Monday, October 26, 2009

Extra Large Medium by Helen Slavin

Annie Colville sees dead people, and the dead wear chocolate brown while inhabiting the "Waiting Room of Heaven World," which overlaps with the everyday "Living Room World" that the rest of us see. The ghosts reach out to Annie to enlist her in tidying up unfinished—and mundane as often as unconventional—business: which niece should get the Wedgwood teapot, which romantic path a lesbian daughter should follow.

But Annie also has problems of her own: her husband, Evan Bees, disappeared seven years ago, and though he's assumed dead, Annie hasn't seen him among the cocoa-clad (the countdown to when Annie can have him declared legally dead provides the book's time line); her quest to discover which of her mother's many lovers is her father is leaden with disappointment; and some ghosts prove to be more haunting than others.

This was kind of strange book, as I was expecting a bit more spookiness to it. It was very matter of fact in many ways. Annie finds ways to use her gift to help others find peace, both the living and the dead. But she is always cut short of finding peace for herself. There are several storylines told from others point of view. Some were more shocking because you discovered they were dead when you thought they were a part of the living. It was almost like watching a play of these different vignettes that I kept hoping would all tie up in the end. There was some closure but left me wanting more.