Do you believe in destiny? Destiny, meaning the universe has everything planned out for you? That everything is predetermined and predestined right from our birth? Times when you come across events that seem too strange or too strong to be mere coincidence? There are times when coincidences are so powerful that they donât really seem like coincidences anymore. Like our life is a series of random accidents or coincidences that are leading us to a predestined path.
This book is a companion to the movie Red Thread of Fate, a story that is interracial, long-distance, and has an age gap. It is filled with romance, tragedies, and conflicting emotions of having two loves.
The main character, Zarah, is already in a relationship, but someone else comes along who can change everything. Will she let go of her current relationship and take the chance on someone new? Are twin souls the person we marry, the person we learn from, or both? Can she change her fate or is it too late?
Do you believe in destiny? Destiny, meaning the universe has everything planned out for you? That everything is predetermined and predestined right from our birth? Times when you come across events that seem too strange or too strong to be mere coincidence? There are times when coincidences are so powerful that they donât really seem like coincidences anymore. Like our life is a series of random accidents or coincidences that are leading us to a predestined path.
This book is a companion to the movie Red Thread of Fate, a story that is interracial, long-distance, and has an age gap. It is filled with romance, tragedies, and conflicting emotions of having two loves.
The main character, Zarah, is already in a relationship, but someone else comes along who can change everything. Will she let go of her current relationship and take the chance on someone new? Are twin souls the person we marry, the person we learn from, or both? Can she change her fate or is it too late?
It was her senior year of high school. She prayed to God and made a pact with him. According to the pact, if she were to marry, then she would meet the man of her dreams in the next year. If she were to remain single, then she would not meet that man that year. Even if she did meet him, marriage would not be a possibility.
***
Fast-forward nine years. It has often been said that a Black man had to do twice the work of a white man in order to be recognized. If a Black man had to do that, then a Black woman had to do even more because she was doubly discriminated against. That is why when Michelle Obama came to power that most never dared criticize her (but dared criticize those who criticized her) for they understood the struggles and the accomplishments.Â
And so, following on that note, there was a Black woman, strong and hardworking, and there was a white man who did not work so hard and had spent such a long time working so very little that he was unemployable during an economic recession. When he did put in effort, it was in criminal activities. Despite logic, they had an eye for each other, Zarah and Perez. Here, this hardworking woman would give all that she had, including the skin off her bones if it were legal, if it would help him survive. The white man was called many names, besides the one he wanted to be called, including the prison name âThreat.â There was nothing he could do for he was not only unemployable, but he was unemployable during a recession. He had an impoverished life and an impoverished future.
One day, the woman opened up her mail and received a notice that she was the luckiest woman in the world, having won millions of dollars. Even though one could say they were not hard-earned dollars, they were in a sense, for karma has a way of rewarding people. The woman dreamed and thought of what she would do with all that money, but when she fell asleep, all her dreams seemed to lead to him. She dreamt of him on his deathbed and frozen in the cold. She dreamt of him in a homeless, hippy camp surrounded by runaways and those who loved them. She dreamt of him losing his self-esteem every day and growing desperate. She dreamt of him blowing up a building because he had gotten so desperate. So, of course, her strategy had nothing to do with herself and everything to do with him.
She called her best friend, AmĂ©lie, over to discuss her idea. She explained that she could offer him a place to live at a cost, that he would have to cook and clean and do all those housekeeping chores that used to be reserved for a housewife in the days of sexism gone by. She would do this so that he had something, some sort of something that he could add to his pathetic-looking resume or to his pathetic-looking application for education. She would pay him up to $50 thousand a year for life.Â
Then she started thinking. She changed her mind and wanted him to be her personal trainer instead so that she could benefit from the weight loss. She would do this so that he had something, some sort of something that he could do to feel like a man.
The reason why she would not give her part of her pie was that, despite her illogical love, she had an ounce of reason and, having lived with him, she knew that he had not an ounce of understanding when it came to money and the importance of a paycheck. She had offered to buy him résumé paper and a new suit until she turned blue in the face, but he always politely declined the offer, as if it were too much of an inconvenience. She gave him gifts imbued with love, but as her money ran out, her desire to give the skin off her back did too, proportionately (though she still would have done so, if necessary).
It was her idea for them to physically separate because, at the rate they were going, she would no longer be able to afford a place for them to live or an education for him. However, they were not yet in separate homes. If she didnât have to pay the rent, she could still pay him $200 per month, which was the average of his monthly financial âemergencies.â
AmĂ©lie leaned in on the phone, listening to her idea about him tending to the house or being her trainer. She tilted her head on the phone, pondering, and said, âIâm sorry, dear, but that sounds a lot like indentured servitude.â And at that response, Zarah was immediately embarrassed for having thought of it and being called out for that thought by a white girl.
The woman thought for a moment, trying harder to make a quick comeback than a good answer, and replied, âNo, that is more like parenting. I just want to do something. I want to help.â
But the thought of what her friend said lingered long after her friend had left. She figured that perhaps that was why Reconstruction was so difficultâall these Black boyfriends were mourning for their white girlfriends who left them. Of course, that is an analogy for indentured servants and masters who were in deep relationships.
However, all this was for naught because the letter was a fake one and a scam. No money was to come out of it.
All Zarah could ever do was dream. To tell her not to dream would have been to tell her not to breathe.
The Red Thread of Fate is a tragic age-gap romance between Zarah, a half Korean/half-black woman, and Yue Lao, a Vietnamese War veteran.Â
Zarah is quite the character as she was adopted by a white father and suffers from the occasional identity crisis. This insecurity bleeds into her relationship with white boyfriend Perez who mentally and emotionally abuses her. In comes Yue Lao who she meets by a chance of fate. Their love story is tumultuous and fraught with obstacles but somehow, their love perseveres and they find a way.Â
I appreciated the awareness for issues such as emotional abuse, interracial coupling which is sometimes swept under the carpet. The author has a very poetic style of writing that shone through with her various verses interspersed throughout. The essence of the characters held honesty and a desperate need to be understood. The writing style is much darker than typical romance novels and centers around family discord, desire, love, and second chances. I enjoyed how fate was incorporated, the thought that perhaps something in your past could affect your future.
My only qualm with the book stems from the writing- it is very difficult to follow along with the narrative as there are flashbacks throughout that seem disconnected. The story seems to be a series of memories stringed together without a central theme.Â
I will say this is quite different from the usual romance novels and may not be palatable for all audiences. My advice would be to read the triggers before jumping in.
Thank you to the author and Reedsy Discovery for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.