Wishing & Waiting on Wednesday

Posted in Wishlist Wednesday by

Nothing like a Wednesday for thinking about the books we want to read! My Wishing & Waiting on Wednesday post is linking up with two fabulous book memes, Wishlist Wednesday (hosted by Pen to Paper) and Waiting on Wednesday (hosted by Breaking the Spine).

This week, I’m focusing on an upcoming release that I heard about for the first time just a few days ago:

My Real Children

My Real Children by Jo Walton
(release date May 20, 2014)

Synopsis:

It’s 2015, and Patricia Cowan is very old. “Confused today,” read the notes clipped to the end of her bed. She forgets things she should know—what year it is, major events in the lives of her children. But she remembers things that don’t seem possible. She remembers marrying Mark and having four children. And she remembers not marrying Mark and raising three children with Bee instead. She remembers the bomb that killed President Kennedy in 1963, and she remembers Kennedy in 1964, declining to run again after the nuclear exchange that took out Miami and Kiev.

Her childhood, her years at Oxford during the Second World War—those were solid things. But after that, did she marry Mark or not? Did her friends all call her Trish, or Pat? Had she been a housewife who escaped a terrible marriage after her children were grown, or a successful travel writer with homes in Britain and Italy? And the moon outside her window: does it host a benign research station, or a command post bristling with nuclear missiles?

Two lives, two worlds, two versions of modern history. Each with their loves and losses, their sorrows and triumphs. My Real Children is the tale of both of Patricia Cowan’s lives…and of how every life means the entire world.

Why do I want to read this?

I love dual narratives in which either version may be true — if the narratives are both plausible and the writing is engaging. In the hands of Jo Walton, I have no doubt that My Real Children will be excellent. I loved Among Others, which is a beautiful book that is so very hard to describe (fairies and twins and science fiction, oh my!).

What are you wishing for this Wednesday?

So what are you doing on Thursdays and Fridays? Come join me for my regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday! You can find out more here — come share the book love!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Do you host a book blog meme? Do you participate in a meme that you really, really love? I’m building a Book Blog Meme Directory, and need your help! If you know of a great meme to include — or if you host one yourself — please drop me a note on my Contact page and I’ll be sure to add your info!

21 thoughts on “Wishing & Waiting on Wednesday”

  1. I still have Among Others to read by this author, but I’m really looking forward to it, and this definitely sounds like something I’d like to read too. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

    Dani
    Pen to Paper

    Reply

Comments... We love comments!