Creatures by Crissy Van Meter

Evangeline grows up on a small island off the shore of Southern California.  It is home to a myriad of sea creatures which she loves to learn about and lots of wild areas.  It sounds like an idyllic environment but her life is far from ideal.  Her mother left early, popping in from time to time as she meanders from dream life to dream life, getting Evangeline's hopes up that this time she'll stay but she always leaves again crushing the hope.  Her father is the island weed dealer; getting by on charm and what he makes selling his customized brand of marijuana and the odd jobs he gets on boats.  They live in a series of apartments or houses, sitting for absent owners, taking shelter in lieu of pay, sometimes camping out for months.  It is a very unstable life.

As she grows up, what Evangeline learns best is that everyone betrays you, everyone leaves.  She meets a rich girl whose parents travel a lot and she becomes her best friend.  But later on, they drift apart and she is another in the long list of betrayals.  Evangeline meets and marries Liam but he is gone for long charters as a fisherman and soon there are other woman, another betrayal and perhaps another person who will leave her behind.

The story moves back and forth in time, slowly showing each layer that makes up Evangeline's life and what shapes her.  The writing is poetic and dreamy, describing horrific events in a way that makes them almost seem normal.  The reader can't help but hope that Evangeline will find a way to capture love as an adult despite her rough start in life.  This is a debut novel and the reader will finish knowing that it is a book they won't soon forget and eagerly awaiting Van Meter's next novel.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.