Three Way to Disappear by Katy Yocom

Three Ways to Disappear by Katy Yocum – 316 pages

Finished copy provided by Smith Publicity in exchange for an honest review.

Book Blurb:

Leaving behind a nomadic and dangerous career as a journalist, Sarah DeVaughan returns to India, the country of her childhood and a place of unspeakable family tragedy, to help preserve the endangered Bengal tigers. Meanwhile, at home in Kentucky, her sister, Quinn–also deeply scarred by the past and herself a keeper of secrets–tries to support her sister, even as she fears that India will be Sarah’s undoing. As Sarah faces challenges in her new job–made complicated by complex local politics and a forbidden love–Quinn copes with their mother’s refusal to talk about the past, her son’s life-threatening illness, and her own increasingly troubled marriage. When Sarah asks Quinn to join her in India, Quinn realizes that the only way to overcome the past is to return to it, and it is in this place of stunning natural beauty and hidden danger that the sisters can finally understand the ways in which their family has disappeared–from their shared history, from one another–and recognize that they may need to risk everything to find themselves again.

My Review: 4 stars – Guest Review

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Three Ways to Disappear is a unique, rich, and beautifully written novel that is part family drama and part environmental fiction. This debut novel has won a prize for new environmental literature and has been a finalist for several other awards. This is the first book I have read in the category of environmental fiction, which is a category that I was not aware of. The story follows two adult sisters and their personal journeys following a traumatic event that occurred when they were children in India.Quinn is a wife and mother living in Kentucky, who has been living with a secret. Her sister Sarah returns to India to find peace by joining a Tiger Survival conservationist group. The story follows their relationship with each other, with significant others, and with their pasts. The re-connection of the sisters and their journey toward healing were central to the story. The story also includes a compelling love story for Sarah, and an additional side drama relating to local politics due to her activism. The story is told in alternating points of view from both Sarah’s and Quinn’s perspectives. The narrative also takes the reader backward in time to Sarah’s and Quinn’s life as children in India.

The chapters in this book were short and it was an easy read. The story was simultaneously thought provoking, educational and enjoyable. The author seamlessly ties the stories together, as the setting switches back and forth from Louisville, Kentucky, to various locations in India. The book was a balanced blend of both fictional family drama and factual information about tiger conservation. All of the characters in this book were real, identifiable, and likable. I was invested in their emotional journeys. The tigers were also characters that were just as important as the humans. The author’s description of these glorious and magnificent animals was moving, and brought them to life for the reader. Sarah’s connection to these animals was believable. Review by Guest Fairy Ronna.

The setting and powerful sense of place, was just as important to this story as the plot and the characters. I was transported to India (including Sawai Madhopur in rural India, Dehli, and Ranthambore, where the conservation park was located). The author’s rich and vivid description of details immerses the reader into the habitat and culture of India. I also learned about the lives and customs of a local community in India, along with the struggles of the people, conservationists, and tigers. The environment, culture, and political issues were expertly balanced along with the family drama. The author’s extensive research (through her travels to India) and her love of the setting and animals were apparent throughout the book.

This story covers many themes including:  the bonds of family/family dynamics, secrets from the past, forbidden love, grief, sisterhood, and tiger preservation. This book is what reading is all about…learning something new while being entertained and immersed in another time and place. The book was educational without ever being boring or preachy. I learned so much about a topic that I had no prior knowledge of. I never thought about tigers, with the exception of being fearful of them, but I now have a new respect for this animal.  In this strong debut novel, the author sheds light on the issue of the plight of the Bengal tiger and their extinction, while pairing it with a good story. This relatively new category of environmental literature highlights how humans need to be accountable for the environment and teaches the reader how we can’t ignore issues that don’t directly impact us. This is an author to keep an eye on in the future. Guest Review by Ronna.

Quotes I liked:

When I was a boy, I used to wonder why tigers would ever hunt anything but humans…….most of us are completely distracted ninety percent of the time, regretting the past or worrying about the future.  We would be the easiest prey in the world.”

“Every religion I can think of would have us think we’re higher than the animals, and yet look what we need to do to advance spiritually. Quit being so distracted. Be in the now. Be like the animals.” 

“Everything is connected…protecting the tiger will impact every species of animal and plant that shares its habitat. The trees that scrub pollution from the air and the rivers that supply water to every living thing.”

“Lately she has begun to think of the past as a vast place, dark and mysterious as a forest. Always decaying, collapsing in upon itself, only to bring forth new growth in the most surprising of places.”

“You cannot stay stuck in the past. The world is change. We’ve no choice but to let it carry us forward.” 

“The most righteous prayers were not petitions to get what you wanted. They were pleas for the grace to bear whatever came your way.”