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My Real Children
My Real Children | Jo Walton
It's 2015, and Patricia Cowan is very old. "Confused today," read the notes clipped to the end of her bed. She forgets things she should know-what year it is, major events in the lives of her children. But she remembers things that don't seem possible. She remembers marrying Mark and having four children. And she remembers not marrying Mark and raising three children with Bee instead. She remembers the bomb that killed President Kennedy in 1963, and she remembers Kennedy in 1964, declining to run again after the nuclear exchange that took out Miami and Kiev.Her childhood, her years at Oxford during the Second World War-those were solid things. But after that, did she marry Mark or not? Did her friends all call her Trish, or Pat? Had she been a housewife who escaped a terrible marriage after her children were grown, or a successful travel writer with homes in Britain and Italy? And the moon outside her window: does it host a benign research station, or a command post bristling with nuclear missiles?Two lives, two worlds, two versions of modern history; each with their loves and losses, their sorrows and triumphs. Jo Walton's "My Real Children" is the tale of both of Patricia Cowan's lives...and of how every life means the entire world.
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HeyT
My Real Children | Jo Walton
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Pickpick

This was beautifully written and heartbreakingly juxtaposed between two timelines. But O M G did Mark make this an excruciating experience to read at times. Just what an absolute tool bag. Team 🐝

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HeyT
My Real Children | Jo Walton
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Starting this today for personal book club now that my work book club book has been read.

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BestDogDad
My Real Children | Jo Walton
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Pickpick

I've said it a number of times, these books in which a character lives multiple lives fascinate me to no end. I can't help to think back on my life and the the pivotal decisions I made which brought me to where I currently am. It all could've been so different!

My Real Children begins and ends with Patricia Cowan in a nursing home in England suffering from dementia while trying to keep straight the memories of two past lives. Really well done.

iread2much Does this book focus on her an an older adult or more of her lives before 50? 5y
BestDogDad @iread2much It doesn‘t really focus on any particular age, so most of it is before 50 I would say. 5y
iread2much @BestDogDad darn. Thanks so much for the info! 5y
Suet624 I know what you mean. Alternate universes are what fascinate me. 5y
14 likes4 comments
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catsuit_mango
My Real Children | Jo Walton
Pickpick

I had been wanting to read it for a long time and once I started I could not put it down. A great story, with only a little uchrony in it but very nice exploration of what the choices we make can change in our lives.

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tournevis
My Real Children | Jo Walton
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Such a good list of books with older women protags over at @bookriot, all 50 are good, some are fan-tas-tic, but the compiler forgot Jo Walton's My Real Children, which is egregious. Go read the books on this list and then read My Real Children.
https://bookriot.com/2019/07/30/novels-about-older-women/

tpixie Thx!! ♥️📚♥️ 5y
Lindy 👍I second your addition of Walton‘s 5y
See All 9 Comments
britt_brooke This is written by our very own Nashville Litten @HeatherBookNerd ! 5y
tpixie @britt_brooke fun!! @HeatherBookNerd thanks! ♥️📚♥️ 5y
tournevis @HeatherBookNerd 👋👋👋👋👋👋 5y
tournevis @britt_brooke 👍😘👍 5y
HeatherBookNerd @tournevis thanks for sharing! I guess I need to go read @My Real Children!!! 5y
tournevis @HeatherBookNerd It's soooooo gooooood!!!! 5y
58 likes2 stack adds9 comments
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Susanita
My Real Children | Jo Walton
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Book recommendations from @tournevis who also encouraged me to go ahead and get the stocking stuffer eight months early! Then we ate yummy pizza, and she tolerated my imperfect knowledge of the city‘s “modified grid” as we took a “windshield tour” of a few of the sights. 📚🍕🚗

tournevis I hall a ball! Thank you for the tour! 6y
43 likes1 comment
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sacrilecious
My Real Children | Jo Walton
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I am still trucking along on #24in48. I've read for just under 17 hours at this point.
Serafina Pekkala is here to offer moral support.

Silvertongue !!!!! Perfect name for a beautiful kitty! ❤️ 6y
julesG @Silvertongue Just what I wanted to say. 6y
Stephaniereads1 So adorable. 6y
See All 6 Comments
Lcsmcat Awww! 6y
85 likes6 comments
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MicrobeMom
My Real Children | Jo Walton
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These two kids are entertaining themselves and actually letting me read! #thankgodforthebeach

MommyWantsToReadHerBook You're living the life 😊 One day... 6y
54 likes1 comment
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LauraRenae
My Real Children | Jo Walton
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Bailedbailed

I wanted to love this one. I really did. I want to know the direction of the story but I just can‘t get into the author‘s writing. It has no finesse for me. #dnf

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LauraRenae
My Real Children | Jo Walton
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Day 1: January‘s Most Anticipated Read for #janinbooks18 I found this one pretty much on a whim for my #alternativehistory prompt for #aroundtheyearin52books challenge

5 likes2 stack adds
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bernadette
My Real Children | Jo Walton
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Having fun choosing what to read next. This looks like it might suit.

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laurenesalisbury
My Real Children | Jo Walton
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Dementia that maybe isn't dementia. I'm looking forward to diving into another Jo Walton.

1 like1 stack add
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Mairi
My Real Children | Jo Walton
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Next read.

2 likes2 stack adds
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AnnieSmith
My Real Children | Jo Walton
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Pickpick

We all have critical decisions in our lives, but we usually don't get to learn what would have happened if we'd made the other choice. This book is all about what if. Very good, even though I think it has a problem with bias.

7 likes1 stack add