My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Marcie Malone married her high school boyfriend Will at the age of eighteen when an unplanned pregnancy derailed her plans for travel and college. Sadly, she suffered a miscarriage but her marriage to Will survived and they built a life together in Georgia. Unfortunately at the age of forty –three she suffers a second miscarriage that leaves her devastated and depressed. Needing a distraction from her overall discontent with her life, work and marriage, she deliberately changes course from a work engagement and drives to Palmetto Key, Florida where a combination of her stress and pain medication causes her to lose consciousness on the beach only to be discovered by a local resident – the "prickly” and “hostile” Herman Flint who has lived in the area for over seventy years and devotes his time clearing the litter from the beachfront and keeping an eye on the sea turtles and their eggs.
Flint isn’t the friendliest sort, lives alone and has had his share of loss and disappointments, but he helps Marcie and gives her a place to stay in his home while she recovers and sorts out her issues. As the story progresses, Flint and Marcie become friends and their conversations lead to sharing and introspection which help them both gain perspective and contemplate the decisions that have governed their respective lives. It is now up to them to decide whether they want to continue as they were or have the courage to make changes and move forward. As the narrative progresses we also meet other members of the community and witness how everyone bands together in the face of a catastrophic hurricane making its way towards them.
“When your life was reduced to broken pieces, apparently the tiniest part of it that survived intact was cause for rejoicing.”
Phoebe Fox’s The Way We Weren’t is a beautiful story with an interesting cast of characters. The interactions between Marcie and Flint are entertaining and insightful, humorous and emotional and so full of heart. What I particularly liked about this novel are the characterizations- nobody is perfect, everyone is flawed but has his/her redeeming qualities and comes across as real and relatable. Relationships are complicated as are human emotions – it is not necessary to depict one person in a negative light to justify why relationships fall apart. The author does a commendable job of depicting the dynamics in the different relationships among the characters in this novel - in marriage, in friendship, in family and in the community. The story highlights the importance of pause and introspection when life overwhelms, re-evaluating priorities, overcoming complacency and taking charge of one’s life. The author also sheds a light on the importance of protecting nesting beaches for the conservation of endangered sea turtles which is a very important message. Overall, this is a very well-written story that I thoroughly enjoyed and would definitely recommend.
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