The Possible World is exactly the kind of book in which I am completely absorbed. I had to remind my family that I was reading because The Possible World had me wrapped. It was engrossing, emotional, and thoughtful, and everything I want a book to be.
My Thoughts:
The Possible World by Liese O’Halloran Schwarz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Possible World is everything! 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
The Possible World has three main characters who narrate, and just wait until you have the opportunity to meet them. My love for each overflows.
The book opens with six-year-old Ben attending a friend’s birthday party. Something horrible happens at the party, and Ben is the lone survivor. He is brought to the ER understandably traumatized and mute.
Lucy is an emergency room doctor (the author is formerly one), and she is experiencing a complex separation from her husband when a little boy is brought to the ER. Lucy’s sections have some of her daily life in the ER explored, including some medical jargon. I can think of a book I read with a group recently where medical jargon was thrown around, and it was over most of our heads, disconnecting some of us from the story. Not so in The Possible World. Lucy’s experience in the ER was fascinating, and it helped me to understand her.
In a nursing facility, Clare is about to turn one hundred years old. What a story she has to tell about a lifetime of secrets and loss. To me, she is at the heart of this novel; a steadfast root that grounds it all. Clare’s past and present is explored, and wow, her past is fully immersive. The storytelling here is like a dream.
Actually, all of the storytelling in The Possible World is dream-like. Ethereal. Magical. Ben, Lucy, and Clare are connected in some way, and one gift (there are many gifts) of this story is in the enchantment of that discovery. This book both broke my heart and mended it.
To the author, if you are reading this, I read past the finish line, and you are fortunate to live in a place I consider (blue) heaven on earth. 😊
Thank you the author for this emotionally-resonant book. You left your heart on every page. Thanks also to Scribner for the ARC. The Possible World is now available.
View all my reviews
Synopsis:
An astonishing, deeply moving novel about the converging lives of a young boy who witnesses a brutal murder, the doctor who tends to him, and an elderly woman guarding her long buried past.
It seems like just another night shift for Lucy, an overworked ER physician in Providence, Rhode Island, until six-year-old Ben is brought in as the sole survivor from a horrifying crime scene. He’s traumatized and wordless; everything he knows has been taken from him in an afternoon. It’s not clear what he saw, or what he remembers.
Lucy, who’s grappling with a personal upheaval of her own, feels a profound, unexpected connection to the little boy. She wants to help him…but will recovering his memory heal him, or damage him further?
Across town, Clare will soon be turning one hundred years old. She has long believed that the lifetime of secrets she’s been keeping don’t matter to anyone anymore, but a surprising encounter makes her realize that the time has come to tell her story.
As Ben, Lucy, and Clare struggle to confront the events that shattered their lives, something stronger than fate is working to bring them together.
An expertly stitched story that spans nearly a century—from the Great Depression through the Vietnam War era and into the present—The Possible World is a captivating novel about the complicated ways our pasts shape our identities, the power of maternal love, the loneliness born out of loss, and how timeless bonds can help us triumph over grief.
Oh wow. I love your excitement and pure enjoyment of this book ❤️❤️
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks so much, Nina! My thoughts were overflowing (and redundant!), but I’m glad you could feel my excitement about it! 💕
LikeLiked by 1 person
This book sounds great Jennifer. I love when the characters lives converge.
But were there any magical or paranormal elements in It? I get a hint of that from your review I think.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I loved this book, Laurie! It took some time to find out how the 100-year-old was connected, and without this being a suspense book, it really built up for me trying to figure out the connection. That is a great question – there is nothing paranormal, but there is something that I took as slightly mystical. It’s left open to interpretation a bit, so others may view it differently than I did (which I think is a great thing), and it not something that is present throughout the book. It is minor in this pretty epic tale that is about so much more. But I can’t say more than that because it would be a big spoiler.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for expounding on it for me, Jennifer. That really helps. 💕
I can tell by your enthusiasm that you really enjoyed it. I might have to check this one out. 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome, Laurie! I’m glad it was helpful! ♥️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds like another great book! 💗💗
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lana, I absolutely loved this one! 💗
LikeLiked by 1 person
I loved this one too! Still have to write up my review. I loved yours… Happy 4th of July!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much, Marialyce, and happy you loved this endearing read, too! Happy 4th to you, too! 🎇
LikeLike
Love your reviews & you always take the prettiest pictures!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Nikaleigh! I enjoy photography, so the photo part is a lot of fun for me! I enjoy your reviews, too, and we read many of the same books! ♥️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow! Awesome review Jen! So happy you loved it!😊💖
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Sus! I think you’d enjoy this one, too! No pressure, but all my friends so far have loved it, so I imagine you would too. With a box of tissues of course. ♥️ Happy 4th! 🎇
LikeLiked by 1 person
Same to you Jen! 🎆🎇🎆🎇 I’m out of tissues so no sad books until I go grocery shopping! Hahaha😊💖
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great review as usual! And Happy Independence Day! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, FF! I appreciate it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great review!
I loved this book too! It’s definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year ::)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you and I wholeheartedly agree! I’m off to check out your review! ♥️
LikeLike
Fabulous review Jennifer! This definitely sounds like something I need to pick up.☺️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much, Kim! I truly hope you can fit this one in. It’s unforgettable!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Terrific review Jennifer, ooh this one is drawing me in after your wonderful review! 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much, Beth! If you are able to fit it in, I don’t think you’ll regret it! 💗
LikeLiked by 1 person
I just love when I find a book that I become completely lost in and this one sounds like it did that for you, great review! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Carrie! Me, too! I just love getting swept up in a story. 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pretty picture. Great review. I plan to read this one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Virginia! I hope you enjoy this special book! ♥️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful review! This sounds like such an amazing read and I like the fact that it had such an effect on your emotions. I’m already curious about Clare’s story.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Diana! Clare’s story is absolutely immersive! I love emotional reads. Thanks again. 💕
LikeLike