Mitch Albom,
the author of The Five People You Meet in
Heaven, delivers a novel which questions the idea of life after life.
In The First Phone
Call from Heaven, select inhabitants of Coldwater, Michigan start
receiving brief, often cryptic, calls from loved ones who have died. Some in
the sleepy little town look forward to the calls, taking solace; others find
them much too emotional and avoid them. Some choose to keep their conversations
secret, but folks like Katherine Yellin—a 46 year-old divorced mother—believe
the calls received from her beloved, deceased sister must be shared. When
Yellin goes public, others, too, come forward until the mysterious
communications from the afterlife grab worldwide media attention, turning
Coldwater into a circus-like, pilgrimage destination.
Religious and anti-religious wrestle
with the implications, along with skeptics like local resident Sully Harding, a
former pilot whose wife died while he was serving prison time. The single
father's heartbreaking back-story figures prominently into the suspense of the
plot. When Sully's seven-year-old son expresses a longing to receive a call
from his own deceased mother, Sully sets out on a quest to prove the phone
calls asserting that heaven exists are all a hoax.
Albom's ensemble cast of
characters reflects varying attitudes, fears and hopes of people coping with
guilt, grief and loss. Interjected throughout the briskly paced narrative are
details of Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the telephone, what it meant
for his own life and its context in the modern world. Albom's dialogue-driven
story culminates near Christmas. The story ultimately becomes a social
commentary about human connection, encouraging readers to question the meaning
of their own lives, faith and beliefs.
Harper, $24.99,
Hardcover, 9780062294371 , 326 pp
Publication Date: November 12, 2013
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