REVIEW: THOSE GIRLS, BY CHEVY STEVENS

 

The three sisters were bound together by the cruelty of the life they lived, with an alcoholic father who turned violent and often went missing, and without their mother who had died years before.  They were often lonely on the remote farm in Western Canada, but they found comfort in each other.

 
One night, their father turned on them while drunk and things got out of hand.  They ran, knowing that they would face even more trouble if they stayed.

 
On the way to Vancouver, their destination, their truck broke down outside a small town called Cash Creek, and when two young men offered help, they were reluctant.  But went along, to their great remorse afterwards.  What happened to them in those five days would inform the rest of their lives.

 
They escaped, they took on new identities with the help of a kind man who ran the pub, and made new lives in Vancouver.  But eighteen years later, everything goes wrong, and they are face-to-face with their past again.

 
Dani, Courtney, and Jess Campbell—who became Dallas, Crystal, and Jamie Caldwell—were characters that grabbed hold of my heart and made me want to root for them.  Their vulnerability, mixed with the strength of their fierce protectiveness of one another, kept me glued to the pages, wondering how they would be forced to confront their past and how they would come out the other end…or if they would.

 
Jamie’s daughter Skylar is an interesting addition to the cast of original characters, and her story is equally compelling.  Those Girls was narrated by each in turn, with the first part in Jess/Jamie’s voice, followed by Skylar’s voice.  At the end, we finally hear Dani/Dallas’s voice, and feel, along with her, the anger, frustration, and helplessness…and then the peace that comes with some kind of resolution.