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    The Possible World
    The Possible World
    The Possible World
    Audiobook12 hours

    The Possible World

    Written by Liese O'Halloran Schwarz

    Narrated by John Kroft, Tandy Cronyn and Morgan Hallett

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    About this audiobook

    A richly compelling and deeply moving novel that traces the converging lives of a young boy who witnesses a brutal murder, the doctor who tends to him, and an elderly woman guarding her long buried secrets. Clare, one of the oldest women in Rhode Island, believes that all the painful secrets of her long life have been laid to rest, until an unexpected encounter with a piece of her past forces her to realize the time has come to tell her story. Ben, a shy, precocious six-year-old being gently raised by a devoted mom, witnesses a terrible crime and is taken to the hospital, bewildered and alone. Lucy, an overworked resident physician in Providence, meets Ben when he's brought into the ER. But between all-night shifts and trying to pick up the pieces of her failing marriage, she doesn't know how to help. In time, Ben begins to uncover pieces before, just half-memories at first, then it all comes rushing back: Mama, Clyde, Brother Timothy, a stone cottage, and the woman who loved and cared for him. His psychiatrist believes these are inventions triggered by the horror of what the little boy saw, but Ben is determined to find the one person who can rescue him. Bit by bit, Ben, Clare, and Lucy discover what they all have in common. An expertly stitched story that spans nearly a century-from the 1920s through the Vietnam War era and into the present, The Possible World is a gorgeous novel about the special relationships between mothers and sons, the complicated ways our pasts shape our identities, the loneliness born out of loss, and how the healing act of retelling can create timeless connection.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJun 26, 2018
    ISBN9781501998188
    Author

    Liese O'Halloran Schwarz

    Liese O’Halloran Schwarz, a former emergency medicine doctor, published her first novel Near Canaan while still in medical school. She is also the author of the acclaimed novel The Possible World and the forthcoming What Could Be Saved. She currently lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

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    Reviews for The Possible World

    4/5

    48 ratings9 reviews

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    • 2/5
      Disappointing, unsatisfying. Beautiful writing, intriguing plot, rich characters. BUT it fell flat. 1. I’m not into supernatural and it wasn’t until very deep into this book that I suspected I was on that kind of a journey. I did finish, hoping it would turn out to be realistic fiction but I was wrong. 2. Exciting build up, then suddenly it was over 3. the biggest mystery of the book was never explained. I was shocked to reach epilogue with so much unresolved. Bummer!
    • 5/5
      This was riveting! I loved the characters and the weaving of their stories! I could not stop listening! AMAZING READ!
    • 4/5
      Really good book, but it was a little confusing to follow.
    • 5/5
      Just a lovely, lovely book. Three characters, whose lives converge, in a beautiful moving story line, that was absolutely compelling and hard to put down. I couldn’t have enjoyed this one more.

      Three of my favorite quotes -

      “This place wasn’t mine, just as Leo was never mine. We have things for a while, and then they’re gone, and we’re lucky to have had them at all”

      And

      “Nothing is perfectly clean; there’s always a trace of what came before”

      And

      “At that moment, I made a decision; to give him my secret, or at least a part of it, to keep.
      It’s our secrets that make each of us different from everyone else - our secrets and what we choose to love”

      You’ll have to read the book to see how these themes coalesce in this wondrous story!
    • 5/5
      This is such a beautiful story it made me cry.

      The possible world is the story of four people, Ben, Leo, Lucy and Claire.
      Ben, a boy of six years, whose just lost his mother to a brutal murder, Leo, a boy who lives in Ben's head and memories, Lucy, an ER doctor, whose life is falling apart and Claire, a lady, almost hundred years who is experienced loss more than anobody should.
      They are all very different but still they are connected. The connection between them isn't clear until later in the book and it keeps you guessing and interested in the story from the beginning to the end.

      Like I said, the story itself is marvelous and so, so beautiful. It's not particularly happy, it's actually quite sad and full of darkness and misery. It goes through Leo and Claire's story in their memories and Lucy lives through her life that is falling apart. It is so hard to put into words how I felt when reading this book. It's been awhile since I really cried when reading a book.

