POUGHKEEPSIE by Debra Anastasia

POUGHKEEPSIE by Debra Anastasia
Published: November 2011, Omnific Publishing

Amazon US
Amazon Canada
Kobo
Barnes&Noble

Book Description

"He counts her smiles every day and night at the train station. And morning and evening, the beautiful commuter acknowledges him—just like she does everyone else on the platform. But Blake Hartt is not like the others . . . he’s homeless. Memories of a broken childhood have robbed him of peace and twisted delusions into his soul. He stays secluded from the sun, sure the world would run from him in the harsh light of day. 

Each day, Livia McHugh smiles politely and acknowledges her fellow commuters as she waits for the train to the city. She dismisses this kindness as nothing special, just like her. She’s the same as a million other girls—certainly no one to be cherished. But special or not, she smiles every day, never imagining that someone would rely on the simple gesture as if it were air to breathe.

When the moment comes that Livia must do more than smile, without hesitation she steps into the fray to defend the homeless man. And she's surprised to discover an inexplicable connection with her new friend. After danger subsides, their smiles become conversation. Their words usher in a friendship, which awakens something in each of them. But it’s not long before their bond must prove its strength. Entanglements from the past challenge both their love and their lives.

Blake’s heart beats for Livia’s, even if her hands have to keep its rhythm. Love is patient. Love is kind. Love never fails. Love never fails, right?"

*****

I have not written my own recap of the story, for fear I reveal too much, or say too little. I wanted the Book Outline as provided by the author to stand as an introduction and just give you my interpretation and my feelings, because this book was truly something different, something special.

The characters in this book address so many issues, I can't even begin to list all of them. It starts with one love story and morphs into three separate ones. 

Three boys connected through an unkind foster system suffer horrific abuse, find and support each other through it and they all find their individual paths out into the world, in three completely different directions, without ever losing their devotion to each other. 

The contrasts in this story are what makes it so compelling......the almost pure and magical atmosphere created by Livia and Blake versus the crassness and vulgarity surrounding Beckett and Eve, and split down the middle are Cole and Kyle, who are equally hard and soft.

But at the core of each and every one of these people, their choices, their lives and their connections is something much bigger than each person individually, and that is love, in whatever form it comes.

There is no proper 'box' to stick this book in. It is explicit, it is sweet, it is violent and it is reverend and I'm not sure where I would file it, all I know is that I'm glad I decided to read it.

I feel like I have just read the most beautiful, graphic and realistic fairy tale.