An unusual setting, limited characters with solid backstories supporting them and an interesting plot line with curious twists are some of the elements which make this novel an amazing feat. Surrounded by so much talks of death and afterlife, this story still manages to weave a tapestry of amusement, joy, simple pleasures and love with a rich dark backdrop of the unknown.

The story begins in the office of a renowned lawyer called Wallace who is notoriously famous for his professionalism and borderline harsh attitude towards everyone who crosses his path. His every move is calculated and planned to the precision. He demands nothing but perfection in his professional as well as personal life. So, it’s not surprising that he is almost equally despised by his colleagues and his wife.

But their feelings come to the light and to Wallace’s notice much later once he is dead. Unlike his pre planned and well organised life, Wallace’s death comes suddenly. One minute he is in his office and the next minute, he is dead. The shocking and brutal aftermath of it is the real starting point of this novel.

Dead but still inhibiting this world, Wallace is brought to the mysterious Charon’s Crossing Tea and Treats by Mey. Of course, this journey is not smooth neither it is easy for him to accept his own mortality, the fact that he is dead and there is nothing he can do to undo this reality. This acceptance comes to Wallace over the period of time of almost a month, slowly and steadily; with help from his fellow ghosts in this enigmatic tea shop but mainly from Hugo.

Hugo who works as a humble and quite popular tea shop owner in the morning, then switching to his real job of being a guide to help cross over to the other side of death. It is indeed Hugo whose empathetic nature and clarity to look at life from different perspective helps Wallace to change towards a better human being. Does this change in him comes at a wrong time, may be its too little too late scenario?

It’s interesting to find answers to all these questions in this wonderful novel. As his fame declares, T. J. Klune is indeed a skilful narrator who weaves such a complex subject with so few characters and such a depth. Nowhere does a reader feel bored or bogged down by all the discussions surrounding life and death. Thus making it a enjoyable read to the end. Last few chapters might feel hurried towards a definite end or indeed few readers can guess it already before reaching the final chapter; still, this story of love enduring everything, even death is simply a pleasure to read.