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The Possibility of Everything

A Memoir

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

From the bestselling author of Motherless Daughters, here is the real-life story of one woman's search for a cure to her family's escalating troubles and the leap of faith that took her on a journey to an exotic place and a new state of mind.

In the autumn of 2000, Hope Edelman was a woman adrift, questioning her marriage, her profession, and her place in the larger world. Feeling vulnerable and isolated, she was primed for change. Into her stagnant routine dropped Dodo, her three-year-old daughter's curiously disruptive imaginary friend. Confused and worried about how to handle Dodo's apparent hold on Maya, this otherwise mainstream woman found herself making the extremely unorthodox choice to take their daughter to Belize in hopes that a shaman might help banish Dodo—and all he represented—from their lives.

The Possibility of Everything chronicles the magical week in Central America that transformed Edelman from a person whose past had led her to believe only in the visible and the "proven" to someone open to the idea of larger, unseen forces. This deeply affecting, beautifully written memoir of a family's emotional journey explores what Edelman and her husband went looking for in the jungle and what they ultimately discovered—as parents, as spouses, and as ordinary people—about the things that possess and destroy us or that can heal us all.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from August 3, 2009
      Edelman (Motherless Daughters
      ) returns with a charming memoir full of self-deprecating honesty that defies easy categorization. Edelman is forced to seek a solution to the sudden appearance of her three-year-old daughter Maya's violent imaginary friend, “Dodo.” Edelman, who believes in “the possibility of everything,” but can't place her trust “in anything without visible proof,” clashes with her alternatively minded husband and the New Age modes of thinking in her new Los Angeles suburb when seeking an answer. She grieves that her own mother, who died when she was 16, is not there to advise her on matters of parenting. But when Maya's behavior becomes severe, Edelman surprisingly agrees to let her daughter see a shaman in Belize. The journey, which is full of remarkable events, cracks open the foundation of her skepticism just shy of a transformation. The largest stretch of the narrative—the Belize journey— is gripping and vividly detailed, and Edelman occasionally detours into Mayan culture and history. The book is equal parts a meditation on the trials of motherhood and marriage, a travelogue and an exploration of faith, which she braids together into a highly readable, insight-laden narrative.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      This memoir relates to a period in Edelman's life when her husband was seldom home and she had primary responsibility for caring for her 2-year-old daughter, Maya. The introduction of Maya's imaginary friend seems normal for a creative and precocious child until Maya begins acting out at his behest. A vacation to Belize offers an opportunity for a spiritual journey and healing. Edelman's desire to tell her own story is strong, but her narration is stilted and often monotonous. The intensity of her focus is evident, but the overall result is ponderous. The range of her tonality is limited, and occasional abrupt changes further mar the listening experience. J.E.M. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

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Languages

  • English

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