The Possessions

Summary (from the publisher): In this electrifying literary debut, a young woman who channels the dead for a living crosses a dangerous line when she falls in love with one of her clients, whose wife died under mysterious circumstances.

In an unnamed city, Eurydice works for the Elysian Society, a private service that allows grieving clients to reconnect with lost loved ones. She and her fellow workers, known as “bodies“, wear the discarded belongings of the dead and swallow pills called lotuses to summon their spirits—numbing their own minds and losing themselves in the process. Edie has been a body at the Elysian Society for five years, an unusual record. Her success is the result of careful detachment: she seeks refuge in the lotuses’ anesthetic effects and distances herself from making personal connections with her clients.

But when Edie channels Sylvia, the dead wife of recent widower Patrick Braddock, she becomes obsessed with the glamorous couple. Despite the murky circumstances surrounding Sylvia’s drowning, Edie breaks her own rules and pursues Patrick, moving deeper into his life and summoning Sylvia outside the Elysian Society’s walls.

After years of hiding beneath the lotuses’ dulling effect, Edie discovers that the lines between her own desires and those of Sylvia have begun to blur, and takes increasing risks to keep Patrick within her grasp. Suddenly, she finds her quiet life unraveling as she grapples not only with Sylvia’s growing influence and the questions surrounding her death, but with her own long-buried secrets.

A tale of desire and obsession, deceit and dark secrets that defies easy categorization, The Possessions is a seductive, absorbing page-turner that builds to a shattering, unforgettable conclusion.

 

Review: I received an advance reader's edition of this novel from HarperCollins.

 

In this supernatural thriller, Eurydice works for the Elysian Society, where she serves as a host for clients wishing to connect with dead loved ones. Edie takes a pill that enables her clients to summon the spirits of their loved ones and communicate with them through her body. Although Edie has successfully served as a body for a number of years, she begins to break the rules when she meets Patrick Braddock. Patrick's wife Sylvia drowned under mysterious circumstances and Edie finds herself increasingly drawn to the couple and taking risks in the process.

 

This novel takes a dark and ominous tone from the beginning, describing even seemingly innocuous scenes in slightly foreboding terms. In the opening paragraph, Edie describes herself wearing Patrick's dead wife's lipstick, which is as "severe as a bloodstain" (1). She goes on to say that "there's a subtle taste lingering beneath the medicinal sweetness. Sour and human. I think of the saliva and skin particles that must linger on the lipstick's surface" (3). This vivid imagery of the physical remnants left behind by a drowned woman open the story with a very definite impression to the reader to be wary of the story ahead. At the same time, the story is punctuated by news reports of a recently discovered murder victim, a young woman reporters have dubbed "Hopeful Doe" (29). The grim details of the victim's body and location undermine the seemingly clinical order of the Elysian Society and its clients.

 

In addition to the skillful building of suspense that the author cultivates from the first page, I was impressed with the level of symbolism woven into the novel. It's no accident that the main character is called Eurydice. Yet tragically, our narrator tells us that she's forgotten the myth behind her assumed name: "I can't remember if she's the one who eloped with a swan or the one who ate fruit seeds in the afterlife, dooming herself to stay imprisoned" (166). Perhaps Edie would have displayed more judgment had she kept the warning implied by her name forefront. Similarly, the Elysian Society and the character Thisbe's names are rife with meaning.

 

Despite the dramatic build up, I found both the unveiling of Patrick and Sylvia's history as well as the revelation of the 'dark' secret Edie had been running from a bit of a let down. Beyond being disappointed by the ending, it also left the issue of the Elysian Society and the dark side to summoning spirits unresolved. This novel deals heavily with the themes of desire, dark secrets, and grief. It's ultimate lesson is that no one can hide from their past and ultimately it's best to let the dead rest in peace. Despite my initial skepticism upon reading the synopsis, the novel successfully builds tension and provides just enough details that the supernatural/sci-fi element of a drug to conjure up the dead is both believable and compelling.

 

Stars: 3.5