A fiercely independent divorce lawyer learns the power of family and connection when she receives a cryptic message from her estranged mother in this bittersweet, witty novel from the nationally bestselling author of Someone Else’s Love Story and Gods in Alabama—an emotionally resonant tale about the endurance of love and the power of stories to shape and transform our lives. Born in Alabama, Paula Vauss spent the first decade of her life on the road with her free-spirited young mother, Kai, an itinerant storyteller who blended Hindu mythology with southern oral tradition to re-invent their history as they roved. But everything, including Paula’s birth name Kali Jai, changed when she told a story of her own—one that landed Kai in prison and Paula in foster care. Separated, each holding secrets of her own, the intense bond they once shared was fractured. These days, Paula has reincarnated herself as a tough-as-nails divorce attorney with a successful practice in Atlanta. While she hasn’t seen Kai in fifteen years, she’s still making payments on that Karmic debt—until the day her last check is returned in the mail, along with a mysterious note: “I am going on a journey, Kali. I am going back to my beginning; death is not the end. You will be the end. We will meet again, and there will be new stories. You know how Karma works.” Then Kai’s most treasured secret literally lands on Paula’s doorstep, throwing her life into chaos and transforming her from only child to older sister. Desperate to find her mother before it’s too late, Paula sets off on a journey of discovery that will take her back to the past and into the deepest recesses of her heart. With the help of her ex-lover Birdwine, an intrepid and emotionally volatile private eye who still carries a torch for her, this brilliant woman, an expert at wrecking families, now has to figure out how to put one back together—her own. The Opposite of Everyone is a story about story itself, how the tales we tell connect us, break us, and define us, and how the endings and beginnings we choose can destroy us . . . and make us whole. Laced with sharp humor and poignant insight, it is beloved New York Times bestselling author Joshilyn Jackson at her very best.
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Joshilyn Jackson books deserved to be read twice in a row - the first time quickly because you have to find out where her characters' journeys will end, and the second time more leisurely so you can savor her beautiful writing. The Opposite of Everyone is vintage JJ, and very reassuring to me after the disappointing Someone Else's Love Story. For anyone who is unfamiliar with this author, you're in for a treat - a damaged but tough and competent heroine, an ex-lover with his own ghosts, a harrowing look at the foster care system, family and friends lost and found, the reason why divorce attorneys live for BANK cases (both assholes, no kids), and attempted murder by kitten. Does that sound sad, funny and true all at the same time? It is.
For long-time Jackson fans, you'll be glad to find that Paula Vauss is a much more mature and engaging heroine than Shandi from Love Story (maybe I just have a thing for heroines who won't take any BS), and the plot doesn't hit any third rails like Love Story's late twist that some readers saw as unforgivable "rape apology" This may be the author's best work to date.
ETA: Just read an interview with Jackson in which she says, “I'm a re-reader and I write for re-readers. As a re-reader, I want to zoom along the first time and love every minute, but I want enough in there to catch on my brain to make me want to delve in again.” Exactly what I meant when I started this review!
