I have a confession: I am a planner. I don’t do spontaneous. I only “follow my gut” or “rely on instinct” if it comes after hours, days, weeks of contemplation and pro-and-con lists. (And yes, this is just as exhausting as it sounds.) While I may chew on decisions like a cow with cud, I am sure I am not alone in reflecting on choices made, consequences lived and wondering if the grass is truly greener.
But wonder is all real life affords us. Unlike fiction.
We keep hearing that readers are looking for an escape from the current world in their reading. While many believe that to be fueling the romance and fantasy trend, I believe it also speaks to why readers of late are also hungry for grounded speculative fiction that tackles the road not taken: a marriage that could have been, a death that could have been avoided, a family that never was. The question these books share isn’t “what if the world were different?” but “what if I had been?”
My latest novel, Kiss, Marry, Kill, is part of this wave. The novel follows three best friends and cofounders of a health and wellness app who play a spin on the conversation game of “kiss, marry, kill” at their summer outing and wake up the next day in an alternate universe where they’ve each done exactly that. It’s part twisty book club fiction, part female friendship and part meditation on control, chance and the stories we tell ourselves. It is about the path not taken and the many facets of love in our lives, ultimately asking: Do our choices define us or do we define our choices?
Kiss, Marry, Kill uses the multiverse as its speculative mechanism, but as seen in this collection of recent Sliding Doors-esque stories, there are many approaches (from time travel to alternate history to magical realism) that push characters to confront who they are, who they were and who they want to be, prompting the reader to do the same. There are The Midnight Library by Matt Haig; Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister; This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub; Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale; Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore; The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver; and In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren. Beyond those, the titles I most come back to are:
‘Once and Again’ by Rebecca Serle
The latest from an author who has built a career on the what-if premise, this one centers on three generations of women in the same family who have the ability to call a redo. But the trick is: they can only do it once. Grandmother, mother and daughter, the women share the same magical power to undo a single moment in their lives. Imagine knowing you have this ability. Imagine living your life with disappointments or failures or tragedy and having to decide: Is this the one? Is this the moment I should undo? What if you use it too soon? Too late? A novel that is deceptively introspective about relationships, love and past regrets.
‘Once and Again’ by Rebecca Serle.
Atria Books
‘The Names’ by Florence Knapp
With an inventive structure, this propulsive and emotional novel takes us into multiple “what ifs,” all stemming from the decision a mother makes regarding what to name her son. Three names, three versions of a life. Tradition deems she name her son after her controlling and abusive husband. And yet, she hesitates. How does something as seemingly simple as a name shape our identity, our relationships and our life choices? Tackling domestic abuse, control and autonomy, this is ultimately a story of what a mother will do to protect her children.
‘The Names’ by Florence Knapp.
Penguin Books
‘The Husbands’ by Holly Gramazio
What if every time you opened your attic, a new husband walked down the stairs? That’s the premise of this humorous novel exploring themes of commitment, love and if what we think we want is truly what we need. A single woman living in London comes home to find herself inexplicably married to a stranger claiming to be her husband. But when he climbs the stairs to the attic, he disappears, and a new man takes his place. Chewing too loud, bad in bed, leaving a wet towel on the floor… every habit she can’t bear to live with becomes one she doesn’t have to. She can dispose of husbands at will. A true “devil you know” conundrum, this novel makes us think about our current world of never-ending options.
‘The Husbands’ by Holly Gramazio.
Vintage
‘The Astral Library’ by Kate Quinn
An author known for writing historical fiction, this is her first foray into the world of magical realism and fantasy. The novel centers on a woman who grew up in foster care and is working three jobs to make ends meet. She has learned that books never disappoint you—unlike people. She regularly goes to the Boston Public Library to escape the doldrums of her life. Except this time, she finds an actual escape. A magical one. A door that leads to the Astral Library, guarded by the Librarian, where one can escape to new lives in the pages of literary classics. Yet before she can enjoy it, a shadowy enemy threatens this Astral Library, and the woman and the Librarian go on an adventure through Pride and Prejudice, The Great Gatsby and more. A delight for book lovers.
‘The Astral Library’ by Kate Quinn.
William Morrow Paperbacks
‘Maybe Next Time’ by Cesca Major
A time loop novel in the vein of Groundhog Day and Palm Springs, this novel sees a literary agent on her worst day, dealing with emergency after emergency, who comes home to have a terrible fight with her husband that leads to him storming out. It’s only then that she remembers it’s their anniversary. From inside their house, she hears the screech of brakes and rushes down the street to find her husband dead. The next morning, she wakes up in bed with her very alive husband. She lives the same day again and again and again, desperate to change her fate. A novel about something many of us struggle with: being present in the now.
‘Maybe Next Time’ by Cesca Major.
William Morrow Paperbacks
