Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Mar 2019
272 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Publication Information
The residents of a sleepy mountain town are rocked by troubling visions of an alternate reality in this dazzling debut.
In the quiet haven of Clearing, Oregon, four neighbors find their lives upended when they begin to see themselves in parallel realities. Ginny, a devoted surgeon whose work often takes precedence over her family, has a baffling vision of a beautiful co-worker in Ginny's own bed and begins to doubt the solidity of her marriage. Ginny's husband, Mark, a wildlife scientist, sees a vision that suggests impending devastation and grows increasingly paranoid, threatening the safety of his wife and son. Samara, a young woman desperately mourning the recent death of her mother and questioning why her father seems to be coping with such ease, witnesses an apparition of her mother healthy and vibrant and wonders about the secrets her parents may have kept from her. Cass, a brilliant scholar struggling with the demands of new motherhood, catches a glimpse of herself pregnant again, just as she's on the brink of returning to the project that could define her career.
At first the visions are relatively benign, but they grow increasingly disturbing - and, in some cases, frightening. When a natural disaster threatens Clearing, it becomes obvious that the visions were not what they first seemed and that the town will never be the same.
Startling, deeply imagined, and compulsively readable, Kate Hope Day's debut novel is about the choices we make that shape our lives and determine our destinies - the moments that alter us so profoundly that it feels as if we've entered another reality.
"Starred Review. Effortlessly meshing the dreamlike and the realistic, [Kate Hope] Day's well-crafted mix of literary and speculative fiction is an enthralling meditation on the interconnectedness of all things." - Publishers Weekly
"A suburban drama built to leap from page to screen." - Kirkus
"Multiverse-theory fans will enjoy the speculation offered in this novel." - Booklist
"A must-read - a gorgeous literary novel that asks us to imagine all the possible versions of ourselves that might exist ... My desire to race to the finish was at all times competing with my urge to savor every line." - J. Courtney Sullivan, New York Times bestselling author of Saints for All Occasions
"In If, Then, Kate Hope Day negotiates the delicate balance between razor-sharp smarts and pure page-turning entertainment as well as any novel I've read - ever. Nothing escapes Day's deep intellect, from the intricacies of surgery to the real estate business to the effects of climate change - and, of course, the magic of alternate realities. If, Then brings to mind Tom Perrotta's The Leftovers, the best of Ursula K. Le Guin, Karen Russell, Kelly Link, and maybe even a splash of Stephen King. I suspect that everyone you know will be reading this book for years to come." - Daniel Torday, author of Boomer1
"If, Then is a mind-bending reflection on the nature of free choice and time...Kate Hope Day writes with a tender and vivid attention to the extraordinary details of ordinary lives. This is a fascinating and moving debut novel." - Eowyn Ivey, New York Times bestselling author of The Snow Child
"I love this book...In her deeply insightful and unputdownable debut, Kate Hope Day makes us fall in love with her characters, keeps us guessing until the end, and, most of all, inspires us to envision the infinite possibilities for our own lives." - Lindsey Lee Johnson, author of The Most Dangerous Place on Earth
"Vivid, thought-provoking, and meticulous - Kate Hope Day gives us an illuminating novel that asks us to consider the many paths a single life can offer. Spanning multiple universes, full of exquisite prose and insights that delve into the deepest corners of her characters' minds, If, Then is a shimmering spectacle, a literary page-turner that satisfies and delights." - Danya Kukafka, author of Girl in Snow
This information about If, Then was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Kate Hope Day holds a B.A. from Bryn Mawr College and a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. She was an associate producer at HBO. She lives in Oregon with her husband and their two children.
The Stone Home
by Crystal Hana Kim
A moving family drama and coming-of-age story revealing a dark corner of South Korean history.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
