The Possibility of You, by Pamela Redmond

The Possibility of You is intended to be a sweeping multi-generational saga of the 20th century.  In her "Author's Note," Redmond suggests that the book is about a number of interesting topics: immigration, how the Irish "became white," family history, polio epidemics, and more. Yet really the book is about unintended pregnancy and the decisions women must make when faced with an unintended pregnancy. Women of three different generations face these decisions during the story's three focal periods--1916, 1976 (one generation is skipped), and now.  The treatment is sentimental, the characters shallow, and the "surprises" totally expected. If I hadn't taken it to my son's for an evening of babysitting with sleeping grandchildren, I doubt I would have finished The Possibility of You.