In Death comes Life

Under the Whispering Door

T J Klune

Published 21 September 2021, Kindle edition 432 pages. 

Wallace Price has oodles of money, the best of everything in life and is a bastard of a boss. While he believes he is revered and respected at work, his unwavering commitment and high expectations meant that he is universally loathed. A fact that only becomes apparent when Wallace having died of a heart attack, attends his own funeral as a ghost. Expecting a cast of thousand to attend and bemoan his loss, he is aggrieved to find a handful of mourners who are there out of duty, not respect. At his funeral Wallace encounters Reaper Mei, who promises to take Wallace to the Ferryman Hugo who will be able to assist in his journey to the afterlife.

The journey that Klune takes you on this novel is of realising that materialism, power, and status are all worthless when death comes calling. That time is always ticking towards death. That the life you lead, the love you encounter, and give is of a greater intrinsic value. It may seem morbid but as Hugo says ‘Death has a beauty to it. We don’t see it because we don’t want to.’

Wallace is a man who is driven and determined to succeed, life is black and white, success and failure, there is nothing else. In death, he reflects on the life he previously led, the people he did not value and the selfishness of his actions. As time passes Wallace comes to realise that blind ambition has a price. He discovers love and friends, something he did not have in life. The big shift for Wallace is the discovery of love with Hugo. The relationship just did not seem completely developed. The attraction is there, the slow build is there, the chemistry is kind of there, but it felt to me that it became rushed at the end and not due to time constraints.

One of Klune’s abilities is to take perfectly loathsome men, who are seemingly unredeemable and give them purpose and a greater empathy for the people around him. He does this quite brilliantly in ‘The House in the Cerulean Sea’ and again here he makes Wallace likeable by reflecting on previous life choices. You will also find Klune’s humour running through the book and there are many genuine laugh out loud moments.

The story is uplifting, affirming and tries to contextualise the passing of a loved one, the ending for me was problematic. For passing through the door, was heavily reliant on being reunited with loved ones. The character of Cameron and how he dies, how he becomes a husk and how he reunites with his partner, yeah, well, that I was not so sure about. It would be a good discussion for any book club around how it was managed on the page. Klune handles the passing of loved ones with respect and dignity without being overly sentimental. In the end, I think what Klune hopes for is that love will conquer all, even death and it certainly does in this story.

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