“The Probable Future” by Alice Hoffman is a little more earthy than the other books I’ve chosen to review here on Families.com, but the story is so intriguing, I thought it was worth presenting, with that caveat. I was fascinated by these women and their amazing gifts, and wanted to share their story with you.
Three hundred years ago, a young woman wandered out of nowhere, unable to speak English, her hands and feet blistered and raw, and she was taken in by a local family. They had no idea what her name was or why she was there, but they almost immediately noticed that she could feel no pain. She could plunge her hands into boiling water to do the laundry and not even flinch. Because of this, she was believed to be a witch and was passed from household to household, as people didn’t want her. Later, when a plague of sickness hits the town, she is blamed and is drowned.
She left behind a daughter who also possessed unusual skills, but different from her mother. Since that time, every woman in that line would discover their special gift on the morning of their thirteenth birthday.
Our story is about the contemporary women in the family. Elinor has the gift of knowing when someone is lying. Her daughter Jenny dreams other people’s dreams, and her daughter Stella can see when and how someone is going to die.
Elinor and Jenny had a falling out when Jenny was a teenager. Madly in love with a boy named Will Avery, Jenny runs away to marry him, but Elinor knows Will is a liar. Not wanting to believe her mother, Jenny doggedly hangs on to her marriage and conceives Stella, but soon discovers that Will is cheating on her. Their marriage falls apart shortly before Stella’s thirteenth birthday, when Jenny is no longer able to tolerate his behavior. This event turns Stella against her mother, and so all three women are at odds.
A strange turn of events brings Stella to live with Elinor, and then Jenny with them. As the three of them learn to deal with their gifts, they find each other in the process.
I did mention that this book is earthy – but it’s not as graphic as others I’ve seen. Personally, I found the story interesting enough to blip over certain sentences. If you are more conservative in your reading choices, you might choose to let this one go, but if you’re not, you’ll find this a very good read.
(This book was published in 2003 by Random House.)
Related Blogs: