Different Shades of the Same Color – by Michelle Arsenault
A sexy, funny and quick-witted adult novel about two women fleeing the monotony of their old lives
After long-time boyfriend Clifford pops the question to Natasha Parsons, under the perfect moonlit sky, instead of feeling swept off her feet, “Natasha Parsons felt numb. What he suggested felt more like a trap: as if the walls were closing in on her and she was feverishly attempting to find the door to get out.”
It all started when Natasha, an established doctor, gets a head injury at her uncle’s political fundraiser and starts acting differently.
Her life is no longer about living by a moral code, but rather doing whatever feels right in that moment, which often leads to promiscuous situations.
Natasha questions her closest relationships – boyfriend, father, mother, and (adopted Cambodian) sister, Vanessa – while unravelling a string of dark family secrets and revelations of her own. Her worried mother, Cynthia, convinces Natasha to take a vacation so she can regain her sense of morality and dignity. On a trip that Natasha and Vanessa decide to take together to Hennessey, Alberta, Natasha comes to realize that despite the differences between her and her sister growing up they are actually very much alike. And as the vacation takes on momentum, the women begin to grow intoxicated with the scent of their own freedom and capabilities.
Told with frankness and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, P.E.I. author, Michelle Arsenault challenges socially constructed notions on femininity through her complex and intriguing characters, Natasha and Vanessa. Arsenault’s novel is powerful in part because it’s about more than a blossoming friendship between two sisters of no biological connection.
It’s about the transformation and liberation of two women that escape the constraints of gender, class, time, and place. And in the process they discover themselves. But, like all good novels, there are some unseen twists that will leave the reader in shock. Different Shades of the Same Color is Arsenault’s latest novel. She is also the author of Fire and the prequel,
A Spark before the Fire, as well as The Rock Star of Vampires, and Her Name is Mariah. Arsenault lives in Cape Wolfe, in P.E.I. And her novels can be found at all online retailers, including Chapters, Amazon, iTunes, Barnes & Noble, and more.
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