      In the end, they all felt happiness. They all had they happy endings in a way. And after I closed the book, it was really hard for me to fall asleep because I was so, so overwhelmed with the book and how it made me feel. It was truly, truly beautiful and it is still hard for me to comprehend that I've finished it.
    • 5/5
      I finished this late last night, then felt bereft. Tempted to go back to the beginning and read it again I loved it that much.
    • 4/5
      LOSS AND THE HUMAN NEED FOR CONNECTION. Three stories, one a young woman named, Lucy, an ER doctor, reeling from a failing marriage. A young boy, named Ben, who insisted he be called Leo, arrives in the ER, the victim of a terrible crime, and a horrific personal tragedy. Lastly, Claire, in a senior center, soon to celebrate her 100th birthday, and her story is both wonderful and heartbreaking. When the story first opens, we hear from all three of these characters, their stories unraveling as we read. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how these stories were going to line up, merge, and fit together. From the beginning I trusted this author, that she would reveal what I needed to know, when it fit. I was intrigued, and loved not knowing exactly how this would go, it was a unique experience. Usually I'm trying to fit everything together, guess what would happen, not here, I sat back and read, waited. It was sad, lovely, and everything in between. The human need for touch connection, the passing of time and what can change, what cannot, is fully exemplified in this novel. A connection made in the past, that needs to be fulfilled in the present. Possible? Who knows, I certainly don't, but in this authors deft hands, all things seem possible.A little bit different, a little bit wonderful.ARC from Edelweiss.
    • 5/5
      Being invited to a birthday party isn‘t something that comes easy for Ben. Too many things can happen, all is so unpredictable with other boys, but his mother can convince him to go nevertheless. And then, the most unexpected happens: a murderer comes to the party and kills the two mothers in the house as well as all of the kids, except for Ben. In hospital, Lucy can only determine that he hasn’t been hurt physically, but there seems to be a kind of trauma since Ben wants to be called Leo and remembers life with a certain Clare. At an elderly home somewhere in town, Clare is fighting again against having to socialise. Her life alone in a recluse hut and later with her foster child Leo has simply been perfect. How come Ben remembers being Clare’s son Leo?Liese O‘Halloran Schwarz‘ novel is one of the rare books that you just open and then get completely lost in. I read it in just one sitting because I simply did not want to get away from her characters. It is bittersweet, often melancholic, but you see the good heart the characters have and you are convinced that there must be something good coming from them. It is a perfect feel-good book, even though it tells harsh reality in an emergency room and the story of a child given away by his mother.I liked the alternate narration of the three protagonists, even though it did not completely make sense at the beginning, you slowly manage to put together the puzzle pieces that form a new and complete picture. All three are very sensitive characters, misunderstood by the people around them and therefore lonely. I guess these kind of people recognize each other what helps them to find each other. What also links them is the fact that they are highly intelligent and question the world: why do the things have to be the way they are and why don’t people change something about it?A beautifully written story about non-mainstream characters who can easily be overlooked.
    • 5/5
      I absolutely LOVED this book!!!! The cover of the book caught my eye and the story ended being amazing. It was beautifully written. This is one of those books that I find myself randomly thinking about, especially while driving home from work. The characters and their story just stuck with me. I loved everything about it- the story, characters and writing style. The characters just all came together, they ended up being connected even though Ben, Lucy and Clare didn't initially know each other. Lucy is an ER doctor. She meets Ben when when he is brought into the ER covered in blood. He was the lone survivor of a horrific birthday party massacre. He tells the doctors his name is Leo and wants to find Clare. Under hypnosis, Ben tells Leo's story. Clare is living in a nursing home and is believed to be 100 years old. She ends up making friends with another resident, Gloria. She eventually tells Gloria her story. I may have cried a few times, definitely at the end. I fell in love with the characters especially Clare. Her story was heartbreaking. I liked how it alternated between Clare, Ben/Leo and Lucy. I feel like I got to know the characters. Even when the book ended I wanted to keep reading about their lives. Leo's mom was unbelievable. She didn't seem to have any emotion when she received the telegram, unlike Clare. Clare loved and took care of Leo just like Lucy will for Ben. I definitely recommend this book and look forward to reading more by the author. It was one of my favorite books that I read this year!!!Thanks to NetGalley, Scribner and the author, Liese O'Halloran Schwarz, for a free electronic ARC of this novel.