The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman

The Sparrow women have all been blessed with unusual talents- some of those talents have been more of a curse. Stella Sparrow wakes on her 13th birthday to find that she can see how a person will die. When she begs her father to prevent a murder, he winds up as the main suspect in the case. This causes Stella and her mother to return to the small Massachusetts town from which they came and to the home of the grandmother Stella has never known. The history of the Sparrow women and the small town of Unity unravel as the characters learn about love and forgiveness.

I wanted so badly to like this book. All the elements of a great story were there: a beautiful setting, a touch of history, a mystery, strong female characters, and a little bit of magic. Sadly, it just never quite clicked together. There were too many characters and not enough time to love any of them. There was no sense of drama to the story. Honestly, I really didn't see much of a point to the story at all. I've been trying to finish this book for months. I tried it in audio form and in text and I finally realized if I was going to review it I would just have to suffer through. Alice Hoffman has been praised for her beautiful writing and this is her sixteenth novel. If you want to see what the fuss is all about I would recommed trying something other than The Probable Future.