This novel would make an interesting companion piece to Tom Perotta’s novel, The Leftovers. In that story, the characters have to deal with a world where a third of the population simply disappears and the spaces those family and friends leave behind are often gaping and raw. In this quieter and more reflective novel, the dead begin to return and the living have to deal with this new reality—of holes suddenly filled and somewhat healed wounds ripped open.
On his eighth birthday in 1966, Jacob Hargrave dies by falling into a river and drowning. More than 40 years later, his now senior citizen parents, Harold and Lucille, are shocked when a man from the FBI shows up on their doorstep with a seemingly unchanged Jacob, still eight years old. Harold is skeptical, but Lucille knows that, changed or unchanged, this is her son. These miracles are happening all over the world but not everyone thinks they’re miraculous. Even the Hargrave’s small southern town isn’t immune from the chaos that erupts when the living must contend with the dead.
This is a very Stephen King premise but as done by Jason Mott, it feels very fuzzy and poetic. Plot is not the issue here (though there is one) but rather the feeling of the world that faces this strange change. That’s not a bad thing; it just kept me from feeling any really urgency as I read the story. It’s not a thriller but more of a meditation.
