The Garden of Eden is the most original of Ernest Hemingway’s works. He began writing in 1946 but never finished it, and so it was published more than twenty years after his death (after extensive editing by Tom Jenks). 

It tells the story of the newlywed couple David and Catherine Bourne, spending the last months of the summer in Spain and the French Riviera sometime in the 1920s. 

They eat, drink and experiment sexually, while staying at an otherwise deserted family-run hotel in the small town Grau-du-Roi. 

Catherine drifts in-between genders, at times wanting David to view her as a man (and thus reversing their sexual roles, having David play the feminine, passive part) and exploring more androgynous looks, cutting her hair short and wearing shorts and trousers instead of dresses and skirts. 

David is a writer while Catherine comes from money, which also impacts their lifestyle. 

He tries to find time to work on his short stories, and Catherine is eager to position herself as his wealthy benefactor. 

The days are long and spent in the golden sunshine and turquoise sea that defines the small villages of Côte d’Azur. 

One day, on one of their excursions, they meet a young woman, who soon moves to their hotel and engages in a complicated romantic and sexual relationship with the couple. Tensions arise, and what was recently an uncomplicated vacation is turning into an emotional nightmare. 

The novel has become a classic because of its nuanced depictions of gender and sex. 

David and Catherine go to a hairdresser in Nice to get identical, blonde hairstyles. 

They dress in a similar fashion, wearing sailor’s shirts and short shorts. 

It is a story about exploration and self-discovery, finding out who you are without having to categorize or name one’s experiences. 

It is also a story of social class and the relevance of money in a world where financial capital opens doors. 

It mirrors aspects of Hemingway’s own life, but the portrait of Catherine is also reminiscent of Zelda Fitzgerald (who also famously lived for a period in the area, as described both in her own novel Save me the Waltz and in her husband F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night). 

The memory of the story tends to stay with you after you have finished reading, similar to how you can feel the sunshine on your skin even after sunset.