The Afterlife Just Got a Lot More Interesting
The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker by Lauren James
Harriet Stoker was perfectly respectable. Until she died and morphed into a megalomaniac.
After she dies, Harriet Stoker has only one desire — to return home and look after her elderly grandmother. But ghosts cannot leave the place where they die. To leave means disintegration — and no one knows what happens to spirits when they disintegrate. As long as they remain in place, ghosts can ‘live’ a relatively normal existence.
Normal, that is for ghosts. It’s a world where individual ghostly powers can be traded. As Harriet tries to discover her own ghostly power, she learns it’s possible to steal power from other ghosts. Except stealing another ghost’s power is forbidden.
But Harriet will do whatever it takes to return to her grandmother, even at the cost of the other ghosts. Drunk on the power of others, Harriet is soon out of control. And the upheaval she causes creates a power vacuum. The ghostly world will never be the same again.
The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker is told in third person personal, exploring the viewpoint of Harriet, Felix, Kasper, Rima, and Leah. Interspersed throughout is commentary from a mystery narrator who sees time out of context — while also being able to see the bigger picture. The mystery narrator plucks at random threads to present the story. However, the threads combine to make a tapestry as the book surges towards the climax.
It started with the grandmother.
Or did it? I get the order of things confused sometimes. There were a lot of deaths at one point, but they happened at the end. In the beginning, there was only one death. The girl with the camera.
I had known she would be coming for nearly four hundred years, but I still wasn’t ready when she finally arrived.
The first time I saw her was when the Cavaliers and the Roundheads were marching into battle. The girl was doing yoga on the fire escape.
I think that was after Felix …
But, no. That comes later. Let’s go back. — Lauren James, The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker
The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker by Lauren James is not your typical YA paranormal story. It’s a complex story exploring humanity, redemption, good vs evil and atonement.
It explores some big questions: what happens when the abused becomes the abuser? What if death is only the beginning?
Sandi Parsons is an award-winning school librarian with over 20 years experience working in educational libraries. She lives with her favorite husband and two problem puppies. She believes there is no such thing as too many books.
Join Medium today with this referral link and access every Medium story you want to read.
