Wallace Price is dead. He’s not overly impressed, but unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be much he can do about it – other than hang out in a teashop with the Mei and Hugo (the reaper and the ferryman) and refuse to move on. Hugo’s dead grandad Nelson is there too, like Wallace stubbornly ignoring the door at the top of the house that calls to him. Life in the teashop is quite nice actually and Wallace feels that he is living life more than he ever has before. Except that he’s still dead.
The character development in this book is as inspiring as it is depressing. It’s a lovely example of how anyone can change, although you can’t help but hope that most people can achieve this before they’re actually dead. Even Hugo, who seems perfect from the outset, experiences a development of character as he accepts that the weight of the world is not on his shoulders alone and allows those who love him to offer their help.
Helping others is a constant theme throughout. In the obvious ways, as Hugo helps the dead to move on. And in the less obvious ways, as he helps Wallace to become a better person and as Wallace helps Hugo to see the flaws in the system that he is blindly following. Even the ‘cruel’ manager is driven by helping others, although his methods are sometimes a bit questionable and the manner with which he delivers his assistance does him no favours.
Overall, despite the expected negative undertone of death and missed chances, this novel has an overwhelming positivity to it. After reading I was left with the feeling that I wanted to be a better person and help more people, yet without any bitterness or regret as to how I was currently behaving. It wasn’t that the book made me feel I wasn’t doing enough, rather that there was always an opportunity to do better.
Escape to the Bookshelf 