Book Review Josie and Vic

“Josie and Vic” is a many-layered novel of grief, loss, compassion, forgiveness, hopefulness, and love by Debra Thomas.

Josie Serafini's brother, Vic, loses his wife and two children in a tragic accident. Josie, who has a close relationship with her brother, leaves her family home in upstate New York. She leaves behind her beloved horses and dog in the care of a neighboring equine veterinarian. Josie flies to LA to support Vic who is battling depression while trying to pick up the pieces of his shattered life and make sense of it all. Josie who is recently widowed certainly can relate to his feelings of loss and abandonment. While at Vic's house she confronts broken relationships with her estranged father, Tony, and rebellious, singer-songwriter daughter Ellie. Both Josie and Vic struggle to find where they belong in their own worlds that have been drastically changed. An unexpected journey to the US-Mexico border offers Vic and Josie new opportunities to explore and a chance for their family to reconnect and heal.

Josie and Vic's story takes place over a year's time in 2001. I thought the author's choice to frame the story in this time period coinciding with the events of 9/11 was an intriguing choice. The similarities of the characters from the story facing devastating sudden losses and the longing to reconnect with their loved ones were much like those who were impacted by the events of 9/11.

One of Thomas's strengths as a writer is her ability to develop the emotional appeal of her characters through language to create relatable characters. She writes with empathy and compassion. I was moved to tears several times during my reading. As Jose, Vic, Ellie, and Tony navigated a path of healing and reconciliation, I felt a sense of hope for them all. Each would survive though charted on different courses they wouldn't have envisioned for themselves.

The ending of the story is circular to the beginning of the story as readers are first introduced to the term Pangaea (an early geologic time when one supercontinent incorporated almost all the landmasses on Earth). Readers find out in Josie's young world her description of how continents once all fit together like a puzzle, then it all broke apart over millions of years, continuing to move and change. Perhaps Josie's reference to Pangaea at the end of the story shows her insight into what was once pulling apart and is now moving toward each other coming together in a new form. Ellie's character offers a musical component to the storyline. At the end of the book she and her mother compose an original music arrangement of a piece titled The Promise of Pangaea.

Debra Thomas gives us a tenderly written story with the characters in “Josie and Vic” who are to be admired for their strength, resilience, and love.

Debra Thomas is the author of Luz, winner of the 2020 Sarton Award for Contemporary Fiction and the 2020 Next Generation Indie Book Award for Multicultural Fiction. Originally from Binghamton, New York, she’s lived in Southern California most of her adult life. After working a decade as a registered nurse, Debra returned to college to pursue her passion for literature and writing, receiving both a Bachelor’s and Master’s in English. She taught English on the college and high school levels, but it was teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to adults in Los Angeles that led her to become an immigrant rights advocate–an experience that influences much of her writing. A lover of all creatures great and small, when Debra isn’t with her two horses, she is relaxing with her husband and little dog, delighting in all the birds and critters that visit her backyard feeders. Her second novel, Josie and Vic, will be released in April 2023. Check out Debra Thomas's website for more details about her and published books.

https://debrathomasauthor.com/