TJ Klune book finds humour in death

Life, death, redemption and life.

That is, in a nutshell, what The Whispering Door by TJ Klune is about.

When Wallace Price realizes he’s at his own funeral, he only begins to suspect that something might be wrong. As he listens to his ex-wife and his law partners go on and on about how horrible and miserable he was, he really starts to question his state of being.

Mei, a young, hip reaper, takes him from there to Charon’s Crossing, a little café in a small town where he meets, Hugo, the Ferryman, whose job it is to help people cross over to what’s next. Wallace also meets Hugo’s ghostly grandfather Nelson and Hugo’s ghost dog, Apollo. What follows next as Wallace starts to accept his fate is a story of friendship, redemption and love.

Klune is an author that can put you in a modern fantasy setting and make you feel things that you never thought you’d feel. While this book does touch on the sensitive topic of death, a topic that has been done to literal death in literature, it does not come across as sad and Klune’s humour keeps the book light. It does go a bit heavy handed with the life lessons, but that is a necessity to get the main character where he needs to be at the end. Honestly, the quirky characters of Wallace, Nelson, Hugo and

Mei and their relationships with one another was the true delight of this book.

This is truly a novel for all readers, of all genres and all ages. If you enjoy Under the Whispering Door, I would suggest checking out Klune’s other works, including The House in the Cerulean Sea.