The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard

ISBN:  9780061996054

Grade:  A+

Eternal thank yous to the good people at HarperCollins and Ecco Books!  Thank you a million times for sharing Hannah Pittard with us and introducing us to this gem of a novel.  This is my honest opinion, enthusiasm like this cannot be faked.

So after finishing The Fates Will Find Their Way, I have realized that this is likely to be the best book of 2011 and should be a huge hit.  The book cover will catch your attention with its colorful nature and once inside the pages you will not be disappointed.  This is a book that can be finished in one sitting, but I chose to savor each page not wanting this story to end.  The last 20 pages had me holding my breath at times.

So what is the book about?  It's a story about a girl named Nora who at 16 goes missing on Halloween.  It is not just a story about a missing girl, but a story of a missing girl and the impact on the community.  The story is told from a very unique point of view, first person plural from a local group of boys Nora attended school with.  The narrator is never named and never needs to be, which is much of the charm of this book.  The boys tell the story of Nora and their fantasies of her.  What happened to Nora is never fully defined, and that works like perfection.  The reader is allowed to imagine what happened to Nora.  Did she voluntarily get into someone's car and go to the airport?  Was she abducted and killed?  Did she escape from her abductor and die alone in the cold woods?  Was she pregnant and fled to start a new life in Arizona?  Did she live happily ever after?  What happened to Nora is unique to each an every one of us readers, and might be different each time the book is read and re-read.  What also needs to be mentioned is that Pittard writes from the point of view of adolescent boys effortlessly.  Some authors struggle with writing from the perspective of the opposite gender.  Hannah Pittard writes so well that at no point does the reader ever think that teen boys would have done something differently.  

Equally important to the story is Nora's sister Sissy.  Sissy was cared for by the boys and even loved by one in particular.  She was lusted after however inappropriate it may be to lust for the sister of a missing girl.  These feelings of desire ultimately led to Sissy going away to school and not returning for quite some time.

Another reason why this book gets such an enthusiastic response from me is that there is no hook to reel you in on the first page.  The whole book is the hook, compelling the reader to keep on going.  There are no lulls in the story and at no time could I predict what was going to happen in the next chapter.  All true signs of a great novel.

The characters were so well written that I could really picture them in my mind, quirks and all.  No two characters were alike.  Each character was artfully placed into the story, not one feeling unnecessary.  There was not one awkward word or any word that did not belong.  The story is also realistic and down to earth, although no one could ever wish for this to happen to their own community.  The dynamics between the boys felt like what real 16 year old guys behaved like, different maturity levels but all banded together in a brotherhood of sorts.    

We got to imagine what Nora would or could have been, and we also got to see the evolution of a group of high school boys as they grew into adults never quite forgetting about Nora.  We also got a look inside the inner workings of the families from a Russian vixen mom, a suicidal mom, and equally dysfunctional dads.

Suffice it to say, anyone will be a Hannah Pittard believer after reading this book.  This book will also renew anyone's faith in great literature.  All of us at some point have been let down and disappointed by a book or books.  The Fates Will Find Their Way soothes that, it soothes the soul.  This book can easily stand next to a Joyce Carol Oates with utmost confidence.  

Right now I just can't shut up about this book.  I talk about it to everyone I know, and will be discussing it with the book club this month.  If there is a Hannah Pittard bandwagon or a cheerleader squad, I'm all aboard.  Everyone should read this superb novel as it is perfection.