Customer Reviews

The Frequency of Souls: A Novel

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I had been looking to read a story that did not require the heavy concentration of "work", that took me away a bit at bedtime, that was comfortable on the mind if not the spirit.This book's title intrigued me because I am interested in outer space, music, sound, and the relationship of people and sounds in the universe.

I enjoyed this book. It did exactly for me what I was looking for - escape. It was a decent story. However, the book is more a novel about a man in mid-life dealing with love, life, family and work, with some science flavors, rather than a fictional story where the primary theme involves galactic frequencies or paranormal phenomena with people as the conduits. So if you are looking for the latter, beware. Basically, since I was really expecting a story about "The Frequency of Souls", I felt teased and let down that this theme was not primary. Otherwise, the book is a basic fun read. And I happily learned a lot about the creative history of refrigerator design.

We gladly suspend belief for Mary Kay Zuravleff's novel, The Frequency of Souls, a delightful tale with vivid characters and an intriguing premise that lures the reader along. Zuravleff gives her characters clear intentions, yet vulnerability based on idiosyncrasies that bring them to life. I appreciate the unpredictability of the chemistry between main characters, refrigerator engineers, George and Niagara. The secondary characters are as distinctive and well developed. While George's ponderings mire the plot about three quarters of the way along, the book picks up pace again for an ending that is not pat, yet pleasing.

I read Zuravelff's book after hearing about it from her brother-in-law, who hired my husband to work on his cabin. The title and cover intrigued me enough to buy the book and I'm glad I did! I always enjoy tales about people with jobs I've never considered, and the role of refrigerator engineer definitely falls into that niche. The characters are quirky (my favorite kind) and funny, but still human and lend this delightful escape from reality some verisimilitude, especially when the supernatural encounters with those long deceased occur. I don't normally read any kind of fantasy or sci-fi but this light interjection of the afterlife was just right.

The Frequency of Souls shows how much the mainstream novel market has changed in recent years. A few years ago this book, had it been published at all, might have been at best an orphaned science fiction novel, doomed to be ignored because it contained no "hard" science (Niagara's vacuum tube radios hardly qualify as high-tech innovations, after all); because of its love story characteristics (in sci-fi parlance, it would be called a "space opera," a label to be avoided at all costs); because the characters are hardly swash-buckling heroes; and because the life after death theme is given a mundane treatment. So why all the fuss over The Frequency of Souls? Because times have changed. The mainstream market now accepts death as survivable, engineering nerds as real (and even sexy) people, an approximate equivalence between physics and metaphysics, and a recognition of the specialness of long-term commitments in a society that measures success in quarterly statistics.

The result: themes that are the stuff of the `90's -- Nerds in Love, Life after Death, Mid-life Crises, Middle Aged Craziness -- written well enough to let the story speak for itself. Never mind the lack of skill evidenced in certain sections; The Frequency of Souls is entertaining and compelling, with characters that stick with you when you're done.

Is The Frequency of Souls really a mainstream novel? According to the times, yes. Is it great literature? Well, no. But is it fun? Yes, definitely.

Dan Everman

Frenquency of Souls was an enjoyable novel with well crafted and belivable characters. The premise while fantastical was shaped in a way to give credibility so that you are not saying, "aw, come on." I'd say give it a read!

I absolutely L-O-V-E this book and I know you will too. If you are looking for a good read, definitely give this one a try. You won't be disappointed!