Customer Reviews

After Life

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As a long-time avid reader, I have read many books but this is the first time I have felt compelled to comment. Ms. Ellis' book is totally captivating. Her main character, Naomi Ash, is so likeable that even though you know from the beginning "whodunit" you keep hoping that the "why" she did it will still enable her to live happily ever after. But as with real life, there isn't always a happily-ever-after for everyone...not during life; maybe not After Life. Ms. Ellis created a setting so picturesque that it made me want to find "Trainline", NY. Surprisingly, I found she did not draw the town from imagination, but from memory. It exists, still, in 2000 and is as amazing as she describes. The town in the novel and the town in Western NY are both places that once visited will never be forgotten.

This book is about a woman, Naomi Ash, who happened to start life in New Orleans, but her mother, a spiritualist, moves them up to Train Line, NY, a home to a community of spiritualists. And ten years ago, Naomi killed her boyfriend. The day before Labor Day, a construction crew found him.

I ordered this book after I read a review of it in the local paper that included the first line of the book, "First I had to get his body into the boat." I thought, "That's it- I've gotta get this book." I'm not a big mystery reader kinda person, but this was obviously a psychological mystery- Whose body? Why a boat? Did YOU kill him? How'd he die? You slowly learn all the answers to those questions, with the "WHY did he die?" question being answered last. I can't really recall ever reading a book with this approach and it very much intrigued me.

The title "After Life" is really great- Naomi can truly (or maybe truly- she doesn't ever seem to be totally confident) see the spirits of those who have passed on, and even the spirit belonging to the body headed to the boat eventually comes to her. She is dealing with Life After death and not just any death- the death of her boyfriend, a death that we suspect she is responsible for, and she is coping with the responsibility and fear that is associated with the potential of his being discovered (and then, maybe, HER being discovered for his death) and it is a very interesting struggle.

Ellis' ways of describing the world around you is also unique- The mother of the main character Naomi says, "Two people never love each other at the same time. One loves, and the other is in love with being loved. The fun is in guessing which one's you." Or another example- Naomi's first experience with snow, described as follows: "The air smelled different, like water in a tin bucket, and crows flapped in circles over our heads. When I spoke, my voice fell straight out of my mouth, completely swallowed up by snow."

The community of spiritualists is unique, but to me they just seemed like any small town with their own culture and rhythms- only instead of being poultry farmers (like my hometown), they happen to speak to the dead. This is not a criticism- I liked the fact that these people were so real and not romanticized and so matter-of-fact.

The reason for the death at first was (to me) a little disappointing- I thought, "that's IT? " However, the more I think about it, the more I get WHY that's what HAD to happen, and frankly, it just makes Naomi more and more realistic and understandable, and the more of a message there is in the book- again, particularly with regard to the title. You keep seeing how something like that COULD happen.

This is a good book, but it is not a beach book- you will get into it and really think about what you are reading(although I guess you could fly through it, but I think you'd maybe miss the thoughts that it provokes). If you want to read a book to vege out to and be brainless, this ain't it. I definitely recommend this book for it's unique approach to language and to a mystery plot.

A writer of this caliber should certainly be celebrated. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and wholeheartedly agree with the great reviews it's received. So much nonsense is made of someone's "first novel" as if a writer is a toddler just learning how to walk when they manage to get a book in print. This book is as carefully crafted and well-written as many experienced authors could hope to write.

People will compare Ellis with Stephen King because of her subject matter here-which will cull "litrary" types before they even pick it up, of course. Many people overlook the fact that King at his best is masterful at story tension and portraying American life, and I think Ellis shares similar gifts.

Ellis' great strength lies in her ability to write naturally about strange situations and people...and her plot is unique and riveting as well. Her descriptions of emotions are spot-on, and the sensual descriptions in the book are clear and wonderfully perceptive--they never failed to amaze me. One reviewer commented here that they were disappointed that the murder in the book occurred in such a mundane way. I think every now and then those of us who've read a lot of books and seen a lot of movies are extraordinarily delighted when we stumble on an artist who bucks the system and has the courage to write about something like a murder without applying all sorts of cultural cliches to it. As the main character comments at one point, "The worst thing in the world can happen, but the next day the sun will come up. And you will eat your toast. And you will drink your tea." The real story in this novel is not the murder--it's what happens to Naomi as she tries to keep such a huge secret in a colony of psychics (one of whom is her own mother!) at a time in her life when she's struggling with her own independence and self-worth.

