Alice Stern is approaching her fortieth birthday in New York City, feeling stagnant in her career and romantic life while her father, Leonard, lies dying in a hospital bed. After a night of heavy drinking, she wakes up in 1996 on her sixteenth birthday. Alice inhabits her adolescent body while retaining her adult consciousness, allowing her to interact with a younger, healthy version of Leonard. She repeats this time-slip multiple times, testing how small adjustments to her past behavior—such as her choice of boyfriend or her academic focus—reconfigure her current reality and her father's health.
Readers who enjoy speculative fiction centered on domestic relationships will find a grounded look at the mechanics of regret and grief. It appeals to those interested in the 1990s aesthetic and the specific dynamics of parent-child bonds during adulthood. The narrative provides an analysis of how memory functions and whether knowing the future alters the value of the present. One walks away with a clear perspective on the inevitability of loss and the realization that changing the past rarely produces a perfect outcome.
Inward-looking; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Empathetic Explorer. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2022
- Language
- EN
