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When We Believed in Mermaids

A Novel

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When We Believed in Mermaids

By: Barbara O'Neal
Narrated by: Sarah Naughton, Katherine Littrell
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An Amazon Charts, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestseller.

From the author of The Art of Inheriting Secrets comes an emotional new tale of two sisters, an ocean of lies, and a search for the truth.

Her sister has been dead for fifteen years when she sees her on the TV news…

Josie Bianci was killed years ago on a train during a terrorist attack. Gone forever. It’s what her sister, Kit, an ER doctor in Santa Cruz, has always believed. Yet all it takes is a few heart-wrenching seconds to upend Kit’s world. Live coverage of a club fire in Auckland has captured the image of a woman stumbling through the smoke and debris. Her resemblance to Josie is unbelievable. And unmistakable. With it comes a flood of emotions—grief, loss, and anger—that Kit finally has a chance to put to rest: by finding the sister who’s been living a lie.

After arriving in New Zealand, Kit begins her journey with the memories of the past: of days spent on the beach with Josie. Of a lost teenage boy who’d become part of their family. And of a trauma that has haunted Kit and Josie their entire lives.

Now, if two sisters are to reunite, it can only be by unearthing long-buried secrets and facing a devastating truth that has kept them apart far too long. To regain their relationship, they may have to lose everything.

© 2019 by Barbara Samuel. ℗ 2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Family Life Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Mystery Women's Fiction Fiction Emotions Suspense
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Critic reviews

“There’s a reason Barbara O’Neal is one of the most decorated authors in fiction. With her trademark lyrical style, she’s written a page-turner of the first order. From the very first page, I was drawn into the drama and irresistibly teased along as layers of a family’s complicated past were artfully peeled away. Don’t miss this masterfully told story of sisters and secrets, damage and redemption, hope and healing.” —Susan Wiggs, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“More than a mystery, Barbara O’Neal’s When We Believed in Mermaids is a story of childhood—and innocence—lost, and the long-hidden secrets, lies, and betrayals two sisters must face in order to make themselves whole as adults. Plunge in and enjoy the intriguing depths of this passionate, lustrous novel, and you just might find yourself believing in mermaids.” —Juliet Blackwell, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Carousel of Provence, Letters from Paris, and The Paris Key

When We Believed in Mermaids is a deftly woven tale of two sisters, separated by tragedy and reunited by fate, discovering that the past isn’t always what it seems. By turns shattering and life affirming, as luminous and mesmerizing as the sea by which it unfolds, this is a book club essential—definitely one for the shelf!” —Kerry Anne King, bestselling author of Whisper Me This

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Great book, got lost in it. Really enjoyed and great audio, didn’t want it to finish.

Brilliant book and audio

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Took a while to get my head around two separate characters read in alternating chapters, but soon got the gist of it, some good twists, really enjoyed the storyline and made me emotional more than once or twice. Would recommend

Great read, and narrated well

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a lovely story, your heart swells like the seas reading this story as lives are unravelled, truths come out. you can smell the salt in the air and feel the sand on your feet and the sun on your face descriptions are so real, warning tissues will be needed. beautifully narrated, my second audio book got use to accents quickly.

Beautiful

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I enjoyed this more than I expected; especially since I listened to it casually and occasionally missed particular details. it's a sweet story, full of love, memories, family. Great narrators.

Loving family tale

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I loved listening to this book. Couldn’t ‘put it down’😀
Was sorry when it ended I could have gone on listening to their stories.
It’s a bit sentimental but still with a lot of emotional depth.
Recommended.

Moving story

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