Review: The Evolution of Nora O’Brien Pacheco by Kevin O’Flaherty

An international coming-of-age novel, The Evolution of Nora O’Brien Pacheco by Kevin O’Flaherty tells the story of a brilliant and ambitious Basque girl whose life is upended by a startling revelation. Straightforwardly written, but still profound in its emotional scope, the novel can inspire young readers to achieve what they want in life, while also delving into important topics such as education, family, friendship, and grief.

Nora is a seventeen-year-old girl from Bilbao who, as the title suggests, is going through a time of great change not only in the plans she has for her own future, but also in the way that she sees herself and her family. O’Flaherty rethinks the teen quest for identity through a strong-headed character searching for a deeper truth about herself, her origins, and her past – can Nora’s Basque identity match with her dreams, and how can she grow and truly find herself without getting derailed by bad influences and grief?

Nora loves traveling with her parents, and during a memorable trip to Wales, they came across a prestigious school where Nora spends her summer to refine her English. Nora loves Wales, and comes back full of new ideas and interesting friends, but on her return to Bilbao she finds out the shocking truth – her parents had sent her away to spare her the horrors of her father’s chemotherapy treatment.

Nora’s world comes crashing down – her father, her hero, is now bedridden, confused, and emaciated. With this painful situation at home, it is hard for Nora to keep focused on the scholarship application she needs to study abroad, and even her friends can’t give her the support she needs. As her father weakens and starts mixing up the past and the present, Nora also learns things about her father she didn’t know, mentioning strange people and mysterious ties to South America in his confused state.

By widening the scope of Nora’s search for her own identity, O’Flaherty opens the book to a greater complexity – it is not only a question of broken hearts and bad grades, but of cultural and historical displacement and a difficult family history concealed for too long. With its unique backdrop of Northern Spain, Wales, and South America, this is a highly original work of YA contemporary fiction, with Nora weighing teen issues on an international scale, while also showing that struggles with identity and family are universal.

O’Flaherty’s writing is emotionally rich, especially in regards to inner and unspoken thoughts, which is so fundamental to Nora’s journey, as we watch her mature as the book propels forward. There is an innate tenderness to how each character is portrayed – whether it’s her parents, friends, teachers, or others – which never veers into sentimentality. Though more detail could be given to setting, with somewhat cursory descriptions of each scene’s environment, this is mostly appropriate for the genre, and doesn’t detract from the emotional core of the story. Nora’s dreams, desires, and beliefs give the readers a clear portrait of this stubbornly smart and empathetic girl who has all the right cards to do great things in life, but most of all to grow into a passionate, generous, and gifted adult.

An emotionally vivid work, The Evolution of Nora O’Brien Pacheco is an inspiration for change, inviting young readers to follow their hopes and dreams, no matter the challenges they have to face.