06 Feb 2012 No Comments
Otherwise by Jennifer B White
Otherwise by Jennifer B White
Paperback: 330 pages
Publisher: OakBluffs Press (December 21, 2011)
Reluctantly, Delilah Gray has returned to her childhood home—a ramshackle cottage where her compulsive, hoarding grandmother, Meema, raised her. Meema’s ghostly manifestations refuse to let Delilah clean the filthy house, or to stay there peacefully. And that’s just the beginning of Delilah’s problems.
Lonely, angry, and hiding a painful secret, she tries to find a place for herself in a town that she once discovered was “in-between”—a portal to the worlds of the supernatural. Upon her arrival, Delilah unwittingly gets caught in the middle of important business between The Keeper, whose job it is to keep souls on the physical plane, and The Sender who helps speed the dead on their afterlife journey.
When Delilah discovers that she is connected to Lily Defoe, a woman who leapt to her death many years ago, and to a man who refers to himself as The Gravedigger for Lost Souls, she realizes there is more to her homecoming than she anticipated. Who she is, and who she’s been, crosses the boundaries of life and death. Nothing—not the people she meets, not this very moment in time, not even the tragic death of her daughter—is what it appears to be. Not only does Delilah have her own “soul searching” to do, but she must work with some of Green Lake’s oddest characters to uncover the mysteries of several unsolved deaths that have never been forgotten.
While strange and supernatural occurrences threaten Delilah’s already fragile emotional state, she still has a crucial choice to make that will change everything. She comes to understand that there are some things that are worse than death. There is Otherwise—to be confined to a twilight state between the spiritual and the physical worlds. OTHERWISE is a chilling tale about lonely spirits, protective forces, and departed loved ones who are never really gone—and a woman who, after wanting to die, finds a reason to live and to love again. Only to discover what it is to be Otherwise.
Otherwise is a fantastic blend of mystery, suspense and the paranormal, all rolled up into one amazing tale. White takes readers on an adventure into Delilah Gray’s life and death, unfolding the mysteries behind the ghostly hauntings throughout the novel. Gray’s story is one that immediately grabs you, pulling you into her world and keeping you enthralled in the odd characters she meets along her journey. The characters are well developed, with personalities that are truly unforgettable. Each of the characters put a unique spin on the plot, driving you to flip the pages even faster. The paranormal aspect of Otherwise isn’t defined clearly in the beginning, but White gives you the perfect amount of a hauntingly good time as you anxiously wait for the mysteries to unfold.
Overall, White’s Otherwise is an exciting paranormal read that keeps you on the edge of your seat, wanting more of the unusually captivating characters that grace the pages. The only thing wrong with Otherwise is that it ended.
About Jennifer
Jennifer B. White has written a boatload of books, a mass of movie scripts, and, from time to time, epic poems that all begin with the words; This is a very long sonnet, so grab a drink. Go on, get on it! Growing up, her family understood that a certain amount of supernatural phenomena was to be expected. Her father foretold his mother’s death and witnessed her ghost. Many years later, Jennifer received a “sign” that her father was dying when her house was filled with the scent of incense. She got to her dad in time to hold his hand as he passed away. It’s okay, she’s made peace with his death. She’d just prefer if he’d stop playing with the dining room lights.
