An Amazon Charts, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestseller.
From the author of The Art of Inheriting Secrets comes an emotional new tale of two sisters, an ocean of lies, and a search for the truth.
Her sister has been dead for fifteen years when she sees her on the TV news… years ago on a train during a terrorist attack. Gone forever. It’s what her sister, Kit, an ER doctor in Santa Cruz, has always believed. Yet all it takes is a few heart-wrenching seconds to upend Kit’s world. Live coverage of a club fire in Auckland has captured the image of a woman stumbling through the smoke and debris. Her resemblance to Josie is unbelievable. And unmistakable. With it comes a flood of emotions—grief, loss, and anger—that Kit finally has a chance to put to rest: by finding the sister who’s been living a lie.
After arriving in New Zealand, Kit begins her journey with the memories of the past: of days spent on the beach with Josie. Of a lost teenage boy who’d become part of their family. And of a trauma that has haunted Kit and Josie their entire lives.
Now, if two sisters are to reunite, it can only be by unearthing long-buried secrets and facing a devastating truth that has kept them apart far too long. To regain their relationship, they may have to lose everything.
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I loved this book! It is beautifully written, such a touching story about family, and sisters’ relationships. This book begins, a bit of backstory that tells us so much about these sisters Josie and Kit’s relationship and there’s a mystery too. Then, through the different main characters the whole story is revealed, like layers of an onion. My favorite character is Dylan, as the narrator describes “His eyes were the color abalone shell, silver and blue and hints of violet as if he’s been born in the sea.” It’s a book about friendships, relationships, a myriad of emotions, and forgiveness. Check it out for a great read!
It´s a must. Just read it. The story about the two sisters is just wonderful.
O’Neal crafts an emotional narrative around the idea that maybe a sister isn’t dead. She takes the readers with her as the sisters find their way back to each other. Be prepared with tissues and time when you begin.
Kit and Josie (aka Mari) grew up near Santa Cruz, on the California coast. Their parents owned and operated a restaurant, perched on an oceanfront hillside, right next to their house. From a very young age the girls were left to their own devices, and essentially raised themselves. Although they were very different, they were very close, which was a good thing, because their parents were too busy with their volatile relationship and restaurant business to pay much attention. At some point in their childhood Dylan, a homeless teenage boy, arrived at their home and stayed on. He lived in their home, worked in the restaurant and took care of the girls. Dylan’s past was a mystery, but he ultimately became just like an older sibling to the girls.
As the girls grew up they went their separate ways. Kit went on to attend medical school and became an emergency room physician. Josie (aka Mari) had a serious problem with both alcohol and drugs which sent her life spiraling, until she was killed in a terrorist bombing in Europe.
Several years later, Kit and her mother see a television news report about a fire in New Zealand, and in the background is a woman who looks just like Josie (aka Mari). Kit promptly flies to New Zealand to try to find this woman.
This was a fabulous book. I was intrigued from the first page and loved the story right up to the very last page. It was original and interesting and I highly recommend it to anyone. Thank you to Netgalley, the author Barbara O’Neal and the publisher Lake Union Publishing for a complimentary copy of this book. This is my honest opinion.
Kit was an interesting character from the beginning, guarded but brilliant. Her descriptions of her childhood were both heartbreaking and mysterious, setting the tone for the rest of the novel. I found her sister, Mari, more complicated and difficult to relate to, at least in the beginning. Mari seemed content with a life full of secrets and outright lies. As the story progressed, Mari’s tragic upbringing was revealed, clarifying the reasons behind her (seemingly) selfish life choices. This novel was engaging and emotional. My only critique was that several questions remained unanswered at the end of the book. However, it was a fantastic read overall. It also made me want to book a trip to New Zealand; the island was depicted as a wondrous place with a rich, vibrant culture and equally lush terrain.
A great read. I loved the characters and the flow of the story telling. The tsle weaved between the 2 sisters and is told in present time with memories that take the story back to childhood and events that shaped their lives forward and decisions made. Definitely a page-turner.
Beautifully crafted.
I first met Barbara O’Neal at the Writer’s Unconference last November, shortly after her latest novel came out. On Christmas Eve, while browsing at Island Books, I overheard someone asking for this book by both name and author. “We’re sold out, unfortunately,” the bookseller replied—a good news/bad news dilemma I hope to face someday.
When I finally got my hands on a copy, I discovered that this Colorado native has produced an excellent example of #coastalfiction! I’ll publish an interview with her in a few weeks, but for now here’s a quick review of her latest book.
Mermaids starts off with a gripping first sentence: “My sister has been dead for nearly fifteen years when I see her on the evening news.” The narrator, Kit, is an ER doc in Santa Cruz, up late after another stressful shift; this added shock sends her right to her favorite recovery spot, a nearby surfing beach. Instead of recounting what she drives by along the way, Kit instead takes us back in time to replay a few key memories about her family. So by the time we meet her mother for a post-surf breakfast, we understand the coolness of their relationship. We also understand (and sympathize with) her mother’s reaction when Kit asks, at the close of the first chapter, “What if she’s really alive?”
