'Alice Hoffman is simply brilliant'

When the women in the Sparrow family reach thirteen, they develop a unique ability. In young Stella's case, the gift, which is both a blessing and a curse, is the ability to see a person's probable future. Stella foresees a gruesome murder, and tells her charming, feckless father about it, but it is too late - the murder has already been committed and suspicion falls on him. Her mother Jenny, on the other hand, can read other people's dreams, but so often misinterprets them, to her own cost. Hoffman unlocks the caskets of family life and the secret history of a community in this magical story about young love and old love, about making choices - usually the wrong ones - about foresight and consequences, all suffused with the haunting scent of roses and wisteria, and the hum of bees on a summer evening.

When the women in the Sparrow family reach thirteen, they develop a unique ability. In young Stella's case, the gift, which is both a blessing and a curse, is the ability to see a person's probable future. Stella foresees a gruesome murder, and tells her charming, feckless father about it, but it is too late - the murder has already been committed and suspicion falls on him. Her mother Jenny, on the other hand, can read other people's dreams, but so often misinterprets them, to her own cost. Hoffman unlocks the caskets of family life and the secret history of a community in this magical story about young love and old love, about making choices - usually the wrong ones - about foresight and consequences, all suffused with the haunting scent of roses and wisteria, and the hum of bees on a summer evening.

Alice Hoffman is the bestselling author of many successful novels and screenplays, including Here on Earth (Oprah Book Club Choice in 1998), Illumination Nights, Turtle Moon, Practical Magic (made into a recent major film), Local Girls, The River King and Blue Diary. She lives in Massachusetts.

2006-09-18 Alice Hoffman at her very best

If you have never read an Alice Hoffman novel, then this book is probably the best place to start. It is filled to the brim with her beautifully metaphoric language and you find yourself immersed into the lives of the women, whom the book is created around.
The interweaving story lines, atmospheric locations and development of the characters run like a blood-line through the novel until you reach the end and feel a large sense of sadness that these people will no longer be a part of your day.
Wonderful, but read on. Read: Blue Diary, Blackbird House, Here on Earth, Turtle Moon and River King to name but a few and you will catch onto her regular use of metaphors, such as birds and her captivating, sometimes dislikeable, but always fatefully strong women.