The Myth of You and Me

I am the type of person who doesn't always get around to finishing the assigned book club selection. I picked up "The Myth of You and Me" on my own and read it in one sitting. Other recently-hailed novels have failed to draw me in, but Leah Stewart's story presented an emotionally true to life tale, wrapped in the structure of an unfolding mystery, that kept me reading to find out what had happened. The characters in "The Myth of Your and Me" are not always honest with themselves or others, but that is part of what makes the story true to life. Characters are kept apart by the unresolved gap between perception and reality. I think that each of us has a fear that it people really knew us, they wouldn't like us, and that current is present throughout the novel. Each of us has a guilty memory of a friendship lost due to mutual fault and failure to forgive. As Cameron and Sonia's friendship is revealed in facets, turned around as though viewed through a kaleidoscope, the story will provoke readers to re-examine their own personal events from a more objective viewpoint. Both characters are at fault for the end of their frienship, but perception of who has committed the greater wrong, at what price, shifts as the full story is revealed. It's refreshing to see a novel where truly shocking behavior doesn't involve overt violence, but consists of actions born of thoughtlessness and cruelty in a moment of anger, without thought for the consequences. How much do we want to punish the ones that we love? What is the cost to ourselves? Stewart provokes tantalizing ambivalence by challenging us to forgive her characters once we really know them. Can these characters forgive one another? Can we forgive ourselves?

Amazing words, superb story, touching subject. I can't rave enough about this book. It explores friendships & relationships in a way no book I've ever known has done before. Leah Stewart has the perfect method to tell this deep story and uses the most amazing words in the process. And a big YEAH! to the 2 references to Fleetwood Mac in this book. I can't wait to read more Leah Stewart!

Leah Stewart's "The Myth of You and Me" is a touching and intimate character study of two girls who become best friends at the age of fourteen. The story is told mostly in flashback. Twenty-nine year old Cameron Wilson is a live-in aide in the home Oliver Doucet, a ninety-two year old Pulitzer Prize winning historian. One day, Cameron is startled to receive a letter from her former friend, Sonia Gray, whom she abandoned after the two had a major quarrel. Sonia is about to get married and she wants to reconcile with Cameron. Although Oliver encourages Cameron to make amends with Sonia, she decides to ignore the letter. Only after Oliver's death does Cameron decide to look Sonia up and try to make peace with her. With delicacy and compassion, Leah Stewart examines the pain that both Cameron and Sonia suffer as they grow up. Cameron is an Air Force brat who is forced to move six times in fourteen years, and to make matters worse, her classmates taunt her for being the tallest person in her class. Sonia has a severe learning disability, and she endures repeated beatings and tongue lashings from her abusive and psychotic mother. Sonia puts up a brave front in school, but she reveals her weaknesses and insecurities to Cameron. Cameron has never been in one place long enough to get to know her peers, but with Sonia, she feels right at home. After the two girls spend their high school and college years together, it appears that their friendship will last a lifetime. Unfortunately, when they have a bitter falling out over a man, their relationship abruptly ends. The author beautifully captures the bittersweet nature of female friendship, which can be a source of great comfort or, when things go wrong, of deep anger and hurt. Through Cameron's eyes, Leah Stewart explores the circuitous paths that a woman takes in life, the memories that never leave her, and her feelings of betrayal when someone whom she trusts breaks her heart. The writing in "The Myth of You and Me" is lyrical, romantic, and heartbreaking. Anyone who has ever been lonely, fallen in love, or regretted the loss of a close friend will be enchanted by this gem of a novel.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever left a friend behind or been the one left behind - it was truly touching and at times scary to me how much I could relate to parts of the story. I was looking for something light to read and I picked this up - Leah Stewart has a very straightforward and appealing writing style, so it's definitely an easy read. But more importantly, the story she tells about Cameron and Sonia and all of the other characters in their lives was so REAL that I missed them all terribly when the book ended.