The Wishing Box

by Dashka Slater

A sometimes funny, sometimes magical first novel, The Wishing Box explores the surprising and unintended consequences of getting what you ask for. Julia, an almost-30 single mom whose life is mostly together, lives in Oakland with her seven-year-old son. Never suspecting it will actually work, she and her sister create a wishing box and half-seriously hold a ceremony for the return of the father who abandoned them as children. Astonishingly, he comes backbut Julia's life has already moved abruptly in a new direction, and she has taken off in much the same way her father had many years before. Julia and her unusual family are at the heart of this novel about appearances and disappearances, the desire to control the future and explain the past, and the legacies passed on from one generation to another.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction

300 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Dashka Slater’s novel, The Wishing Box, was named one of the best books of the year by the Los Angeles Times, which called it “an impish novel, hopeful and full of humor.” She is the author of four acclaimed children's books: Baby Shoes; Firefighters in the Dark; The Sea Serpent and Me and Dangerously Ever After. She has two picture books forthcoming in 2017, as well as the much-anticipated Young Adult non-fiction narrative The 57 Bus.

Slater is also an award-winning journalist who has written for such publications as Newsweek, More, Salon, Mother Jones, Sierra, and The New York Times Magazine. The recipient of a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, she is currently working on new books for both children and adults. Learn more at www.dashkaslater.com.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story of fate and free will and family dysfunction.

It's quirky and captivating with strong touches of magical realism.

The story and the characters are compelling, and they constantly surprise you.

It is full of amazing imagery... almost like being at a movie.

I would recommend this to someone in need of a light, refreshing read!

[Lolly K Dandeneau · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a strange novel to be sure. It is told in many voices of women in one magical family. Magical in the ways of intuition and the awareness of seeing fates pattern. Some have compared this story to Alice Hoffman novels, and while I would see a similarity, I would not agree. I felt at times the author tried too hard with the whole magical path. Yet on that breath I must admit, I loved the strange moments. A human seductress with an animal tail? Out there, but definitely captured my imagination. I flip flop between like and love here. Some of the story just dragged, but other parts held meaning. This is a story for those of us that like quirky tales (tail ha ha). It tickled me but I kept wanting something from it that never delivered. Not heavy so much as Hoffman's stories are but a really good read all the same. Glad to have stumbled on this story, and look forward to more from the author.

[Katie Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so grateful for this book - it rekindled my love of writing and challenging the general perception of how the world works. This story is mystical, absurd, fantastical, and emotional. I still think of her richly colored characters and the woman with the tail. There are no minor characters and I fell in love with each one of them. Please please please, Dashka, write so many more books so I can go back to your way of seeing the world over and over again.

[Jodi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed each character's story but it was hard to fit them all together for some reason in my mind. The male father's in the book are not good since they keep leaving their children behind. I struggled to understand why Julia stayed away for a month, but I know she needed time to heal and had found a safe place to do so.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars...she had me until “flesh colored tail”

[Vanessa Perez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it enough -- I found myself enthralled by the details and the dialogue. I could compare this book to eating salsa even though you dislike cilantro but you're so hungry you grin and bear it. It was a good, good story, with likable characters who were all different. Now for the cilantro -- toward the middle of the book all these big words started getting thrown out, left and right, out of no where. And as quickly as they came on, they left. Also, there was a natural disaster in the book -- and maybe it's because I'm not familiar with Oakland, but why was everything but the highway unscathed? And why was everyone so nonchalant? Last piece of "cilantro" -- it started getting quite annoying when, in every other paragraph, 40+ readers had "highlighted" some "deep" phrase about fate or god. I'd recommend it, but not on a kindle otherwise it has the tendency to come off as cheesy. Oh and two vaginas? Really?

[Dashka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm biased of course -- after all, I wrote the book. But you can find some tools for drawing your own conclusions about the book -- named one of the year's best by the Los Angeles Times on my website. There you'll find reviews, a couple of excerpts, as well as a reader's guide and more. This book always engenders lots of debate and discussion, particularly among parents of young children, which makes it a great Book Club book.

[Sarah Shoemaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick, surprisingly good read. Amazon was having a Kindle book sale and I got this one for $1. It had good (albeit few) reviews, so what the heck?

I enjoyed the magical, quirky elements of the story. The characters were believable and everyone was pretty much happy in the end.

Some quotes from the book that I liked:

"Sometimes I think the fear of dying is really a fear that you're not living the life you want."

"Fate is the choice that we make because we think there is no other."

"Most people cry for themselves and their illusions more than they ever cry for others."

One thing that I found odd: No mother that I've ever met would let her seven year old say "fat ass" even in jest.

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-told story of fate and free will and family dysfunction, at the center of which stand a father and daughter who are "like two versions of the same letter, capital and lowercase. They didn't look alike, but they meant the same thing."

It's quirky and captivating with strong touches of magical realism and apparently something for everyone: whoever owned the book before me carefully marked various quotes about fate and philosophy, whereas I was captivated by Slater's ability to turn a phrase or weave a metaphor.

[Leora · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book several years ago and loved it so much I immediately started lending it to everyone I knew. Of course, it eventually went out and never returned. I couldn't remember the author, and I wasn't sure about the title, so I am thrilled to have found it on goodreads! I can't wait to get a copy and read it again.

The story and the characters are compelling, and they constantly surprise you. It is full of amazing imagery- I remember it like I would a movie. Even years later (and hundreds of books later) I have several clear images from this book in my mind.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book at the college where I work for 3 dollars, so I couldn't pass it up. I was really suprised. This was touching, funny, and the narrator's voice was very honest. I would reccomend this to someone in the need of a light, refreshing read!

