ABERRATIONS
By Penelope Przekop
Emerald Book Co. 241 pages
ISBN 978-1-934572-03-0

From the back of the book “ Twenty-One-Year-Old Narcoleptic Angel Duet knows her father harbors secrets. He loves and protects her, but his suspicious refusal to discuss her mother’s death drives Angel to worship an image created from the little history she does have: her father’s sketchy stories and her mother’s treasured photography, studies of clouds that have hung in their foyer for more than twenty years.” Now add to that a new step mother, some new friends that expose Angel to drugs and the world of homosexuality, and an affair.

When I first read the summary of what the book was about I felt a little unsure if I wanted to read it or not. It sounded not unlike a 1980’s episode of General Hospital. I obviously persisted and found this to be a really enjoyable book. To start with the cover is just beautiful. As you read the book you will also discover the meaning in the symbolism of the cover which makes you appreciate the beauty even more. The writing draws you into the story quickly with a teaser on the very first page. You immediately want to discover what it has to do with the rest of the story. The characters were all very interesting. While each of them is very different, they each share a common theme of caring about Angel. The Narcolepsy itself is more like a landscape than an illness. While I don’t know anything about narcolepsy I felt that I was educated as to what it might be like. This gave a great framework for the story to bring up many of the deeper issues that would unfold with the story. I especially liked the fact that no matter what the more apparent issues each character had they all seemed to end up struggling with the same things. This was a good thought provoking book that forces the reader to take a look at their own personal form of narcolepsy.