Review by Tori Bissonette

Seeking Sasha is a slice-of-life domestic drama. Only, Sasha’s life is nothing like yours. Sasha’s backstory, even her name, change faster than the weather. With each new town she visits, a new woman is born. Sasha’s different personas are incorporated through clever characterization, using different names and behaviors through a third person narration to highlight how fractured these personalities are for Sasha. But our story starts afterwards, as she’s drawn back to where it all started to the boy, now a man, who once knew her best. For him, she tries to reconcile the personalities she’s created over her ten year absence and build a normal life. 

Personally, I’ve been obsessed with these after-stories. I want to know what happens after the curtain falls. How do we go on? How do we adapt? It was there, when Sasha first returns home a few chapters in that I was most intrigued. Sasha works to overcome what might seem like everyday hurdles to some, such as getting an ID and opening a bank account, with the help of Cole, her childhood best friend. As someone who works with underprivileged youth, I appreciated the detailed attention paid to the small but systemic barriers low-income and other disadvantage communities can face, such as unreliable public transportation or bureaucratic redundancies.

The novel focuses almost entirely on Sasha and Cole, with no other characters taking up any substantial page space. Their relationship is the emotional backbone of the story, bringing the reader along through their joys and their sorrows. At times, their go arounds got repetitive. This is, admittedly, very true to real life, as we often speak without saying what we mean and rehash the same arguments again and again. But it did leave me itching for the next point of tension to arrive. This, in conjunction with the looping pattern of Sasha’s harmful behavior towards Cole, led to the pacing dragging at times. The same cannot be said for the last fifty pages, which take off in dramatic fashion and compel the reader through a roller coaster ride. It is only in these last fifty pages as well that we start to see the profound toll these fractured personas have taken on Sasha. I wanted to see this psychological element explored more, but the reader, like Cole, is positioned to see the best in Sasha with the focus being on her growth and positive characteristics.

While Sasha is infinitely mysterious, Cole is, if anything, too good, almost pushing his character into the unbelievable. At times, he speaks like a PSA, though this can be attributed to his career as a police officer and his familiarity dealing with victims. Despite Sasha burning him time and time again, he remains devoted to her and ardent in his belief in her goodness. His tenderness and dedication are the core of what makes his character so accessible on the page. We all wish we had someone like that in our life. For her part, Sasha can be immature for a 28-year-old–reasonable, given her home life and years on the streets–but she lacks street smarts and, sometimes, even common sense, which feels less understandable. Her choices are frustration-inducing, but only because we as the reader have come to care for her and want her to succeed. The relationship between Sasha and Cole, teetering between friendship and romance, carries an emotional depth the reader can’t resist rooting for. 

Seeking Sasha invites the reader to linger in a unique return to reality and forces us all to question how well we truly know the people around us.

Interview with Laura Frost, author of Seeking Sasha

Is there a particular significance to each of the names Sasha uses? How did you decide the name for each persona?

I chose names that would reflect the personality of each of Sasha’s personas. For instance, Jane likes to lay low and hide in the shadows, so I decided on a “Plain Jane” name. Victoria is elegant and classy, and I believe her name exhibits those qualities. Magda has a strong personality, and the name resonated with me when I was searching for something tough yet unique. Other personas, such as Hayley or Bryn, felt like they fit the persona, although I cannot explain what it was about them that called to me.

What was the writing process for Seeking Sasha? How did the idea evolve and/or were there any major changes from your first draft to your final?

I started with two characters: a woman who reinvents herself everywhere she goes (inspired by a conversation with a stranger), and a police officer (inspired by the interesting work my husband did when he was a law enforcement officer). From there, the first draft wrote itself, with unknown characters walking onto the page, and the plot taking turns I never expected.

The book you see today is the same foundationally, but I made many significant changes during revisions. The first two chapters were written long after the first draft was complete, as were a number of chapters in the middle. I deleted a few chapters as well, as they were essentially a montage of Sasha and Cole going about their days, and they did little to move the story forward. The more I revised, the more Sasha’s and Cole’s relationship developed, and I was able to add deeper layers of tension in further drafts.

How would you describe the relationship between Sasha & Cole? What keeps them coming back to each other?

Sasha’s and Cole’s relationship is one of the aspects that book clubs love about this novel. There is a lot to unpack, and readers have vastly different opinions on the characters. Essentially, Sasha’s and Cole’s relationship is both loyal and toxic. They care for each other deeply, but they are blind to what the other needs. Lack of communication is their downfall, and if they just told each other what they were feeling, a lot of the strife in the book could be avoided. But if that were the case, it would make for a boring read.

Sasha keeps coming back to Cole because he has been the only solid person in her life. He always believed in her when no one else did, and he always stood up for her. When her life is crumbling, he is the steady foundation she reaches for.

Cole keeps coming back to Sasha because he feels he did not help her enough when they were kids. He has a deep need to help others, and he felt he failed his best friend. When Sasha appears in his life again, Cole believes this is his second chance to help her turn her life around, and he keeps chasing this need even when Sasha burns him again and again.

Is there anything specific you want your readers to know about or take from the story?

Seeking Sasha is loaded with ugly truths and struggles regarding self-worth, communication, and friendship. It’s not a glossy story with flawless characters, but instead it speaks honestly about the complexity of humans, both internally and within relationships, and it dives deep into how people choose to present themselves to the world.

That said, the messiness of Sasha, Cole, and their journey is delivered with page-turning suspense, lots of heart, and even a few laughs.

What next projects are you working on?

Readers keep asking me if I am going to write a follow-up to Seeking Sasha, so I have decided to pivot my writing plans. I am in the middle of revisions for a sequel, and I hope to have the novel out in the world as my next publication. I also have plans for a standalone novel that precedes the timeline of Seeking Sasha and dives into the world of a minor character in that universe. And as always, I continue to pen short stories on the side.

If you’re interested in Laura’s short stories, you can read her piece “August Fifth” right here in Issue #2 of For Page & Screen Magazine!

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For more information about Laura Frost’s work and her novel Seeking Sasha, head on over to her website or purchase your copy of Seeking Sasha from Indigo press today!