By Heidi Simmons
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The Possibilities
By Kaui Hart Hemmings
Fiction
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Grief is a powerful human response and people grieve in different ways. In Kaui Hart Hemmings’ The Possibilities (Simon & Schuster, 276 pages), a mother seeks to understand her place in the world without her son.
The story begins three months after 22-year-old Cully has died in an avalanche. Sarah St. John, Cully’s mother, narrates as she tries to comprehend the impact of the loss and the nature of grieving.
Now back at work, Sarah struggles to concentrate. She is host of a television show aimed at tourists in the Breckenridge, Colorado, ski resort where she lives. Sarah is 43. She grew up in the area and her family is part of the local history, yet she constantly feels like an outsider.
Aware of her moodiness and short temper, Sarah is bewildered why she can’t control her behavior. Her producer and co-host treat her with kid gloves, which she appreciates — and despises.
Sarah’s father, Lyle, lives with her. He too mourns his grandson with whom he was very close. Retired, Lyle spends his days watching television and ordering TV products he thinks are ingenious inventions.
When Sarah comes home, Suzanne, her best friend is clearing out Cully’s belongings. Even though Sarah asked her for the help, she finds herself deliberately being mean to her dear friend. Suzanne is getting divorced and says she is grieving a kind of loss too. Sarah wonders if divorce and the death of a child can really be compared.
As Suzanne goes through Cully’s things, she discovers he was selling marijuana. Suddenly Sarah is confronted with the fact she didn’t know everything about her son. Cully had secrets – at least from her.
Cully also had a relationship with his father, Billy, which Sarah didn’t know about.
Sarah discovered she was pregnant after she and Billy broke up during college. She decided to keep the baby and be a single mom. Billy asked her to marry him, but she said no. Now Billy is divorced. Sarah and Billy rekindle a love affair as they deal with the loss of their son together.
In short order, a strange girl shows up. Kit is a girlfriend of Cully’s and is pregnant with his baby. Kit wants to meet the family that Cully was so proud of before she terminates the pregnancy. Sarah soon sees a new version of Cully through Kit’s eyes.
Once Kit gets to know the family, Sarah, Lyle, Billy and Suzanne, she offers to carry the baby full term if Sarah wants to raise the child. This creates a whole new wave of grief and confusion for Sarah. Yes, she wants to have a grandchild. In a way, have Cully back. She considers the possibilities of raising a child at her age and all the things she would change for the better — to do it right this time. Maybe Billy would be a part of the picture?
Sarah, Kit, Lyle, Billy and Suzanne travel to a memorial service for Cully at the college he attended. During this road trip, Sarah considers her options. In the process, Sarah reconciles her past and comes to terms with her future. With the help of her father, Billy and best friend, Sarah is able to make a decision.
With this intense experience, Sarah finds hope and laughter again as well as a new appreciation for her son and the life he lived. Her suffering is lessened and she again sees the possibilities of having a life after the death of her beloved boy.
This first-person narrative gives the reader an honest and painful interior voice of a grieving mother. She considers if there is any type of pain greater than a mother who has lost a child.
Author Hemmings has a gift for the way people talk. She is witty and has cleaver observations on human behavior. She structures the story in a linear way. This gives the reader insight to how the protagonist is dealing with the grieving processes. Her memories, guilt, regrets and her own upbringing constantly torment her. But none of it will bring her son back.
The beauty of The Possibilities is that Sarah finally sees her son as his own person who lived his own life. This realization gives her permission to stop punishing herself and to embrace the short, but beautiful life Cully lived.
Hemmings keeps the question of Kit’s pregnancy, whether “Choice” or “Right to Life,” unanswered. She certainly starts the debate but makes no commitment one way or the other. Kit and her own family are left to make the decision. Yet, whatever side you may be on when it comes to abortion, The Possibilities takes the issue very seriously and may be the central theme and meaning of the title.
Hemmings is the author of The Descendants, which was made into an award-winning movie staring George Clooney. Hemmings recently spoke at the Palm Springs International Film Festival’s Books to Screen event about the adaptation of The Descendants. She said it was a terrific experience working with director Alexander Payne.
The Possibilities is under option with director Jason Reitman (Juno, Up in the Air). The Possibilities is available in paperback February 24.
