Fortune's Daughter

****.5

This is a book I likely would not have read had it not been by an author whose work I tend to enjoy. It's mostly about women being mothers, dealing with shitty partners, being depressed, loss & grief, and having babies. Nothing wrong per se with those themes, just not really my jam.

But Hoffman manages to imbue the drama with just a touch of magic, and such a deft hand weaving the interleaved tales of two women of different generations that it never felt maudlin or sappy. She confronts the characters' challenges unflinchingly, with a timeless quality that simultaneously transcends the immediate surroundings while remaining deeply rooted to the terroir. It's a 40 year old book, yet reads like the literary equivalent of a fine aged show more wine, a deep and nuanced folk tale crafted by a master of their trade.

No, it's not her best work. Nor is it the best starting point. But for people who have read and enjoyed some of her better known writing, this is a worthy addition to the canon. show less

Rae Perry is a twenty-five year old woman who has spent her young adult years trying to hang on to her irresponsible, self-centered and restless boyfriend. When she finds herself pregnant and alone in the midst of a California heatwave during "earthquake weather" she seeks out the residence of Lila Grey on Three Sisters street whose address she'd gotten from a business card.

As a fortune teller, Lila has little interest in seeing into the future - hers or anyone elses, but her knowledge of Rae's pregnancy unsettles her as it has so many times when other pregnant women come to her. These women bring back memories of her own painful past and Rae, especially, reminds her of what it is like to be pregnant with no one to turn to for help.

The show more lives of these two women intertwine in a story that is beautifully written in sparing prose. The gentle unfolding of events and the loving attention to ordinary lives is reminiscent of Anne Tyler novels. However, Fortune's Daughter has an almost surreal quality, as if the two women have been half-asleep or waiting for something that they could not name. At its core, this is a story about women gathering the courage to become more than the sum of their haunted longings and learning how to let go of the past. A pleasure to read. show less

Alice Hoffman has finally won me over with "Fortune's Daughter". This is the story of a young girl who made a choice when she had no choice to make. It's a simple story we all have heard, but Hoffman gives us a front row seat to how a choice can mold lives, haunt the soul, and bring love and redemption to the people who deserve it the most. The novel is driven by strong female characters who have Hoffman quirkiness, and who gain our respect and admiration.

This is the story of two women, Lila—an older woman who was forced to give up her baby for adoption as a teenager, and Rae, a young woman who would be about Lila’s daughter’s age and has recently found herself to be pregnant, though her live-in boyfriend has recently left her. Rae comes to Lila for a ‘fortune telling’ as Lila reads tea leaves. But what Lila sees in Rae’s teacup leaves her distraught and brings back many unpleasant memories for her and begins to entwine their stories together. This was an interesting story, with some of Hoffman’s usual mystical element to it, Also present is her theme of women ‘finding themselves’ which is fine for an occasional story, but I couldn’t read steady doses of this stuff show more without pulling my hair out. In short, it was okay but really nothing memorable. In fact, I forgot to add this to my review list and in going back to write this three weeks later, I had a hard time remembering the characters’ names or the plot. show less

What I love about Alice Hoffman is that there's these cataclysmic events going on... but in the midst of all of this, she finds a way to concentrate on the things that really matter... loss...

A bit depressing and dark but an interesting story none the less.

I love Alice Hoffman, and I really wanted to love this book, but I just couldn't seem to care about any of the characters. The whole story seemed almost boring. I'm not giving up on Alice, though :)