The Stranger Box by Pamela Cuming is a classic tale of cat and mouse. However, throughout the book one questions prevails: who is chasing whom? Eden is a sixteen-year-old with aspirations of becoming an ethno-biologist with interests in plants, herbalism, and voodoo. Two of the three things cause an uproar in her world, where the consequences were losing her home and her adoptive family. Her journey takes her from the seedy underbelly of the New York subway to Greenwich Village to track her birth mother. Katherine Blair, now a successful actress, plots constantly to get her daughter, Eden, off her trail, sometimes with preemptive measures. As Eden is closing in on Katherine, by getting her husband and children to accept her, tragedy strikes. As Katherine’s world starts to collapse, she must face the truth about Eden. Will Eden forgive her mother?

The Stranger Box by Pamela Cuming is an evolutionary story of two characters. There is Eden, who blossoms from an orphan into a strong woman, and Katherine, who gets grounded as humility strikes her for the first time. These two women pose an interesting yin and yang where both women are at one time struck down and, like a phoenix, rise again even stronger. It was a really good read and was nearly impossible to put down. With the different cast of characters, I was left wondering what would happen next.

Pamela Cuming’s The Stranger Box is a thriller about the life experience of a young girl. Eden Bryne is not your ordinary female. She was adopted into a family as a child after her birth mother abandoned her to the care of her grandmother. Having learned the art of voodoo from her beloved caregiver, Leila, Eden continues to practice the art after her adoptive parents, Carolyn and Robert Dengler, send her away. Their daughter, Samantha, delights in tormenting her adopted sister. One day, Eden cannot take the abuse anymore and uses a bit of her herbal knowledge to seek revenge on Samantha. She over-estimates her power and Samantha meets with an untimely end. Thus begins Eden’s journey to find her birth mother and finally make her recognize the daughter she so willingly abandoned.

The Stranger Box began as a riveting tale. I was drawn in immediately to Eden and her plight. Several parts of her story did shock me, especially her time in the underground tunnels. I liked the contrasting story lines from the perspective of the other characters. I did feel though there were too many things going on at once and they tended to end abruptly. For example, Bryce was completely homophobic, but he quickly forgave his son after he opened up about being gay. I did also find the ending a bit too convenient and it left crucial parts of the story open. I hope the author intends to tie these things up in a sequel. Miss Cuming’s novel is good, but leaves a reader wanting.