From Allison Winn Storch’s website:
The One That I Want
What if you woke up one day to all your dreams coming true…but those dreams were more like nightmares?
Tilly Farmer is thirty-two years old and has the perfect life she always dreamed of: married to her high school sweetheart, working as a school guidance counselor, trying for a baby. Perfect.
But one sweltering afternoon at the local fair, everything changes. Tilly wanders into a fortune teller’s tent and meets an old childhood friend, who offers her more than just a reading. “I’m giving you the gift of clarity,” her friend says. “It’s what I always thought you needed.” And soon enough, Tilly starts seeing things: her alcoholic father relapsing, staggering out of a bar with his car keys in hand; her husband uprooting their happy, stable life, a packed U-Haul in their driveway. And even more disturbing, these visions start coming true. Suddenly Tilly’s perfect life, so meticulously mapped out, seems to be crumbling around her. And as she furiously races to keep up with – and hopefully change – her destiny, she faces the question: Which life does she want? The one she’s carefully nursed for decades, or the one she never considered possible?
What if you could see into the future? Would you want to know what fate has in store
Reading the jacket I thought Allison Winn Storch’s The One that I Want was going to be a dark tale of tragedy and sadness. Instead I found the story of a supposedly happy woman re-examining her life and attempting to adjust as the choices she has made in her life are taken away from her.
Initially I did not like Tilly Farmer. I was so annoyed with her dogged, selfish, single-minded pursuit of the perfect life and family that I just didn’t care what would happen to her. For someone who prided herself on taking care of others she spent a good deal of time attempting to make people do things her way. However, after she is given the ability to see future events, she gets a clue that her wants and wishes may not mirror those around her.
Although the plot was a bit familiar (mid-thirty aged female trying to have a baby, discovering her marriage is not what she thought it was and a demanding family) I found that I wanted to know what Tilly’s next move and my dislike waned. I sympathized with her more when her well laid plans were disturbed and she was forced to get a clue that the life she was living was not life as she knew it.
But there is more to this novel. Beyond the fluffiness is a deeper questions: Is one predetermined to lead the life on a road that they make or can one pick and choose what their life will be? Reading about Tilly I found myself wondering if I would change my path if I were able to see into the future.
I would recommend this book to people who desire a light fun read and I look forward to checking out other books by Allison.
Looking for the one that *I* want,
-r
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