The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman

The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman

From the dustjacket:

Women of the Sparrow family have unusual gifts. Elinor can detect falsehood. Her daughter, Jenny, can see people’s dreams when they sleep. Granddaughter Stella has a mental window on the future—a future that she might not want to see.

In The Probable Future this vivid and intriguing cast of character confronts a haunting past—and a very current murder—against the evocative backdrop of small-town New England. By turns chilling and enchanting, The Probably Future chronicles the Sparrows’ legacy as young Stella struggles to cope with her disturbing clairvoyance. Her potential to ruin or redeem becomes unbearable when one of her premonitions puts her father in jail, wrongly accused of homicide. Yet this ordeal also leads Stella to the grandmother she was forbidden to meet and to a historic family home full of talismans from her ancestors.

My thoughts:

First of all, the current murder plays very little in the story. It really functions to being the whole family back together in Unity, the Sparrows’ hometown, which was fine with me, but if a reader were looking for a good conclusion to that side plot, it isn’t here.

Each of the women has a gift or curse, depending on how you look at it. Stella, as we learn early, can see people’s deaths. She deals with it surprisingly well, actually, and she more than either of the other women, makes good use of her gift.

I loved this book.  Jenny and Elinor have been estranged for years. Jenny has managed to drive a wedge between herself and Stella, despite how much she didn’t want to.Through the book, though, all three of them grow, learn to see the world and each other in different ways. They also learn about love, both for family and for the men in their lives.

Also, this is a spring book, beginning in  March and ending in May. It is full of new beginnings, finding true love, and some losses, too. I have to admit that I needed a few tissues toward the end, just a warning.

My rating is 5/5.

Other information:

Alice Hoffman’s website has a lot of features, including her blog, podcasts and some essays.