What If? in Women's Fiction

I've done a few features on WF now for Booklist, and this one was probably my favorite—not least of all because I'll admit to being a daydreamer. As much as I love my husband and my kids and my job... yeah, I spend a lot of time in daydream land working in the beauty industry. With a husband that looks like Jason Segal or Justin Trudeau (depending on the day). And kids that my nanny takes care of, since I am impossibly rich. Tell me I'm not alone!

Trend Alert: Roads Not Taken.

No one’s life is perfect, right? Admit it: Wouldn’t you at least give some thought, if given the chance, to go back and make changes—even small ones—that recalibrated your destiny? These women’s-fiction novels feature characters that wish, even for just a moment, that they would have picked the other guy, moved to a different city, followed a different career path. Some of them have actual out-of-body experiences; others merely daydream. But they all ask the same question: “What if?”

Here I Go Again. By Jen Lancaster. 2013. NAL, $25.95 (9780451236722).


Mean-girl Lissy gets a chance to go back into the past to undo the misery she caused during her teenage years. When she returns to her new present, she’s shocked to find how much life has changed and not necessarily for the better.

If I Could Turn Back Time. By Beth Harbison. 2015. St. Martin’s, $26.99 (9781250043818).

On her thirty-eighth birthday, Ramie Phillips wakes up as an 18-year-old, getting the chance to see whether things could have gone differently with her first love. But will a redo help her find the fulfillment she craves?

Landline. By Rainbow Rowell. 2014. St. Martin’s, $24.99 (9781250049377).

In the middle of witnessing her marriage crumble, Georgie unexpectedly discovers, via the yellow rotary phone in her childhood bedroom, that she has been given a chance to change her relationship’s history. Chock-full of 1990s references, this book will delight Gen Xers.

Maybe in Another Life. By Taylor Jenkins Reid. 2015. Washington Square, $16 (9781476776880).

One evening, Hannah is confronted with the choice to go home with her roommate or go out with her old high-school boyfriend. In concurrent story lines, she lives out the effects of each decision.

The One That Got Away. By Leigh Himes. 2016. Hachette, $26 (9780316305723).

Abbey just wanted a touch of luxury in her life. But when her husband finds out about the $600 Marc Jacobs bag, and she has to return it, a fall off the department store escalator plunges her into a life of more luxury than she could have imagined.

The Regulars. By Georgia Clark. 2016. Atria, $25 (9781501119590).


If you came across a potion that promised to make you pretty, would you take it? Three friends have the chance and grab it. The young New Yorkers have loads of baggage—which they assume would go away if only they were beautiful.

The Story of Us. By Dani Atkins. 2015. Ballantine, $15 (9780804178549).

On the way home from her bachelorette party, Emma and her friends get into a car accident. Handsome stranger Jack happens to arrive at the scene of the wreck, rescuing Emma just before the car explodes. From there, an alternate story line unfolds that finds Emma in the future, having left her fiancé to pursue Jack.

Time of My Life. By Allison Winn Scotch. 2008. Crown, $23 (9780307408570).


An oldie but a goodie: bored wife and mother Jillian wakes up from a massage to discover the life she knew never happened—she’s now seven years in the past, still with her previous boyfriend. She has not yet met her husband, and dreams of her daughter cause Jillian’s memory of the future to become confused with the past.

Read the full article—including three additional titles!—on Booklist Online!