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The Probable Future (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
by Alice Hoffman

Published: 2004-06-01
Paperback : 352 pages
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Alice Hoffman’s most magical novel to date—three generations of extraordinary women are driven to unite in crisis and discover the rewards of reconciliation and love. 

Women of the Sparrow family have unusual gifts. Elinor can detect falsehood. Her daughter, Jenny, can see people’s ...
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Introduction

Alice Hoffman’s most magical novel to date—three generations of extraordinary women are driven to unite in crisis and discover the rewards of reconciliation and love. 

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 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’s 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. 

Poignant, arresting, unsettling, The Probable Future showcases the lavish literary gifts that have made Alice Hoffman one of America’s most treasured writers.

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  "supernatural/wtiches"by Kelley S. (see profile) 11/27/07

The worst book I ever tried to read. The book jliterally kept putting me to sleep. The editiong was done so poorly. It jumped all over the place. It was just so so bad. Everyone in the group agreed.

 
  "Generations of Sparrow women receive a"by Deborah H. (see profile) 11/21/07

This book was all over the place. There were storylines that could have made for an interesting dicussion, had the author focused on them. Too much vague information and not enough depth.

 
  "Good discussion book but rather on the boring side."by c p. (see profile) 11/21/07

Though this was one of the hardest books I ever tried to read, as I found myself falling asleep through it. I found it much easier to listen to on CD. This could have been such a good book, ... (read more)

 
  "book is not what you expect, poorly edited book"by kathleen p. (see profile) 11/20/07

book started out very interesting for sure but soon lost my interest. If you have trouble sleeping at night this book will definely put you to sleep! Would not reccommend this book.

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