The Book of Living and Dying

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

This novel for young adults is the literary equivalent of a trompe
l’oeil painting.

Sarah Wagner, a Grade 12 student in Terrance, Massachusetts, is
apparently mourning the brain cancer death of her brother, John. Seven
years her senior and a gifted guitarist, John had promised to rescue
Sarah, when she turned 18, from their widowed mother, an emotional
iceberg. Following John’s death, Sarah turned to alcohol and drugs to
mute her grief, but she has now rejected that lifestyle, although her
unconventional friend Donna tries to entice her to return to it.

While avoiding the unwanted advances of ex-boyfriend Peter, Sarah
becomes emotionally and physically involved with the exotic new guy in
school, Michael Mort, whose adoptive father is a doctor who specializes
in palliative care. A disturbing aspect of Sarah’s present life is her
being repeatedly “visited” by John’s “ghost.” Sarah wonders
what she must do to put John at rest and even performs a ritual found in
The Book of Living and Dying.

Throughout the novel, readers encounter sections of italicized text
that recount Sarah’s reluctant visits to her dying brother’s
bedside. The book’s “deceit” is that John is still alive, and it
is actually Sarah who is dying. As in the mystery genre, Ghent has
salted her story with numerous clues pointing to Sarah’s being the one
occupying the hospital bed. A second reading allows a fuller
appreciation of Ghent’s clever misdirection. Mature students will
enjoy this novel, which explores the thin line between life and death.
Highly recommended.