Wander Home review

Blurb from Goodreads:

Death is what you make it. . . .

Eleanor never wanted to leave the daughter she loved so much. The overpowering urge to wander -- to search, without knowing what she sought -- drove her away. She left little Cassidy in her family's loving care. But Cassidy and the others died in an accident before Eleanor could find her way home.

Now, they are all reunited, in an afterlife where nothing is truly lost: places once loved may be revisited, memories relived and even shared. Surely this is a place where they can understand and heal. And yet, the restlessness that shaped Eleanor's life still haunts her in death. Somehow, she must solve the mystery of her life -- or none of them will be at peace.

Wander Home* is centered around four generations of one particular family. A few different themes have been woven into the story, including:

1) The potential of aspects of the afterlife

2) marriage

3) family

and

4) healing/forgiveness

Wander Home begins in the afterlife--Eleanor's family is there, waiting for her to arrive. There are a lot of differences in Wander Home's afterlife that I have never seen taken on before; the main one being people having the ability to change their age whenever they want. (This happens often, and takes some getting used to.)

Another difference, which I enjoyed, was the fact that people in the afterlife were able to recall their favorite memories and acquire items from that favorite memory almost instantaneously. (Like a favorite cup of cocoa, from a specific good memory, for instance, including the cup it was originally served in.) They're also able to share memories from different points of view.

As I said earlier, the story centers around one family--Eleanor and her daughter, Cassidy, in particular. Four out of five of the main characters are female, and Jack, Eleanor's father (Cassidy's grandfather) was by far my favorite character as he added a different emotional element to the mix.

Wander Home is original, well-written, and greatly paced. Being as I read mostly YA, I would say this is definitely written for an adult literary fiction audience, specifically those who would like to explore new takes on what could possibly happen after we take our last breath, issues with family and relationships, and/or traveling and sightseeing.

Find it on Goodreads
Find it on Smashwords (currently for $2.99)

*I was given a free copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.