My Real Children

By: Jo Walton

Narrated by: Alison Larkin

It's 2015, and Patricia Cowan is very old. "Confused today," read the notes clipped to the end of her bed. She forgets things she should know - what year it is, major events in the lives of her children. But she remembers things that don't seem possible. She remembers marrying Mark and having four children. And she remembers not marrying Mark and raising three children with Bee instead. She remembers the bomb that killed President Kennedy in 1963, and she remembers Kennedy in 1964, declining to run again after the nuclear exchange that took out Miami and Kiev.

Her childhood, her years at Oxford during the Second World War - those were solid things. But after that, did she marry Mark or not? Did her friends all call her Trish, or Pat? Had she been a housewife who escaped a terrible marriage after her children were grown, or a successful travel writer with homes in Britain and Italy? And the moon outside her window: does it host a benign research station, or a command post bristling with nuclear missiles?

Two lives, two worlds, two versions of modern history; each with their loves and losses, their sorrows and triumphs. Jo Walton's My Real Children is the tale of both of Patricia Cowan's lives... and of how every life means the entire world.​

©2014 Jo Walton (P)2014 Audible Inc.

A beautiful performance of an extraordinary story.

I wont go on and on. This one is worth your time. It is full of unpresupposing wisdom and simple beauty. The reader made me love.

Beautiful and Sad

Two lives lived. Do you like thinking about alternative timelines and character development? Then this may be a good book for you.

Great story, intriguing concept

Loved the concept and the story built from the choice made by Patricia. A very intriguing and interesting story. Very much a character-driven plot, and very little "science fiction". Alison Larkin was the perfect narrator for this.

A strange take on an otherwise simple story.

What did you like best about My Real Children? What did you like least?

I liked the alternate history elements mentioned in the background of the main story, The main story itself, both Pat and Trish was engaging enough, but slow paced and without tension. The ending was ultimately unfulfilling, and i would have enjoyed some kind of exploration into the "why" of the parallel worlds. Was a little depressing overall.

Would you be willing to try another book from Jo Walton? Why or why not?

Probably not, a little substanceless and slow paced for my liking. not a bad book overall however.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Alison Larkin?

yes. she did a good job.

Incredible book!

Stunning narration and emotion. Such a gentle and heart wrenching book!!! Loved every minute of this!