Hi everyone! In my last post I shared part of my journey to pinpoint the genre term publishers and agents might use to describe the book I’ve written, The Lighthouse Legacy. ( In case you wondered, I concluded it is upmarket fiction with a crossover to the women’s fiction market.)
Anyhoo – while researching, I came across a book that has romance using a male protagonist, like my novel. (Not a common thing, apparently). It isn’t chick lit ( a real publisher term, by the way) and it isn’t women’s fiction (because of the male protagonist). Sebastian Cole, the author, labels Sand Dollar: A Story of Undying Love as romance fantasy (as in events happen outside our idea of reality, not as in “sexy”). Ok, so it doesn’t match my novel’s genre, but I had to read it to find that out. I’m glad I did. I still think about the characters months after reading the book.
This story is told in retrospect by an 80-year-old Noah to Josh, a hospital orderly. (Yes, I believe the character is meant as a nod to Nicholas Sparks’s Noah in The Notebook.) In his 30’s, Noah seems to have everything a person could want – a nice car, a secure, well-paying job in his father’s company, and a great beach house. What Noah doesn’t have is his soul mate.
When he meets Robin, he is enticed by her free spirit. His parents, however, don’t see her as a good fit, so they exercise their strong control over his life by threatening his future in the family business. Due to both his inability to break away from his parents’ control and Robin’s own issues with staying in a relationship, they find each other and lose each other several times. In time he discovers that Robin’s issues revolve around a childhood trauma which brought on Borderline Personality Disorder. All his attempts to fix their relationship fail. Although he loves Robin, he realizes it’s time to move on with his life. Just as Noah is preparing to marry Sarah, a woman who is more his friend than soul mate, Robin arrives at the church to interrupt the wedding.
Robin could be too late to save their relationship. Besides his fiance waiting at the altar, Noah must also consider his position in the family business. Sarah is the safe option. Which road will he choose and can he find true happiness in his decision?
The end of the story returns to 80-year-old Noah as he continues to tell his story to Josh in the hospital. All the people he has loved are standing around his death bed, so we still don’t know what choice Noah made on that wedding day. The author gradually reveals the choice. As a reader, I felt content with the ending.
I loved the story and the characters, but occasionally the time period of the scene or the organization of the story was confusing. The symbolism also seemed a bit heavy-handed. While the story is original, at times I felt it pulled ideas from The Notebook too much. Having said that, Cole’s character of Noah has stayed with me. He felt like a friend I didn’t want to say goodbye to.
Sand Dollar: A Story of Undying Love by Sebastian Cole has earned several awards. In 2012 ForeWard Reviews Book of the Year named it their bronze winner, Feathered Quill Book Awards awarded Sand Dollar as their silver winner, and it was a USA Best Book Awards finalist, just to name a few. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.