One Two Three by Laurie Frankel

 

Reviewed by Kristin

Mab, Monday, and Mirabel are sixteen-year-old triplets. They have so much in common, but they each are also very much their own person. Mab is the one who most people think of as normal: smart and active, with an obsessive habit of using SAT vocabulary words with her friend Petra as part of their college-bound journey out of small town Bourne. Monday is a little quirky, preferring to wear all yellow clothes and eat all yellow food, (unless of course it’s raining and then her preferred color switches to green.) Mirabel is the smartest person they all know but her body doesn’t work so well, with the exception of her right arm and hand. Together, with their mother Nora, they are a whole family.

Two decades ago the town of Bourne was booming. Belsum Chemical built a large plant which employed much of the town as well as supported the local businesses which employed most of the rest of the population. Then, the river turned green. Belsum owner Duke Templeton disavowed all responsibility, shuttered the plant, and skipped town. As the years passed, Bourne residents ended up with cancer, birth defects, and shattered hopes and dreams. Nobody comes to Bourne anymore, and only a few remain hopeful to escape. The adults are frustrated with the lack of opportunity and are looking for any occupation other than sitting in a recliner at home or on a barstool at the one and only bar. Nora has been fighting for justice all these years, and still hopes to make the Templetons pay for how their chemicals damaged the people of Bourne.

Mab, Monday, and Mirabel tell their story in alternating chapters. Each has a distinct voice and unique perspective. I listened to the audiobook and the chapters are voiced by three different narrators who blend the story together beautifully. I loved each of the girls for their own personality. While the story was told from the points of view of Mab, Monday, and Mirabel, I was rooting for the well-being of the entire town.

Mab is the one who always tries to help. She tutors at school, volunteers to help Pooh—a senior citizen—and always looks out for her sisters. She is giving and generous with her own time even as she meets the new boy, River, and starts to imagine a world of her own.

Monday has taken over as town librarian since the library closed. The books are crammed in various places around their house, and she knows exactly where to find each book, whether that is in the microwave or in the closet under the stairs. (The ones she really doesn’t like go behind the toilet.)

Mirabel is brilliant and those who know her (and in Bourne everyone does) are willing to wait while she taps out her words and her adaptive speech processor speaks them aloud. Mirabel’s Voice is almost a character itself, as a vital part of how Mirabel expresses herself.

Laurie Frankel is a luminous author and I have enjoyed (and reviewed!)  her previous books:  The Atlas of Love, Goodbye for Now and This Is How It Always Is.  Frankel tends to take a few years between publishing her novels, so I anxiously await the next.