Unbeliever

I finished up my latest read, When We Believed in Mermaids by Barbara O'Neal, which is women's fiction. If you like sister stories that include terrible tragedies that ultimately result in happily ever after endings, this is definitely a book for you. Me, not so much.

I've been trying to figure out how to write about what I thought of it, especially as I've been so negative lately about everything I've been reading. I want to be fair, but I also want to be honest. To be fair, it's usually a pleasure to read this author; she's very talented and a wonderful storyteller. To be honest, I had major problems with this book.

The story hit on everything I dislike in novels about women and their relationships with other women. To me they're not real at all. I'm not sure if I'm just ruined for this genre by the dysfunctional friendships and relationships I've had with other women, including my own female siblings (too many, I think, to make me a fan of sisterhood stories), or there's this sister-love gene that I didn't get and I'm heartless toward other women (I don't think I am, but hey, it's possible.) Either way, the sisters were the central part of the story, and they didn't work for me at all.

Why? Life experience, I suppose. Step into the way-back machine with me, and we'll jump back to my rookie year as a pro. I didn't know any other women writers until I got into Publishing, and the reality was very different than what I had expected. I remember one successful novelist that everyone looked up to (who shall remain nameless because the point isn't to name-drop) who took me aside after reading StarDoc to lecture me about my female protagonists.

Every heroine in every story I wrote, this lady informed me, needed a best friend, a sister or (preferably) a mother who lives close by because who else would the heroine talk to about her problems, and who would support her when she was in trouble? Men, the lady insisted, were just for the romance bits. This was not my life experience at all (which is why my preferred female protagonist is an orphaned friendless only child, but I digress.)

Moving on: the story is about two sisters, one who faked her death, and the other left behind to deal with the loss. After Left Behind finds out Faked It is still alive, she drops everything and travels to the other side of the planet to find her. Mixed in with all this are issues like alcoholism, addiction, [and spoiler stuff I'm not going to mention]; you name it and pretty much these sisters have gone through it, all told in disjointed but very well-written flashbacks. These issues were another big problem for me for reasons I'll get to in a sec.

When they're not enduring the worst the sisters do have a few moments that are touching in the flashbacks; there were just WAY too many flashbacks. There's also a lovely little romance Left Behind has with a Spanish guy while on the search for Faked It. I will say he was the best part of the book for me. Spanish Guy was a gorgeous character, and he's the only reason I finished the story. There is absolutely a big honking HEA at the end for everyone as well (not realistic or plausible for me, especially given all the sisters' issues.)

To be honest, it was unpleasant for me to read the story mainly because of the issues as well as the unrealistic relationship between these sisters. I have had toxic people in my life with similar problems who have caused me to suffer. Eventually I had to walk away from them, every time (and I don't quit easily; once it took me 56 years to do it.) I also don't think such issues are entertaining. This is why people in my books rarely drink and never use drugs, by the way. I'm not interested in writing about substance abusers -- or reading about them, for that matter. The real deal scarred me for life.

So this is the kind of situation where I'll say that I as the reader wasn't appropriate for this novel; of course your mileage may vary. Although I do keep most of the author's works to reread I'm going to donate this one to the Friends of the Library. Once was enough for me.