by M. O. Walsh
First published 2020
Douglas Hubbard and his wife Cherilyn live quietly in Deerfield, Louisiana, until a strange machine arrives at their local grocery store. The DNAMIX looks like an ordinary photo booth, but it promises something extraordinary. For two dollars and a cheek swab, it claims to reveal your life's true potential through DNA analysis. The townspeople grow curious enough to try it. Soon former teachers abandon their classrooms to become magicians. Nurses leave hospitals to pursue careers as cowboys. Shopkeepers close their stores to train as athletes. Douglas and Cherilyn believed they were content with their lives until the machine shows them they could dream bigger. As neighbors chase new destinies, the fabric of Deerfield begins to shift. Marriages strain under the weight of unfulfilled possibilities. Friendships fracture as people reinvent themselves. The machine forces everyone to question whether they should stay true to who they are or become who they might be. Walsh explores how the promise of transformation can both destroy and rebuild the bonds that hold communities together.
Genres: literary-fiction, family-life, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, small-town
Setting: Deerfield, Louisiana
Period: 21st-century
512 pages · Paperback · Random House Large Print