Librarian Book Review: Impossible by Nancy Werlin

I just finished reading an amazing book: Impossible by Nancy Werlin. It's the story of 17-year-old Lucinda Scarborough, a normal girl living with her foster parents leading a seemingly regular life- except for the fact that her real mother, who went insane shortly after giving birth to Lucy, makes occasional visits to town. Lucy becomes pregnant and, after uncovering her birth mother's diary hidden in the walls of her room, discovers that five generations of women in her family have given birth at the age of 18; all have had daughters and all went insane shortly after giving birth. Her seemingly unusal life circumstances suddenly become more unusual when she discovers this is all due to an ancient family curse. Armed with more knowledge (and more family support) than any of her ancenstors, Lucy goes out to break the curse by attempting to complete three impossible tasks brought forth by the evil being responsible for her family's suffering throughout the generations. She has only 9 months to complete the tasks before she counts herself as another victim of the curse.

This book is a wonderful example of how an author can mix realism with fantasy; romance with a strong female lead; and do it all with smart, believable characters. There is the exciement of the "race against time" element, but the author never leaves you feeling cheated along the way with a convienent plot twist. The characters and the story are given time to develop.

This story is based on the folk song "Scarborough Fair" (originally written in the 1600's) made famous in the 1960's by Simon and Garfunkel. The lyrics to this ballad contain the three impossible tasks. I find it interesting that I've heard this song a million times, but never really paid attention to the lyrics. The author's notes at the end of this book are interesting to read and are a perfect example of how talented writers come up with their ideas for books.

Check out this book trailer: