After Life
Published on 5. June 2012
Book
Paperback/Softback
310 pages
978-1-61218-298-8 (ISBN)
Description
Naomi Ash was born in New Orleans and raised by her mother, Patsy, a medium who schooled her young daughter in the parlor-trick chicanery of the trade. From Naomi recreating presences with table cloths to providing the voice of the dead by talking through a fan, their act is part theater, part magic, and a little too much playing with the letter of the law. Eventually they must beat a hasty-and forced-retreat from New Orleans, relocating to Train Line, New York.
A sleepy village founded and inhabited by others with a spiritualist bent, Train Line is populated with card readers, table levitators, and crystal-shop owners. Low-rent "Psychic Faires" are held at the local Holiday Inn, and Patsy's newest creation, "The Mother Galina Psychic Hour," is on the local radio station. The town is a curious mix between old school "table rappers" and the New Age, and it is here that Naomi comes of age, learns the trade, and falls in love. But love is not only a many splendored thing-it can be dangerous as well. And for a young woman caught between fraud and truth, between the world of the living and the world of the dead, and between the secrets and lies of her youth, the past and present will come together in a rush of truth and consequence.
Hailed as "a study of eccentricities, which rises above the merely quirky to address those issues of life, death, memory, and love that preoccupy us all," After Life is a stunning first novel of extraordinary suspense and evocative imagery.
Naomi Ash was born in New Orleans and raised by her mother, Patsy, a medium who schooled her young daughter in the parlor-trick chicanery of the trade. From Naomi recreating presences with table cloths to providing the voice of the dead by talking through a fan, their act is part theater, part magic, and a little too much playing with the letter of the law. Eventually they must beat a hasty-and forced-retreat from New Orleans, relocating to Train Line, New York.
A sleepy village founded and inhabited by others with a spiritualist bent, Train Line is populated with card readers, table levitators, and crystal-shop owners. Low-rent "Psychic Faires" are held at the local Holiday Inn, and Patsy's newest creation, "The Mother Galina Psychic Hour," is on the local radio station. The town is a curious mix between old school "table rappers" and the New Age, and it is here that Naomi comes of age, learns the trade, and falls in love. But love is not only a many splendored thing-it can be dangerous as well. And for a young woman caught between fraud and truth, between the world of the living and the world of the dead, and between the secrets and lies of her youth, the past and present will come together in a rush of truth and consequence.
Hailed as "a study of eccentricities, which rises above the merely quirky to address those issues of life, death, memory, and love that preoccupy us all," After Life is a stunning first novel of extraordinary suspense and evocative imagery.
A sleepy village founded and inhabited by others with a spiritualist bent, Train Line is populated with card readers, table levitators, and crystal-shop owners. Low-rent "Psychic Faires" are held at the local Holiday Inn, and Patsy's newest creation, "The Mother Galina Psychic Hour," is on the local radio station. The town is a curious mix between old school "table rappers" and the New Age, and it is here that Naomi comes of age, learns the trade, and falls in love. But love is not only a many splendored thing-it can be dangerous as well. And for a young woman caught between fraud and truth, between the world of the living and the world of the dead, and between the secrets and lies of her youth, the past and present will come together in a rush of truth and consequence.
Hailed as "a study of eccentricities, which rises above the merely quirky to address those issues of life, death, memory, and love that preoccupy us all," After Life is a stunning first novel of extraordinary suspense and evocative imagery.
Naomi Ash was born in New Orleans and raised by her mother, Patsy, a medium who schooled her young daughter in the parlor-trick chicanery of the trade. From Naomi recreating presences with table cloths to providing the voice of the dead by talking through a fan, their act is part theater, part magic, and a little too much playing with the letter of the law. Eventually they must beat a hasty-and forced-retreat from New Orleans, relocating to Train Line, New York.
A sleepy village founded and inhabited by others with a spiritualist bent, Train Line is populated with card readers, table levitators, and crystal-shop owners. Low-rent "Psychic Faires" are held at the local Holiday Inn, and Patsy's newest creation, "The Mother Galina Psychic Hour," is on the local radio station. The town is a curious mix between old school "table rappers" and the New Age, and it is here that Naomi comes of age, learns the trade, and falls in love. But love is not only a many splendored thing-it can be dangerous as well. And for a young woman caught between fraud and truth, between the world of the living and the world of the dead, and between the secrets and lies of her youth, the past and present will come together in a rush of truth and consequence.
Hailed as "a study of eccentricities, which rises above the merely quirky to address those issues of life, death, memory, and love that preoccupy us all," After Life is a stunning first novel of extraordinary suspense and evocative imagery.
Reviews / Votes
"...Bringing into mind a spooky Stephen King setting." -Library Journal"As bizarre a protagonist as Naomi might be, she becomes an everywoman in Ellis's deftly told tale. Through her, readers enter a world where belief is a decision you make, spiritualism is the mortal's answer to death, real or imagined, and truth and fraud are soul mates-two necessary parts to a slightly indefinable whole. Muses Naomi, "A good medium will always tell you something true before telling you something less than true-it only takes one true sail to float your ship of lies around the world." Or, sometimes as Naomi learns, vice versa." -Beliefnet
"Rhian Ellis' writing is rich...Also displays tremendous talent...Her voice-clear and haunting-resonates well beyond the book's epilogue." -New York Post
"...Bringing into mind a spooky Stephen King setting." -Library Journal
"As bizarre a protagonist as Naomi might be, she becomes an everywoman in Ellis's deftly told tale. Through her, readers enter a world where belief is a decision you make, spiritualism is the mortal's answer to death, real or imagined, and truth and fraud are soul mates-two necessary parts to a slightly indefinable whole. Muses Naomi, "A good medium will always tell you something true before telling you something less than true-it only takes one true sail to float your ship of lies around the world." Or, sometimes as Naomi learns, vice versa." -Beliefnet
"Rhian Ellis' writing is rich...Also displays tremendous talent...Her voice-clear and haunting-resonates well beyond the book's epilogue." -New York Post
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Seattle
United States
Publishing group
Amazon Publishing
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
ISBN-13
978-1-61218-298-8 (9781612182988)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Rhian Ellis grew up in Western New York State. She went to Oberlin College and the University of Montana, and she now lives in Ithaca, New York, with her husband, the writer J. Robert Lennon, their two sons, and many chickens.
Rhian Ellis grew up in Western New York State. She went to Oberlin College and the University of Montana, and she now lives in Ithaca, New York, with her husband, the writer J. Robert Lennon, their two sons, and many chickens.
Rhian Ellis grew up in Western New York State. She went to Oberlin College and the University of Montana, and she now lives in Ithaca, New York, with her husband, the writer J. Robert Lennon, their two sons, and many chickens.