Finding What Is by Tabitha Vohn

By: Unknown on Saturday, October 11, 2014

Title:  Finding What Is
Author:  Tabitha Vohn
Published:  September 29/13 by CreateSpace
Length:  276pgs
Format:   ecopy
Genre:  literary NA
Shelf:  review
Rating:  ★★★

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Willie has always lived an unconventional life. Surrounded by the sensual, ethereal images of her artist-mother, she fantasizes about the half-wolf, half-human, but all-gorgeous face that stares out at her from her mother’s wall, and drinks in her mother’s stories of past lovers and adventures. She shares her home with a man who calls himself “uncle” (who stalks her through the house, naked). Her closest friends are a band of misfits who’ve forged their own way in life-including Xavier, who has carved his name in her soul- and her heart is torn between him and a college professor, a fellow artist who wants more than a student-teacher relationship.

Willie stands on the brink of womanhood poised to follow in her mother’s footsteps, with a gleaming future as an artist looming before her, and a maturity beyond her years that has enabled her to be the protector and caretaker of others, a mender of wounds. But as a devastating illness rips her mother from her life, Willie is left bereft of a home and of a sense of self. Guided only by her instincts, Willie wanders from her Professor’s arms to the home that Xavier shares with his live-in girlfriend Nicole (who insists that they can “share”). Her path becomes a search for peace, for family, for a love that’s real, and for her place in this world.

Finding What Is chronicles the journey that we all must take-to find ourselves, to reconcile our past, and to get back to that place we once called home.

My Review:

This is a well written, eloquent, insightful novel. It is an artistically infused look at life and death really hits hard. It is controversial and thought provoking. Vohn tells her story in a straightforward, in your face manner that won’t let you take a break. She also brings the world to life in a very real way. That said, it was a bit hard for me to stay completely immersed in this story. I had to read it in bits and pieces so I wouldn’t drown in the writing.

The strong, emotionally infused characters really pull at your heart. They are all going through a large number of issues and deal with them in a number of ways. They are well developed individuals, even if you may find them over the top at the time.

This is a very powerful and pensive novel. This is not a light read, but it’s a very intriguing one. It takes commitment but is worth the effort.

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