Katy Yocom

Three Ways to Disappear is a compelling novel that perfectly balances the conservationist angle with the dramatic family drama. Yocom’s writing style is beautiful and glides through the themes of family tragedy, finding oneself, forbidden love and the magic of cultural kinship to mother -nature.
Sarah DeVaughan retires from her dangerous career in journalism, and pursues her true passion, returning to the country of her childhood- sparking the personal journey of finding where home truly is.
Her older sister Quinn battles with demons of her past, and the repercussions it has on her present family life. She learns to let go, to see strong women in another world, and to overcome fear.
I felt like I was transported to India, and I was so inspired by the descriptive depiction of frontline work by the environmentalists with the animals as well as the local villagers.… (mehr)

The DeVaughan children grew up in India where their father worked at a clinic saving lives. After an unexpected tragedy the DeVaughan sisters, Quinn and Sarah and their mother pick up and move to Kentucky, leaving their father behind. Quinn, the eldest sister, blames herself for the accident and their mother blames India. Now as adults, Quinn is a neurotic mother of twins who is continuously used as the family doormat, younger sister, Sarah is an adventurous journalist whose assignments takes her to the most dangerous parts of the world and their mother has developed a spending habit that she absolutely cannot afford. Sarah decides to break away from journalism and takes a job at a Bengal Tiger Conservation Organization in India, near their old family home. Sarah becomes notorious internationally for her efforts to save a tiger cub and begins a project with the village women that she needs Quinn's help with. With both sisters in India, Sarah and Quinn dig into their past and the truth behind the tragedy that ripped through their family while trying to protect the future of a young tiger family.

With a powerful opening that gave insight into the entire DeVaughan family dynamic in one sentence, I knew I was going to fall deep into Three Ways to Disappear. Combining literary fiction with family drama and environmental fiction created a dual story of the DeVaughan family and Machli the tiger' family trying to navigate life. From the beginning Sarah's character gives absolutely stunning descriptions of the beauty of the wild's of India and the contrast of the small villages and colorful cities that made everything feel as if I were there. There was also a deep understanding of tigers and their role in nature. Machli, Akbar and their cubs were characters in the story just as much as Sarah and Quinn, with personalities and goals that I cared about. The focus of the story however, is on Sarah and Quinn and how they are still trying to find themselves apart from the tragedy that defined their childhood. Sarah and Quinn take very different routes to find who they really are, although the tigers and the magic of India helps them both in their journey. A highly emotional ending closes out this impactful story that left me thinking about my the effect of my actions on the Earth and those around me.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.… (mehr)

Tygre tygre burning bright!

What an unusual story; intriguing and immersing with the switch between past reminiscences and the current day of two sisters. Sarah DeVaughan, a disillusioned journalist is “Done. With journalism.” She's covered the worst of areas evidencing man's inhumanity to man and is now turning her back on the world of war and heartbreak for what will become a different sort of heartbreak, the world of animal protection and sanctuaries. A world of poaching, and of death and life revisited and the past revisited at the Tiger Sanctuary, Ranthambore (a place she'd last visited when she was seven and her twin Marcus was still alive) in Sawai Madhopur, India doing media work and fundraising for a conservation NGO.
Underlining Sarah's move is the story of her childhood, her family's half remembered early life in India, and the death of her twin. Something her sister Quinn has never come to grips with. That tragedy forms the background for Sara's journey as the story moves between the sisters' lives and their inner torments.
The sanctuary had been hastily created by the government on the lush land held by the farmers of the Village of Vinyal. They had been relocated to flat treeless lands, a place where water for cattle becomes a major concern for the people's livelihood over against the survival of the tigers.
Sarah's story is unexpected, touching and complex. Her love for the tigers grows, as does her concern for the women of the village, particularly the widows and the damaged. Marrying together those concerns are both heartbreaking and triumphant.
Then there's the tiger Akbar, the resident male. Almost it seems that an awareness of each other passes between Sarah and Akbar. Indeed data shows that almost each time Sarah journeys into the park, Akbar appears. Her first sight of him says it all, "He turned his head and looked right into her eyes." That connection holds throughout the story.
As an aside, the reasons for people wearing tiger masks on the back of their heads is fascinating.
Well researched, this is a story for our times with just a touch of magic and lament.
The book's title says it all, Three ways to disappear!

A Smith Publicity ARC via NetGalley… (mehr)