March 16th, 2008 The Afterlife

Do you believe in an afterlife? What do you think it is like? I like to think there is something more after we leave this life and I enjoy reading about what possibly lies ahead. I read the first book listed below in two days and it inspired me to write this column.

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

I absolutely loved this book and found the afterlife concept fascinating. It's classified as a young adult book, but anyone who is young at heart would enjoy it. Fifteen year old Liz Hall is killed by a hit and run driver. She awakens to find herself on a ship of newly deceased people, headed for a place called Elsewhere. Here she meets her grandmother who died before she was born. On Elsewhere you begin at the age of your time of death, then age backwards. When you’'re seven days old you return to earth to be reborn as a baby. Elsewhere has observation decks, from which you can view family and friends on earth. New arrivals spend a lot of time there. There's also a place forbidden to go to from which you can actually communicate with the living. The story was a mixture of happiness and sorrow.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Susie Salmon is a fourteen year old victim of rape and murder. If you can get over the initial shock of that, it’'s a wonderful book. The story is told by Susie as she watches over family, friends and even the man who killed her. In the 10 years following her death, she watches as her siblings grow up and her parents struggle to come to terms with her murder. She witnesses her mother's withdrawal and her father's obsession with finding her killer. Like her family Susie has to learn to accept her death, while she inhabits a Heaven that's composed of all the things she enjoys. If you're a local book club member keep in mind that this title is also available in a book club bag. There are plans to release The Lovely Bones as a motion picture in 2009.



What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson

I haven't read this book, but I recall the impact the motion picture had on me. It follows the afterlife of Chris Nielson, an author who survives a car accident, only to die at the hospital. Even after viewing his funeral, Chris finds it hard to believe he is dead. He is given a spirit guide, a deceased family member named Albert. He finds that Heaven is what you make it. One of my favourite parts is when Chris was reunited with their family dog, Katie. When last seen Katie was a sixteen year old dog that was dying. Now she's young and full of energy. When his wife Ann commits suicide, she is sent somewhere else. Chris gets Albert to lead him through lower regions to find her soul living in darkness in a run down version of their family home. His guide explains that hell is a personal purgatory for those who can't forgive themselves. Will Chris choose to spend eternity there with her?


Peony In Love by Lisa See

A new novel by the author of Snowflower And The Secret Fan. This is the story of Peony, a cloistered young girl living in Seventeenth Century China. While attending an opera performance of The Peony Pavilion, she meets and falls in love with a young poet. Although she is already promised in marriage, she secretly meets with him. Knowing they can never be together, Peony emulating the main character in the opera starves herself. On her deathbed she discovers that the poet she loves is actually the man she was betrothed to. After her death Peony becomes trapped in the afterworld to wander as a tortured soul. She haunts the poet and manages to infiltrate his future marriages. It'’s a love story with a glimpse of the Chinese afterlife.



I hope you’ve found a book you might be interested in reading. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and Happy St. Urho’s Day!

Karen Craib, Library Technician