Genre: Paranormal
Hardback: 288 Pages
Publication: September 10, 2013 by Walker Children’s
If Ruby Wright could have her way, her dad would never have met and married her stepmother Willow, her best friend George would be more than a friend, and her mom would still be alive. Ruby knows wishes can’t come true; some things just can’t be undone. Then she discovers a tree in the middle of an Ohio cornfield with a wormhole to nine alternative realities.
Suddenly, Ruby can access completely different realities, each containing variations of her life—if things had gone differently at key moments. The windshield wiper missing her mother’s throat…her big brother surviving his ill-fated birth…her father never having met Willow. Her ideal world—one with everything and everyone she wants most—could be within reach. But is there such a thing as a perfect world? What is Ruby willing to give up to find out?
On your blog, you mention that one of the initial inspirations behind Relativity is René Magritte’s La Voix Du Sang. Could you tell us more about the story behind this?
In the painting, there’s an enormous tree with two open doors in the trunk. Behind one door is a sphere, which could represent a number of things, but I think of it as the moon. Below, behind the other door, is a house with lit windows. Who lives in there? My postcard is pretty worn out, but it looks to me like there’s a third door above the other two. It’s closed. What’s in there? (Magritte produced several versions of La voix du sang, and in some of them there’s clearly a third door, which is ajar.) A colleague of Magritte’s once suggested that these paintings were inspired by Alice in Wonderland because Alice notices that “one of the trees had a door leading right into it.”
I’ve always found this painting compelling and intriguing, hence the oak tree in RELATIVITY with the portal door. I also love the notion that Magritte was inspired by a book, and in turn my book was inspired by his art.
By the way, Christie’s had La voix du sang up for auction a few years ago. It could have been mine for a mere $3.6 million!
How has life changed since getting a book deal?
What are you working on right now?
Before publishing Relativity, Cristin Bishara worked as a professional copywriter, and taught composition and fiction writing at the university level. She has an M.F.A. in creative writing. Cristin lives in Florida with her husband, two girls, and rescued racing greyhound.
Author: Crystal
A story girl at heart, Crystal is a bibliophile who can easily spend the day immersed in a good read. She writes under the name Kristy Wang. You can follow her writing adventures on X and Instagram @_kristywang.
Mckenzie Templeton says
This book sounds so good. I love the scene where the wormhole is inside of a tree in the middle of nowhere in Ohio. I don't know why, but I think that is such a cool setting. This book's synopsis is so short and vague, it lets you into the idea that the fantasy and sci fi of this novel is going to me mind blowing. I can't wait to read this!! 😀