Book Review: The Fates Will Find Their Way

It was Halloween night when sixteen year old Nora Lindell went missing. There were no clues as to where she went or why, she was just simply gone. So, left with no confirmed answer as to what happened, the small town in which Nora lived begins to speculate--to craft their own personal stories that fill the gap of what happened.

This book takes the form of the speculations of a group of neighborhood boys the same age that Nora was. Nearly every section begins with phrases like:

"One of two things might have happened at this point"

"Or maybe she didn't get out of the Catalina at all because he never took her to the woods"

"It's possible that, in Arizona, Nora Lindell's hair turned a burnt yellow." 

Indeed, many ideas of what possibly, maybe, could have happened to Nora Lindell are flushed out within this novel, which is interestingly told in the first person plural:

"If only we'd known. But we didn't know. We never know. No matter how many times we revisit that party or any other. The fact is, until it happened, until Trey changed how we viewed him, how we viewed and view ourselves-as men, as fathers, as friends and husbands-we could never know enough to change the outcome. Not his. Not ours. Certain outcomes are unavoidable, invariable, absolutely unaffectable, and yet completely unpredictable. Certain outcomes are that way."

Somewhere along the line, despite continuing to speculate about what happened to Nora, the book becomes about much more than Nora. It begins to tell the simple story of their lives as well.

It was unlike anything I've ever read before, but it just worked. It was one of those books where I finished reading it, and I thought 'Well, that was pretty good,' but as I continue to think about it, it continues to grow on me. I keep continuing to go back and re-read passages, and I like it more and more. By now, several hours later, I think it has blossomed into love.