This novel is not a typical "murder mystery" or horror novel or a book about psychics...it's a true original. Ellis is a skilled author and I'm really looking forward to reading more of her invigorating work.

I just love this book. It's so darn real that it sticks with you (I read it when it first came out and I still think about Naomi.) What a brilliant character and what wonderful atmosphere. I won't tell you the plot, because it's been told by others already, but this is story telling at its best.

'First I had to get his body into the boat.' Not the usual beginning for any sort of mystery novel, but this is not your run-of-the-mill mystery novel. Rhian Ellis' tale of a rather reluctant spiritualist, Naomi Ash, is set in rural upstate New York in a town founded by and populated by an amazing array of mediums, fortune tellers, seers, sages, fakirs and charlatans -- some of whom, doubtless, are sincere and possessed of real talent in their chosen field.

The story is skillfully told in both the present and in a series of well-constructed and smoothly integrated flashbacks. The author is talented enough that her techniques do not induce any degree of 'reader whiplash' -- and it's a relief to see this method used to such good advantage. It enhances the mystery -- allowing it to unfold slightly out of order keeps the reader in an additional degree of suspense.

One of the strongest aspects of Ms. Ellis' story is her central character, Naomi. She is believable, and whatever she may or may not have done -- no spoilers here -- we feel a great deal of empathy for her. She is not drawn as some hauntingly beautiful heroine, willowy, sexy and seductive, so perfect that she couldn't be real. She is very human, with a less-than-ideal self-image. Her life is filled with unfulfilled expectations, loneliness and little hope of improving her situation -- but there is also happiness, and the joy she finds in seemingly small things is very much alive to us.

The author also very ably brings some of the history of spiritualism in America into her novel -- not in a preachy way, as if she's trying to convince the reader of anything, but by way of information that gives her characters' beliefs a living past. I found this book to be very entertaining and well-written -- and refreshingly off the beaten path.

Train Line, New York is a town divided into two co-existing groups. The long-term residents descend from generations of mediums and spiritualists. The more recent arrivals are New Age enthusiasts. Naomi Ash is sort of an in-betweener. Her mother, medium Madame Galina Ash fled New Orleans about two decades ago to the delight of the local police force. She resettles in Train Line amidst a community of her peers. Naomi knows the business of the awakening the dead from first hand experience with her mother.

Naomi is worried that the local police will soon resurrect a certain dead person. Ten years ago, Naomi murdered and buried her boy friend, Peter Morton. His remains have just been uncovered and without the need of a crystal ball, all evidence points towards Naomi.

AFTER LIFE is a superb psychological thriller that deftly alternates between the present and what occurred ten years ago. Naomi is a brilliant character whose thoughts hook the reader into deep philosophical thinking as to what are really life and death. The support cast, including the dead Peter, provides layers of background that adds understanding of Naomi. Using poetic imagery, Rhian Ellis debuts with a great tale that indicates she will enjoy a successful life as an author long after readers devour this book.

Harriet Klausner

Ellis' book transcends categories. Yes it has a setting in world of spiritualism, but it is also set in a villiage of spiritualists with their communal institutions (odd to compare Shaker villiage w/spiritualism, but that's the closest I can get). It has "psychological" elements, but the scope looks at what it means to be human from a unique perspective, one that I've not encountered in any other book. Control of language, tone, voice is wonderful. This is fresh, intriguing, effective, my candidate for the best read of the summer regardless of genre.

I hardly know what to say. The story is so captivating that I was staying up late, flipping through the pages, but Ellis' storytelling is so beautiful and restrained that it never pushes too hard to thrill us. Absolutely surefooted writing. An astounding accomplishment--surely she must be older than she seems in her author's photo.

I am most likely to write a review when a book is so bad that I feel the need to warn potential readers from wasting their hard earned money or a trip to the library on it, but this case is very different. This novel tugged me into its web from the very first page. I found myself identifying to a frightening degree with the heroine, wondering what I'd do in the same situation, worrying about her and her loved ones well-being. A fascinating read that makes people simultaneously fascinating, dull and normal, no matter what their outcome in life.

Rhian Ellis's "After Life" is a very well written, refreshingly new take on the classic murder mystery genre. Her protagonist, Naomi Ash, is a very believable, extremely flawed individual, whose saga I found most engrossing to read. Ellis deftly weaves in the history of spiritualism in America as a means through which she advances her unique plot. Those interested in reading a novel twist - no pun intended - on the murder mystery will find much to rejoice in Ellis's novel.