The Probable Future

When the women in the Sparrow family reach thirteen they develop a unique ability. In young Stella's case the gift which is both a blessing and a curse is the ability to see a person's probable future. Stella foresees a gruesome murder and tells her charming feckless father about it but it is too late - the murder has already been committed and suspicion falls on him. Hoffman unlocks the caskets of family life and the secret history of a community in this magical story about young love and old love about making choices - usually the wrong ones - about foresight and consequences all suffused with the haunting scent of roses and wisteria and the hum of bees on a summer evening.