[Cynthia Sillitoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong first novel. The change from one narrator to another worked particularly well. Some scenes are so mystical and vivid. Others just cracked me up. And this one character, Justina....well, I'm not sure Alice Hoffman could have made that work so well.

[Therese Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written, funny and impossible to put down. The Wishing Box is one of those rare stories you don't want to see end.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Magical story of overcoming.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book, but it just got too weird. I really did not like the dad and I felt like the story was all over the place.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unique but hard to stick with for me. I wouldn’t seek out another of her books but think others might really enjoy.

[Victoria & David Williams]

We have the hardcover edition but with this book jacket.

[Renee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book marginally interesting, but unpleasant and full of self-absorbed characters. Certainly, as humans we are all self-centered beings by nature, but nearly all of Dashka Slater's characters in The Wishing Box display this trait in the extreme. And I found it all a bit too much.

Not a religious person in the conventional sense, I found the idea of locking a statue of the Virgin Mary in a box as a way of making wishes come true both alarming and repulsive. That should have been my first signal that this novel is not for me. But, I persisted out of sheer stubbornness, expecting that at least some of the characters would redeeem themselves, but it never happened for me. I never could understand what Julia and Lisa ever saw in their father, especially the washed-up version they met as adults. I was irritated that they did not appreciate the aunt who had raised them more. And, I was outraged by the way Julia abandoned her son.

All in all, not a fun read at all.

[Nana Lee · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm very disappointed with this book. I saw this in a local bookstore but I didn't buy it immediately because I checked the reviews on amazon first. This book has a 5 star reviews from 6 people. That alone made me go back to the bookstore again. I was reading half way through the book an yet nothing very important happend. I still gave the book a chance but until the end, I was confused. I felt that since this is the author's first, she want to tell so many stories and she incorporated them all in one book. I never felt the magic that Glamour is saying that the books possess. Maybe the author needs to explain this to me first so that I can fully understand what she's trying to convey. Waste of time and money. Hey wait, does this author has 6 amazon accounts? Maybe that could explain the 5 stars.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was my second someone supernatural/mystical themed book, and I liked it a lot more than the last one. The point of view of the narrator changes every month, and it was a little confusing at first, but I did like getting to know all the characters in that way. I also really liked how the author described things, especially from Simone and Julia's POV.

I would have given this book four stars, but I thought the author let down the reader about 85% of the way through. I didn't feel like the ending really wrapped up several important threads and themes from the book. I think authors think they're being artistic when they leave the ending hanging like that, but I just felt like she just ran out of time, so she quit about two chapters before she was done.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started this book with anticipation. I had just finished reading Stephen King's 'Carrie', and was looking forward to something less dark and disturbing. I should have kept looking.

This book was SO difficult to get into. It was told from the perspective of many different women (all related), that I had trouble keeping them straight. Once I finally got the characters down pat, I found that I didn't like ANY of them. The only character that I liked was Steven...and my heart broke for him on every page.

Bleck....if I wasn't the kind of person that HAS to finish a book once I start it, I would have stopped reading it after the first 50 pages.

[Diane Lybbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story of family dynamics. Two adult sisters whose father left their mother and them when they were very young children decide to 'wish' him back by locking a statue of the Virgin Mary in a box until she grants their wish. Quirky family - free spirited mother, her sister who practices divination, their Mexican-Indian mother, and the two daughters, the younger more settled than the elder, both struggling with relationships. I really liked the characters, and enjoyed the story - no spoiler here!!

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blah. I never connected with this book, yet at times I wanted to kick each character in this book in the shins. So, in all fairness, I probably connected at some level...but not enough to make it an enjoyable or memorable read.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the characters. I enjoyed the writing style. I'm not sure of the story line. The issue with Julia didn't really seem to fit in with the rest of the book or her character. I don't want to say much more about that part, because I don't want to spoil it for anyone. I will probably read it again to make sure I didn't miss some part that would connect that particular portion of the story to the rest of the book.

[Bronwyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the warmth and the quirks of this book. The shift from one narrator to another was deftly handled, and the peccadilloes of each person were well drawn and believable. It is great to read a book that is so firmly of this world but is unafraid of elements of magic. Some moments went on too long, but by the last pages I didn't want to leave the family, messed up as it was. Maybe messy would be a better description!

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was interesting, and I liked the fantastical elements to it. It really is a character study of hugely flawed people more than anything else, so don't expect a lot of action. It was not a book that I had to keep running back to, but it was an interesting enough read and there were certainly lines and portions that made me think.

[Laureen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the writing was poetic in a way but I found the lack of a plot difficult for me. I didn't know which direction the book was headed. The book seemed to skip genres too - sometimes it was drama, othertimes it was fantasy which also made it a challenge to keep up with where the book was headed and what story was actually being told.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story line itself was intriguing, but there was a whole mystical, foreseeing-of-the-future-in-cups-of-tea thing going on that, while entertaining, took away from the plausibility of the story. I wanted to simply accept and enjoy it, but so many times throughout the book, I just had to say to myself, "Wow, that was weird."

[Christal · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I generally enjoyed this story, I did find the author's use of flowery writing to be over done to the point of it being distracting. I think a more thorough use of the editor's red pencil might have made this a more enjoyable read.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Desperately needed a book to read while on the beach yesterday and found this on my kindle app.

Story too disjointed so didn't get to learn enough about any one character. Didn't really like the magical/ghost stuff either.