique, philosophies is realised when they move to Floreana. An island, some purport as cursed, in the Galapagos, 'The islands lie just about as Vulcan cast them down, or perhaps it was Lucifer who heaved them out'. Despite living off-grid and off-line, word of these real-life castaways spreads, 'We had become objects of sensational publicity.' Soon another couple and their son join them. Feathers are ruffled but island life carries on - albeit with a slight tension in the air. It isn't until the Baroness and her minions arrive, after convincing the local government of their intent to build a luxury hotel, that a match is finally struck to, 'the intense, claustrophobic cauldron of a remote island'. Fair to say, the utopian dream is blown sky-high and, ironically, it becomes an experiment of Darwin's survival of the fittest.

'Survivor' has nothing on this true story. Kahler does an awesome job of providing contextual tidbits without distracting the reader or detracting from the core story. Although this story is as readable, and captivating as fiction, the provision of extensive endnotes assures the reader that it is indeed non-fiction.

If you love stories of adventure or psychological thrillers (fiction or non), be assured you'll love this.

There was so much buzz about this book and I was disappointed. I didn't like any of the characters...they certainly each believed in their way of surviving the place and situation, to their detriment. All unusual individuals, not any really team players, which made the situation even more complex, what with limited resources, lack of transport, communication with the outside world, etc. I was disappointed that I didn't learn more about the things that so entice so many to the Galapagos...unique plant and animal life!

In Eden Undone, Abbot Kahler probes the universal desire (and inevitable failure) of humans’ drive to seek utopia. This “stranger than fiction” true story takes place during the late 1920s and early 1930s when a small group of European refugees fled political and economic unrest hoping to create a paradise in Floreana, one of the Galapagos Islands. There were three separate groups: Germans Dr. Friedrich Ritter and his lover Dore Strauch Koervien and the Wittmer family (Heinz, Margret, Harry and later Rolf); and Austrian Baroness Von Wagner Bosquet and her two lovers Robert Phillipson and Rudolf Lorenz.

Whereas the first two groups sought primarily to be left alone (and were civil to each other), the Baroness’ stated intention was to build a luxury hotel on the island. There were many sources of tension between groups and within groups (except for the Wittmer family). Ultimately these conflicts along with the privations inherent in living in near isolation led to two exiles going missing (the Baroness and Robert Philipson) and two deaths (Rudolf Lorenz and Freidrich Ritter). According to his partner Dore, Ritter died as a result of food poisoning after eating poorly preserved chicken. Despite her first hand observations, there were many theories and multiple accounts that sought to explain not oonly Ritter’s death but also the death of Lorenz and two disappearances.

Enter George Allan Hancock, owner of Rancho La Brea Oil Company in Los Angeles, Smithsonian affiliate and accomplished yachtsman. Hancock had mounted several expeditions to the Galapagos and provided supplies for the settlers on multiple occasions. On his third visit in January of 1934, he produced the silent film “The Empress of Floreana,” featuring the Baroness. This film was used to publicize Floreana and the Galapagos, receiving full support from the Ecuadoran government which had sovereignty over the islands at the time. When two mummified bodies were found on nearby Marchena Island in November 1934, Hancock was sent to investigate the deaths. Although Kahler does not make this clear, Hancock concluded that the bodies were those of Rudolf Lorenz and the Norwegian fisherman he hired to take him off the island. The disappearance of the Baroness and Robert Phillipson remains unsolved.

There were many contemporaneous stories published across the world, telling of the mysterious Baroness and the feuds between the three camps of settlers. Some were written by Hancock himself. Kahler clearly mined these articles for details and descriptive content. In addition, there are records from the George Allan Hancock Foundation (at the USC library) and in the Smithsonian archives. Finally, the unsolved cases were made into a film in 2013: “The Galapagos Affair: Satan Comes to Eden.” It was co-produced by the United States, Ecuador, Germany and Norway. The film features Hancock’s silent film from 1934: “The Empress of Floreana.”

Thank you to Netgalley and Crown Publishers for the ARC in exchange for this review.
In Eden Undone, Abbot Kahler probes the universal desire (and inevitable failure) of humans’ drive to seek utopia. This “stranger than fiction” true story takes place during the late 1920s and early 1930s when a small group of European refugees fled political and economic unrest hoping to create a paradise in Floreana, one of the Galapagos Islands. There were three separate groups: Germans Dr. Friedrich Ritter and his lover Dore Strauch Koervien and the Wittmer family (Heinz, Margret, Harry and later Rolf); and Austrian Baroness Von Wagner Bosquet and her two lovers Robert Phillipson and Rudolf Lorenz.

Whereas the first two groups sought primarily to be left alone (and were civil to each other), the Baroness’ stated intention was to build a luxury hotel on the island. There were many sources of tension between groups and within groups (except for the Wittmer family). Ultimately these conflicts along with the privations inherent in living in near isolation led to two exiles going missing (the Baroness and Robert Philipson) and two deaths (Rudolf Lorenz and Freidrich Ritter). According to his partner Dore, Ritter died as a result of food poisoning after eating poorly preserved chicken. Despite her first hand observations, there were many theories and multiple accounts that sought to explain not oonly Ritter’s death but also the death of Lorenz and two disappearances.

Enter George Allan Hancock, owner of Rancho La Brea Oil Company in Los Angeles, Smithsonian affiliate and accomplished yachtsman. Hancock had mounted several expeditions to the Galapagos and provided supplies for the settlers on multiple occasions. On his third visit in January of 1934, he produced the silent film “The Empress of Floreana,” featuring the Baroness. This film was used to publicize Floreana and the Galapagos, receiving full support from the Ecuadoran government which had sovereignty over the islands at the time. When two mummified bodies were found on nearby Marchena Island in November 1934, Hancock was sent to investigate the deaths. Although Kahler does not make this clear, Hancock concluded that the bodies were those of Rudolf Lorenz and the Norwegian fisherman he hired to take him off the island. The disappearance of the Baroness and Robert Phillipson remains unsolved.

There were many contemporaneous stories published across the world, telling of the mysterious Baroness and the feuds between the three camps of settlers. Some were written by Hancock himself. Kahler clearly mined these articles for details and descriptive content. In addition, there are records from the George Allan Hancock Foundation (at the USC library) and in the Smithsonian archives. Finally, the unsolved cases were made into a film in 2013: “The Galapagos Affair: Satan Comes to Eden.” It was co-produced by the United States, Ecuador, Germany and Norway. The film features Hancock’s silent film from 1934: “The Empress of Floreana.”

Thank you to Netgalley and Crown Publishers for the ARC in exchange for this review.

As the cloud of WWII rises over Europe, three sets of exiles arrive separately, and seeking different ends, at an uninhabited and partially uninhabitable island in the Galapagos. Their lives intersect with each other and the variety of outsiders - fisherman, scientists and international millionaires – who occasionally stop by. Their story which is full of Intrigue, violence, sex and the struggle to create a utopia reads like a compelling crime novel but is, in fact, well researched nonfiction about a little corner of almost unknown but fascinating history.

An interesting story with larger than life characters on the stage of the Galapagos. Kahler did a nice job of researching and choosing historical details that made the people real and interesting. The different versions of what happened are well handled and add to both the reality and tension of the book. Eden Undone deepened my understanding of a historical period and the impact of individual beliefs and stories on our perceptions of the world today.