The mom replies: “I guess I’m going to have to kill her.”
Page-turner
This of course demands that we turn the page to find out what happens next. But just when we’re feeling intrigued but grounded in Kit’s world, the second chapter drops us into Auckland and a totally different first-person point of view. O’Neal trusts her reader to figure out that this new narrator must be the mysterious “dead” sister—who’s very much alive to her lovely husband and the historic hillside house he’s just bought for her, as a surprise.
Twelve pages in, I was already absolutely certain that these two sisters would meet and reconcile. What I didn’t yet know is what drove them apart in the first place—so I kept reading, partly to understand their scars, and partly because I just enjoyed spending time with each of them.
#coastalfiction
We are all advised to “write what you know,” but this mountain-based author has captured a world that fits right into the #coastalfiction genre. We feel in our bones the sisters’ joy of wave-riding, and see the mesmerizing changes in both ocean and sky as a storm approaches. Neither narrator can sleep away from the ocean, and even their mother requires a water view to feel safe.
O’Neal describes Auckland in a way that makes me want to go back there again, showing us both harbor ferry rides and the late-night bar scene. My only distraction was the constant use of “CBD,” which I kept reading as the cure-all derivative of hemp oil; thanks to Wikipedia, I now understand it is Auckland’s “Central Business District.”
Promises kept
While none of the characters is too perfect, the rosy expectations set by the back cover text (and cover’s beach scene) are definitely met by a happy (if somewhat predictable) ending. And, unlike many recent novels from multiple-book authors (perhaps accustomed to more rigorous editing from their publisher), the middle reads as smoothly as the opening chapter.
O’Neal has created characters who, while flawed, remind us of how to be good partners and siblings: listen well, and be prepared to change and forgive. She also points out the subtle ways we recognize people we haven’t seen for a long time: a distinctive walking style, seen across a street, can take us right back to childhood.
When We Believed in Mermaids is recommended for anyone who enjoys a deep dive into how memories continue to haunt and shape us. I’m looking forward to diving into O’Neal’s impressive list of previously published books, but first: have you read a novel recently that could be classified as #coastalfiction? Let me know. I read every (human) remark, so thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.
Stunning.
This is the first book I have read by this author and I was compelled to stay up late and read it in only a few days. The prose is exquisite – her turn of phrase so evocative of character and time and place. I love getting to know these characters, and I could picture every moment of their lives as though I had witnessed them first hand.
A must read.
Everything I’ve been hearing about this book is true. Just beautiful. Characters I want to befriend. Two sisters and a love that transcends time and separation. A moving story that had me gripped until the very end. I will absolutely read more by this author.
I’m in love with this book! The characters were complex and achingly real and I longed to know them in real life. I couldn’t bear to reach the end, yet the ending was perfect.
Fantastic read.
Spans love to dysfunction to diametrically opposite reactions to loss.
“There are seasons of darkness…Loss and sadness all around.”
Kit lost her sister Josie 15 years ago in a terrorist attack on a train in London. While their relationship was rough towards the end, there wasn’t a day passed that she didn’t miss her. Until they spot Josie on the news, a world away in New Zealand. So Kit heads off to see if this really is her sister and to find out why she disappeared all those years ago.
This story was told in the past and present, in Kit’s quest to find Josie, but also in her quest to find herself, which for someone who keeps everyone at a distance, is a hard road to walk. While an outsider might have seen their life as idyllic growing up, it was anything but. So we must go to the past to see how the puzzle pieces fit both of these women’s lives today.
“When I saw you, I recognized you, like I’ve been waiting, all this time.”
This is my first book of O’Neal’s and I can’t tell you how much I loved this one. Each of these women was so broken from their past, and they were both hiding from it in their own way. I could relate to Josie’s struggle with PTSD, and I could completely see why she suffered for so long. I admired Kit’s strength, and my heart hurt at the walls she had put up to protect herself, never allowing herself to fall in love or be loved.
Soul twins indeed!
I loved this book from the very start and am definitely a fan. So well done!
Abuse, family, and living.
There are some intense issues handled in this book. The characters and their lives are handled in a unique and interesting way. Thought provoking read.
A lyrical, beautifully written book about families and that the damage they can unwittingly cause each othhet. But it’s also about redemption, and about love in all its forms. Set in Santa Cruz and New Zealand, ‘When We Believed in Mermaids’ is Women’s Fiction at its best.
This was such a great book. This is the first novel I’ve read by this writer. I was instantly connected to the characters and the story. I loved the way the point of view switched between the sisters. This writer has an amazing ability to tell a story. I read this one quickly and was sad when it ended.
Loved it!
3 of the 4 books I’ve read recently have been about sisters, and this book was one such sisterly tale. It was another quick read by Barbara O’Neal. This book involved sisters keeping secrets from one another, which is another theme that I seem to keep hitting on in my reading this year.
Really enjoyed this book about siblings who reconnect across the world. Super, emotions well described. Auckland, New Zealand and California form the locations of this family saga.