Three Dead Freds
Linda Guecia
If you know a narcissist, you'll enjoy this book.
Some people in the world are evil. Eunice is one of them. She prioritizes herself, accessorizes others, and finds pleasure in destroying the lives she touches. Pregnant, she marries aspiring basketball star, Freddy, when he’s barely out of high school. He disappears before their first anniversary. Alone, she marries Fredrick, a new attorney at her mother’s law firm. Fredrick and Eunice raise a son, Van, and when he’s out of the house, so is Fredrick. Federico, lost in sorrow, finds joy in his relationship with Eunice; until he marries her.
Other people in the world are good. Barbara, Eunice’s mother, is one of them. She tries, in her own imperfect way, to raise her daughter with the moral compass that directs a virtuous life. Eunice routinely pushes her aside until Barbara finally has enough.
This story is about fragility, endurance, family, love, and life.It's based on events that take place on tiny Amelia Island, Florida, as comfortable as a flannel blanket yet as tangled as a spider’s web. And in keeping with the necessary dichotomies of life where the sun shines in the rain, there’s silence in music, youth in old age, lies in truth, hate in love, savagery in civilization, and evil in good.
Amelia Island is a character -
Amelia Island is a character in the book with fictionalized versions of its neighborhoods (Camelia Park, Harbors of Amelia) and restaurants (Gliders, The Surfboard, Pelican Pouch, Rett's, 5th Street Deli), even a jewelry store (Rob and Sons) while capturing the island's essence with the Atlantic Ocean, Peter's Point, Ft Clinch, and Intracoastal Waterway, and some staples such as Publix, Walmart, the ongoing construction, and never-ending log trucks.