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“The Possibilities explores motherhood from a place of such raw, animalistic love and with such emotional veracity that I, at times, had to put the book down and take deep breaths. It calls to mind Octavia Butler, Madeliene L’Engle, and most of all Philip K. Dick.”
—Joanna Rakoff, Bestselling author of My Salinger Year
A new mother ventures into parallel worlds to find her missing child in this mind-bending novel that turns the joys and anxieties of parenthood into an epic quest.
What if the life you didn’t live was as real as the one you did?
Hannah is having a bad day. A bad month. A bad year? That feels terrible to admit, since her son Jack was born just eight months ago and she loves him more than anything. But ever since his harrowing birth, she can’t shake the feeling that it could have gone the other way. That her baby might not have made it. Terrifying visions of the different paths her life could have taken begin to disrupt her cozy, claustrophobic days with Jack, destabilizing her marriage and making her husband concerned for her mental health. Are the strange things Hannah is seeing just new-mom anxiety, or is something truly weird and sinister afoot? What if Hannah really did unlock a dark force during childbirth?
When Hannah’s worst nightmare comes true and Jack disappears from his crib, she must tap into an extraordinary ability she never knew she had in order to save him: She must enter different versions of her life while holding on to what is most important to her in this one to bring her child back home.
From the intimate joys of parenthood to the cosmic awe of the multiverse, The Possibilities is an ingenious and wildly suspenseful novel that stares down into the dizzying depths of maternal love, vulnerability, and strength.
Praise for THE POSSIBILITIES
"A beautiful, exciting book. . . headspinning”
—The New York Times
“A powerful page-turner with deep wisdom.”
—People Magazine
“An original take on motherhood, The Possibilities taps into those primal feelings every nurturer feels—and fears.”
— Good Morning America
“A masterwork. . . brilliant, devastating depiction of the postpartum experience.”
— Feminist Book Club
“Wildly inventive . . .By incorporating quantum mechanics and the theoretical mathematical possibility that we each embody a multitude of selves, Goldstein-Love was able to create a page-turning work of fiction about how disorienting motherhood can be.”
— The San Francisco Chronicle
“Goldstein-Love’s descriptions resonate at a heartbreaking pitch.”
— LitHub
“Offers an analyst’s insight into the psychological dis-ease of early motherhood”
- Los Angeles Review of Books
'“Incredibly effective. It’s years since I had a baby that age, but my copy of this book has split its spine from rereading.”
—Moment
“I fell in love with The Possibilities because, instead of telling myself my rage and anxiety were worthless, I now felt my worries did have power. My worry could bend time, reshape reality; my love could traverse a universe.”
— Electric Literature
“Resonates with maternal love, a healthy dose of angst, and the wonders that exist in the hidden in-between. . . .a brilliantly crafted novel.”
— The Racket
“A taut, gripping thriller.”
— Berkeleyside
“This compelling and surreal narrative forces the reader to navigate a layered, labyrinthine world.”
— Chicago Review of Books
“[This engaging novel] blends an intimate view of new motherhood with an ingenious story of a multiverse. . . . The author plumbs the depths of her protagonist’s conflicted emotions, showing how Hannah is split between a desire to preserve her sense of self before [her son] and the pull to give herself over to her new identity as a mother. The result is a memorable story about the limits of a parent’s ability to protect their child from harm.”
“The story’s inventiveness lies in the way it finds a [sci-fi] narrative analog for the disorientation of postpartum psychology. The author, a psychotherapist herself, has orchestrated quite a mashup of genres, to page-turning effect. Part thriller, part psychology, part quantum physics—all fun.”
— Kirkus
“Goldstein-Love's game of hopscotch through the multiverse works both as a smart sci-fi thriller and as a metaphor for the worry, exhaustion, and power inherent in motherhood...Winding together cosmic malfunctions with the uncertainty of raising an infant creates a surprisingly apt pairing, while small moments of domestic peace reinforce the sense of Hannah's love for her child. This memorable, stirring work of suspense is primed to become a sensation in book club circles.”
“A unique and clever mash-up of science fiction and relationship fiction, this compelling novel explores the joys and fears of being a parent through Hannah’s quest to find the truth and her son. Imagine if The Push by Ashley Audrian, met Recursion by Blake Crouch, with a sprinkling of This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub.”
— Booklist
“The Possibilities had me intrigued, then gripped, and by its end, greatly moved, by its exploration of the quite literally existential stakes of loving another person. Within hours of finishing this novel, I found myself quoting it in conversation. . . . A bravura, unforgettable performance.”
—Namwali Serpell, author of The Furrows
“Unpredictable and a page-turner, equal parts passion and philosophy, The Possibilities is the tense and twisty tale of an imperiled child, a crumbling marriage, and the desperate woman who is trying to save them both.”
—Karen Joy Fowler, author of Booth
“At once a profoundly insightful exploration of motherhood in all its joys and sorrows and the best kind of speculative fiction . . . The combination will bend your mind and your heart.”
—Ayelet Waldman, author of A Really Good Day
“The Possibilities hooked me immediately with its ingenious premise and a story so suspenseful I had no choice but to ignore everything else to read to its stunning conclusion. But more than being compelled by the novel’s plot, I was moved and ignited by its profound ideas: that the enormous responsibility of being a parent is at once beautiful and terrifying, and that in order to understand ourselves as parents, we must also grasp and puzzle out our complicated, painful past. Yael Goldstein-Love is an enormous talent. I loved this book!”
—Edan Lepucki, author of Woman No. 17