In the autumn of 2000, Hope Edelman was a woman adrift, questioning her marriage, her profession, and her place in the larger world. Feeling vulnerable and isolated, she was primed for change. Into her stagnant routine dropped Dodo, her three-year-old daughter Maya’s curiously disruptive imaginary friend. Confused and worried about how to handle Dodo’s apparent hold on their daughter, Edelman and her husband made the unlikely choice to take her to Maya healers in Belize, hoping that a shaman might help them banish Dodo—and, as they came to understand, all he represented—from their lives.
An account of how an otherwise mainstream mother and wife finds herself making an extremely unorthodox choice, The Possibility of Everything chronicles the magical week in Central America that transformed Edelman from a person whose past had led her to believe only in the visible and the “proven” to someone open to the idea of larger, unseen forces. This deeply affecting, beautifully written memoir of a family’s emotional journey explores what Edelman and her husband went looking for in the jungle and what they ultimately discovered—as parents, as spouses, and as ordinary people—about the things that possess and destroy, or that can heal us all.
In My Opinion:
Hope describes herself as a “I have to see it to believe it” type of person. She begins her memoir without having faith in anything other than the possibility of everything – but not without visual proof. My belief system is so much in contrast to Hope’s that I hungered to see her know there is more.
Getting deeper into the book, while I enjoyed Hope’s writing style I just had a hard time getting fully into the book. I tried to place myself in her shoes…. doing whatever I could for my child no matter what. I of course would…. yet the direction they go still surprises me. There are points of this book where I simply have a hard time relating to the authors thoughts.
While Hope Elderman has a way with words, parts of this book seems to drag out the details and I found myself passing over pages quickly to find the heart of the memoir. I did enjoy the details about Belize but by the time I finished the book I was still not in agreement with the actions this family took for their daughter.
I have read some wonderful reviews on this book so be sure to check out other opinions.
About The Author:
Most of the year I live outside of Los Angeles with my husband, two daughters, and a growing menagerie of beloved pets. You can also find me every July in Iowa City, where I teach in the summer writing festival and never miss the Johnson County Fair. I’m a New Yorker by birth, a Californian by circumstance, but a Midwesterner at heart.
Here are the rest of the tour stops – be sure to check them out!
Thursday, Dec. 3
Book reviewed & giveaway at Luxury Reading
Friday, Dec. 4
Book reviewed at Readaholic
Guest blogging at As the Pages Turn
Monday, Dec. 7
Interviewed at Blogcritics
Book reviewed at My Reading Room
Tuesday, Dec. 8
Interviewed at The Hot Author Report
Book reviewed at The Life of an Inanimate Flying Object
Wednesday, Dec. 9
Reviewed at Review From Here
Reviewed at Rundpinne
Thursday, Dec. 10
Guest blogging at Blogging Authors
Guest blogging at Carol’s Notebook
Friday, Dec. 11
Book reviewed at A Sea of Books
Monday, Dec. 14
Interview l Chat l Book Giveaway at Pump Up Your Book!
Tuesday, Dec. 15
Book reviewed at Brizmus Blogs Books
Book reviewed and guest blogging at My Book Views
Wednesday, Dec. 16
Book reviewed at Buuklvr81
I received my review copy of this book from Pump Up Your Book Promotion
Book Journey 
I can imagine what this story reveals about this family’s quest, but my fascination had more to do with the location of their quest…Belize.
In Belize, my older brother did research for his doctorate (in the seventies), and he returned in 1983 to do post-doctoral research. It was in the jungles of Belize that he died mysteriously, and this informed OUR lives for years afterwards.
It was poignant to see the jungles in this video, since I’ve never been there. I could imagine my brother walking there…it gave me chills!
I’ve included some of this in my book “Miles to Go.”
Wow Laurel! That is so amazing! I have your book Miles To Go on my shelf and really need to get to it.
