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The Probable Future

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The Probable Future

Written by: Alice Hoffman
Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
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About this listen

 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 to the future - a future that she might not want to see.

In Alice Hoffman's tour de force, this vivid and intriguing cast of characters confronts a haunting past - and a very current murder - against the evocative backdrop of small-town New England. By turns chilling and enchanting, The Probable 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 an historic family home full of talismans from her ancestors.

©2004 Alice Hoffman (P)2004 Brilliance Audio, Inc. Fantasy Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Suspense Fiction Feel-Good Witchcraft
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What the critics say

"Delicious....Hoffman is an unapologetic optimist, and optimism is in short supply these days. It feels like a vacation to curl up with [The Probable Future]." ( The New York Times Book Review)
"Spellbinding....Of all the magical realists writing today, she may have the best sense of balance." ( Portland Oregonian)

What listeners say about The Probable Future

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Profile Image for Diana M

Engaging

I found this interesting; the characters are distinct and multi-faceted, the "magic" part of the magic realism works without being outlandish. There is perhaps a touch of earnestness that seemed to me to come from that mystical element, and felt a bit oppressive, but overall a good experience. I found the narrator very good indeed; her New England accent, most noticeable in the older characters, was subtle but flavourful, not at all overdone.

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Profile Image for Tashafi

Unlikeable characters and marginal reading

I found the characters very difficult to root for. The reading style seemed to emphasize their most unflattering character traits unfortunately. The plot was somewhat interesting but seemed to meander without discernible plot climax and ended just a little too neatly to be believable. Usually a huge fan of the author but this was not her best work

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