Impossible

Written by Nancy Werlin

Goodreads Synopsis: Lucy has nine months to break an ancient curse in order to save both herself and her unborn daughter.
Lucy is seventeen when she discovers that the women of her family have been cursed through the generations, forced to attempt three seemingly impossible tasks or fall into madness upon their child's birth. But Lucy is the first girl who won't be alone as she tackles the list. She has her fiercely protective foster parents and her childhood friend Zach beside her. Do they have enough love and strength to overcome an age-old evil?

My Confession: This is another example of a book I picked up because the cover intrigued me. But the plot synopsis intrigued me even more--an entire novel based around a song? An old Simon and Garfunkel song, no less. Scarborough Fair's lyrics, when listened to closely, actually do tell the tale of three seemingly impossible tasks--tasks that don't seem feasible for a human to complete. Using this song as the cornerstone of this story was an extremely original and fascinating idea, one that ends up working really well. Listen to the song below and read over the lyrics--the "tasks" are italicized.

Lyrics:
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine
Tell her to make me a cambric shirt
(On the side of a hill in the deep forest green)
Parsely, sage, rosemary & thyme
(Tracing a sparrow on snow-crested ground)
Without no seams nor needlework
(Blankets and bedclothes a child of the mountains)
Then she'll be a true love of mine
(Sleeps unaware of the clarion call)
Tell her to find me an acre of land
(On the side of a hill, a sprinkling of leaves)
Parsely, sage, rosemary, & thyme
(Washed is the ground with so many tears)
Between the salt water and the sea strand
(A soldier cleans and polishes a gun)
Then she'll be a true love of mine
Tell her to reap it in a sickle of leather
(War bellows, blazing in scarlet battalions)
Parsely, sage, rosemary & thyme
(Generals order their soldiers to kill)
And to gather it all in a bunch of heather
(And to fight for a cause they've long ago forgotten)
Then she'll be a true love of mine
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine


Recommendation: This, very quickly, became one of my favorite books. It's just so interesting. And suspenseful. There's the realm of reality, where Lucy and Zach are normal teenagers stumbling through their growing feelings for each other, and then there's the fantastical element, where Lucy is raped by a demon who is hell-bent on cursing every woman in her family. Once pregnant, Lucy has nine months to solve the "riddle" in the Scarborough Fair song, or else risk falling into madness like her mother and grandmother before her. There's a real quick pacing to the story, and the way these tasks unravel, and the way Lucy attempts to solve them, is truly imaginative and remarkable. Regardless of the mystical elements, everything feels very real. You can't help but root for Lucy while also worrying that perhaps those tasks really are impossible. But the lesson Werlin weaves throughout about love, and strength in numbers, makes this a must-read.


Rating: 4/5


384 pages, published by Penguin (Sept. 18, 2008)