I’m so sorry to hear about your brother. It’s horrible to lose a family member under any circumstance, and I imagine that Belize in the 1970s was a much rougher place than it is now, more difficult to access and get information from. I can only imagine what your family must have gone through. Is your book available online?
Belize is a beautiful country today but very complicated, and still mysterious in many ways. I’ve found it to be very safe, though, or I never would have brought a child there.
I have been curious how someone could reach the point where they would take such a drastic step. There are so many other options right here, even beyond the medical community.
This is so true, Lisa, and I hope speaks to the level of despair we were feeling at the time. We’d had a happy, cheerful child for three years, and then literally overnight her behavior radically changed. All the parenting methods we’d been using up to that point that had seemed to be successful stopped working, and the only advice we could find about negative imaginary friends was, “Leave her alone. She’ll grow out of it.” But instead of growing out of it, she seemed to be growing into it. Also, there’s a history of mental illness in my family, and I was very concerned that I might have somehow passed it on.
At the time I didn’t know of other options in the U.S., but I do know and I’d most definitely pursue them in the future. But then, I’m a very different person now than I was nine years ago when the story took place, mainly because of what happened on that journey.
Thanks so much for your comment!
I have this one headed my way, and now I’m even more curious to read it. I wonder if I’ll be able to relate to Hope.
Hi Audrey,
If you have any questions after reading the book, or want to dialogue with me about anything in it, I”ll be happy to–hopeedelman@gmail.com. It seems that most readers either think our journey was fascinating or downright irresponsible, depending on their own parenting philosophies and how judgmental they tend to be toward other parents. (As if I’d ever put my own child in danger!) Like Proust said, a book is like a mirror–it reflects back pieces of the reader to herself, which affects her individual response. That’s definitely been true in the responses to this book. I’d love to hear what you think afterward.
All best,
Hope
Oops, mistake there. The email is:
hopeedelman@gmail.com
Your review was written wonderfully!! I find myself skipping also trying to get to the “heart” of it all. Thanks for your honesty and for your perspective!
Love books like this! Great review.
Thanks J Kaye
Sounds like a really interesting book! Will have to take a look, as I can’t imagine what would motivate parents to take their daughter to Maya healers in Belize! I’m all for thinking outside of the box, but this seems a little extreme. Will have to read the book for more details. Thanks for the review Sheila! Appreciated your honest opinion.
Hi Alexia – I hope you do read it. I would certainly try another book by Hope Elderman as I did like the writing style. I am curious about her book Motherless Daughters.
I’ve heard of Motherless Daughters, and it’s supposed to be a good one! Will put both books on my list. Thanks Sheila!
Parenting is such a touchy issue with people isn’t it. Putting aside how I would personally react to a similar situation with my own children, I can say that this was a really well written book. I found it quite a fascinating journey.
Hi Jemina – I am so glad you stopped by and glad you enjoyed the book! 🙂
I realize this posting is coming several months after the main discussion, but I have just read ‘The Possiblity of Everything’ and wished to comment. I live in a country where English books are expensive and often rather hard to come by, and this book has been on my ‘to read’ list for quite a while. On a visit home, I managed to get copy from the local library–where it seems to be popular–and I couldn’t put it down. As a parent of three children–one born just a few weeks before Hope’s daughter, Maya–I can relate to much of what the author is saying. My middle child, who is now 12 like Maya, was such a handful and such a mystery to me that I often questioned my sanity and suitability to parent her. Her issue was not a pretend friend, but it was something that wore me out, mentally and physically. We eventually worked through the issues and the child in question (like Maya) is a happy, intelligent, busy 7th grader. Whether or not you agree with what Hope did with her daughter, the desire to help your child is universal. I also skipped a few parts here and there–the Mayan history– as I was anxious to get back to the story of Hope and her family. Highly recommended. I am now very keen to read some of Hope’s other books.
Thank you for commenting Loui-chan! 😀 I appreciate your thoughts and take on the book.