Impossible by Nancy Werlin

Read: June 13- 16, 2012

read  in four days

pages: 376

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I have seen Nancy Werlin's novel Extraordinary in the library before but never picked it up. I didn't look into reading it because for some reason I thought it was part of a series or something. It wasn't but there was something about that that made it stick in my head telling me to read Impossible first IF I could ever find it in the library at the same time I went in to get books. Finally at a new library I find the book and pick it up. I knew little about it and aside from the back cover telling me that there was something to do with the song "Scarborough Fair" I went in blind. Which is completely fine with me.

For starters I'm glad I read this book. I really enjoyed the characters and the story line. Parts of it were predictable like for instance the truth behind this mysterious character Padraig Seeley who is introduced who has NO prior knowledge of working in a hospital let alone in a mid-wife setting, but strangely enough he charms the woman into hiring him and placing him exactly where he wants to be. Ok a little obvious that he is going to play an important role. The other aspect that was predictable was Zach the neighbor boy and friend of Lucy the main character. It was pretty obvious from early on that while there weren't sparks in the beginning and he had his life on course, this summer coming "home" would change things drastically. Although it was predictable I still liked the character so it worked ok for me. As for the ending itself while expected, of course there is a happy ending when are we not given a happy ending?, I wasn't 100% sure that the ending would be exactly as I thought. A slight twist which makes it, but I didn't feel the tension you would think you could expect in the culmination of this build up in story.

Lucy is 17 and the most practical and logical girl you could imagine. It was a bit odd really, but I could see her point at times. Without giving too much in terms of spoilers away, she becomes pregnant and seems doomed to live out her family's curse IF she believes there really is a curse, HOWEVER, if she is able to complete the tasks she is given she may be able to free herself. Her tasks are: 

~    Make a magic shirt without needle or seam   ~

~     Find an acre of land between salt water and sea strand   ~

~     Plow the land with a goats horn, and sow it with one grain of corn   ~

So the novel then follows Lucy through the course of her pregnancy to find out whether she is successful or not in freeing herself, her unborn child and her family line from this curse. Luckily there is little meandering and not a lot of extraneous time spent on the story. There are passage of time we don't see, but are acknowledged at the beginning of chapters as X amount of time has passed. It does not ruin the effect or the flow of the novel.

One element used in the story that I really enjoyed was the use of letters and a diary. I always like when they are used to supplement a story. In this novel they were to allow Lucy's birth mother Miranda to speak to her sanely while she is not able to do so through the course of the novel. One particular element I didn't care for was the repetition of the song "Scarborough Fair". I understand it was a key to the story that really without there was little point or base, but I didn't care for the lyrics. I really enjoy a song with a good story and to me if not for the story of the novel the song really lacks a point for me. I did like the end version however that Lucy and Zack have created, and think it was nicely done. While I didn't care for the song, the fact that is has such a varied history does allow it to helps set up the events of the novel, without which we wouldn't have one. So in a way because of the other there seems to be a point for the other.

All in all I'm glad I read the novel. I liked the characters and the element of mystery and the Elfin Knight. It was a quick read and an enjoyable one. Every time I picked it up I didn't want to put it back down again.  

My favorite quote from Lucy's friend is her explaining to Lucy about what she understands love to be while pragmatic Lucy disagrees: