Eliana is a young woman living in paradise, but after following in the forbidden footsteps of Adam and Eve, she discovers there is more than one way to get back to the Garden of Eden. Though Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden generations ago, the children they created prior to their expulsion remained and multiplied. On the surface, it's an ideal society centered around abundance and equality, but something—or someone—sinister is lurking in the Garden. Eliana, a citizen of the Garden, senses this presence among them, but only her beloved Abram will listen. “Evil can’t exist in paradise,” explain the elders; except that it did once when Eve walked the tree-lined paths of the Garden. But that was a long time ago. After being repeatedly silenced by the elders, a serpentine creature takes Eliana down a path walked by only two Eden citizens before her. Now she must navigate a place far different from the land of her birth. Her relationship with God is broken. Will Eliana find a way back to her beloved Garden (and to the God she thinks abandoned her), or is she stuck in this new land forever? In this debut novel by J.T. Quarks, Paradise Awakens lets us explore the land of abundance we always dreamed existed. Fans of ancient historical fiction, like The Red Tent and The Book of Longings, will enjoy this book that examines ideas rarely challenged from the Bible.