Hope Edelman reading from The Possibility of Everything
Our living room is sort of strange and we arranged the chairs in two horseshoes. The house was packed with a lively audience of Ashlanders. Ashland, as Hope mentioned in her 4:00 p.m. bookstore reading (which was also well attended), is a great place to talk about a book about spirituality. Ours is a pretty crunchy town where people often change their names to things like serenity (in Sanskrit) and Apple Blossom.
A captive audience listens to Hope's reading
But Hope’s new book, The Possibility of Everything, is anything but flakey. The writing is exquisite and moving and honest and beautiful. The story is incredible — a saga about Hope’s then 3-year-old daughter’s imaginary friend who becomes an overwhelming presence in the family, who doesn’t want her to get well when she is sick, and who overstays his welcome. Despite being a “card carrying member of the church of the senses,” Hope decides to follow her husband’s lead and bring Maya to a bush doctor in Belize. It’s an unusual thing for a skeptic to agree to and it ends up saving her marriage and being one of the most transformative experiences of Hope’s life.
We had a great spread of wine and cheese and goodies and lots of people stayed afterwards to talk to Hope, have her sign books, and have another glass of wine. And this on a school night.
So, Hope’s a bestselling author, an incredible writer (these don’t always go hand in hand), an articulate speaker, and strikingly beautiful. Plus, when I came home from biking my daughters to school Friday morning, she was playing Chutes and Ladders with my 5-year-old son (who was off for Columbus Day.)
We were so lucky to have her here. I hope she’ll write another book soon (this one, she told the audience, took about six years to complete), so that we can invite her back!
Jennifer Margulis (pregnant) and Hope Edelman
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
It looks like it was a wonderful event! I just added Hope’s book to my Amazon cart.
sounds like a great evening. I’ve been to house concerts before, and know they are fun but work to pull off too. congrats to you fro doing it.
Wish I was there! Sounds like an incredible evening. What a wonderful venue for an event like this; so personal and intimate!
What a lovely post. Wish I could have been there, too — and I really look forward to reading Hope’s book.
What a wonderful event this must have been. It sounds amazing, personal and enlightening. Congrats to all.
I cannot wait to read The Possibility of Everything. My mother used to tell me about my own imaginary friend, who apparently left of his/her own accord.
Wish I could have beamed myself across the continent to attend this reading!
Do you know her? Is that how you got her to come to your house? What fun!
How nice of you to have a home event for the book, and it looks like it turned out great. Julia Drake wrote a nice review of the book for my blog on October 6 if you want to check it out.
What a lovely evening! I’ve seen so many wonderful things written about this book–gotta add it to the reading list.
What a great event! Must look into that book.
I’m so jealous that you had her at your house! It’s because of you that I even know about this book… and now my book club is reading it. I have it here and can’t wait to dig in. Thanks for spreading the word.
I got The Possibility of Everything from the library and really enjoyed reading it. When I really enjoy a book, I buy it. That’s what I intend to do now. Thanks for bringing this amazing story to my attention!
Thanks for this lovely post, Jennifer! And I’m digging that you mentioned Chutes and Ladders. Truly, I was happy to play it with Etani. He’s an amazing kid. And I hadn’t played it in at least…oh, probably six weeks. So I was due. Many, many thanks to you for hosting such a terrific event. I loved spending time in Ashland. Your salon was absolutely one of the high points of the tour so far.