Search - And She Was

I loved this book. At first I thought it was chick lit which I hate but I realized it is about the spiritual evolution of a superficial cocktail waitress with a history of a mother unable to love and the alcoholic father who is destroyed by her mother. In reaction, she avoids loving anyone. She sees people able to love as weak. She has no deams and is only interested in the next snort of coke or man to screw. She comes to the Aleutian islands following a man. She doesn't love him but she needs him to help her define herself. She can't tolerate being alone by choice. She comes across the dark secret of 4 Aleutian women who are the decendants of 3 women who took control of their lives by breaking an Aleutian taboo of women hunting 250 years before. Breaking the taboo saves the lives of the children and villagers. These women continue the tradition by empowering their daughters with the secret even though the secret exacts a terrible price. Eventually, Brandy figures out their secret and that loving others isn't weakness. The secret empowers her to make her own decisions and makes choices about a future for herself without a man. The information about the culture and history of the Aleutians is fascinating.The characters are well drawn.I wish there were more books like this about women.