Impossible, by Nancy Werlin

Ok, so I loooove the cover of Nancy Werlin's fantasy about curses, family, and true love.  And I admit this is why I originally picked up Impossible. This book is something I tried reading several years ago, but got distracted from the task by life and other shiny things. And maybe, then, I wasn't in the mood for something of that genre (it does, after all, involve magical creatures...and I'm not always in the mood for magical creatures).

I recently revisited the story after downloading Simon & Garfunkle's version of Scarborough Fair (you'll remember I'm a big classic rock fan) and, naturally, remembered this story. Why, you ask? Easy--the song's lyrics are a major plot point of the story. 

Impossible centers around Lucy Scarborough, a 17 year old girl who is soon to be the latest victim of a terrible curse that's plagued the women in her family for generations. According to the curse, Lucy will have a child by the time she turns 18. She will then go insane, and the curse will be passed to her daughter (it's always a daughter). The only way to break the curse is to complete the three seemingly impossible tasks outlined in the Scarborough Fair song before her next birthday. But since the beginning, not a single of her relatives has been successful at this. So Lucy is not very hopeful for her own future. 

However, Lucy is the first Scarborough woman to have a supportive family (adoptive) and a caring, understanding boyfriend. So there just might be hope for her after all.

Maybe.

Impossible will keep you reading. It's a bit predictable (of course the reader knows she'll break the curse), but it's still worthwhile. A word of caution, though. There are a couple mature-ish topics covered (a character is raped and decides to become a teen mom rather than give the child up), so Impossible might not be the best choice for younger teens or those with conservative parents. 

Just the same, a good story.--AJB