The Way We Weren't by Phoebe Fox Book Review

 

Marcie Malone - Marcie Jones when she was in high school. She met Will in high school and they had that once-in-a-lifetime chemistry, the knowing they were destined to be together. Enter pregnancy. Enter all the hopes and dreams vaporizing in the blink of an eye, their lives taking a big turn in another direction. Enter the very sensitive topic of losing their baby and all the emotional turmoil that goes with it, and some pretty in-tune, realistic feelings of grief, loss, and sense of relief (that’s not a bad thing, it’s very realistic).

Will Malone - Wanting to do the right thing. There is no other way to describe Will other than the strong, steady, wanting-to-take-care of Marcie kinda guy.

Fast forward twenty-five years.

Heading off to work one day, Marcie keeps driving.

Enter Flint - how to describe Flint. He’s an old codger who has suffered some pretty traumatic losses himself, which gives him a very rough, very blunt disposition. Gotta love him though, he calls it like he sees it. Flint and Marcie have so much in common, having experienced the same kinds of losses, only on different levels. Marcie never judged Flint, and in turn, Flint never judged Marcie.

Enter Isobel - who has also suffered great loss in her lifetime.

Enter Jeff - the local beach artist Marcie met while she was on her excursion. Jeff opened up in Marcie something that she had been ignoring, not pursuing for the past twenty-five years.

And the most colorful characters in this tale - Darla (the owner of the Tequila Mockingbird, the local bar), and her three constant customers - Art, Petey, and Bink. These four just add so much to this tale of heartache, hope, recapturing what was lost.

The thing that binds Marcie, Flint, and Isobel together, sadly, is their own personal tragedies, but somehow friendships are formed, relationships rekindled, hope still survives in the deepest parts of themselves.

This is not my typical read, but I decided to give it a go. I was not disappointed. If you are looking for a lighter read, but one with some pretty “big” topics, I’d recommend giving this one a read. I almost finished it in a day … that is how drawn into this story I was. Another thing I really appreciate about this story is how “real” the thoughts and feelings of the characters are, as well as how the community was drawn together in the face of a storm.