Many aspects of Phillip Vega’s novel SEARCHING FOR SARAH imbue it with a sense of wonder. It is a tale that explores the connection between a Hispanic brother and sister with a secret between them. Tom has always considered Nina not only his sister but also his best friend, up until the day she dies. But it turns out people can love each other to the moon and back without always knowing everything about the other person. Sometimes even important things are for some reason not shared. Like the fact that Nina has been a lesbian for years; a truth that just about everyone knows–including Tom’s wife, Gabriela and his children–though Tom himself, doesn’t. Yet before her death, Nina was firmly partnered with her soulmate Sarah and in the process of adopting an Indonesian child. And there in the will are Nina’s last wishes, that include that Tom and Sarah should work on her memorial together. This utterly flabbergasts Tom since at first he has no idea who Sarah is. Nor–even once he gets filled in–can this Sarah-person be found.

The premise of SEARCHING FOR SARAH is intriguing, and more or less sound, though one weak link to the story is that it never feels 100% believable why Nina has kept this secret from her beloved brother for so long. Nor, in this age of embracing LGBTQI diversity, does it feel 100% authentic that Tom would be so clueless about a segment of the population that’s regularly in the news or this aspect of his sister’s life that even his children picked up on and accepted with ease. Character growth and plot pacing feel off in spots and could use further development and/or shoring up. Where the novel shines most brightly is in its tentative explorations of the concept that even those who know they are deeply cared for can still choose to harbor secrets from their loved ones. If readers ignore the plausibility issues and make it to the end of the tale, they will likely find themselves touched by the portrayal of a brother getting to more intimately know the truth about his deceased sister’s life as he becomes willing to then move heaven and earth to find her life partner, and make sure the now-stalled adoption of Nina’s and Sarah’s international daughter goes through.

The language utilized to portray journal entries of one departed main character doesn’t always ring true in Phillip Vega’s SEARCHING FOR SARAH, but the core of what could be an outstanding LGBTQ novel exists beneath.

~C.S. Holmes for IndieReader