The Possessions - Softcover

Murphy, Sara Flannery

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1911344668 ISBN 13: 9781911344667

Publisher: Scribe UK, 2018

Synopsis

[Read by Erin Moore]

In this electrifying literary debut, a young woman who channels the dead for a living crosses a dangerous line when she falls in love with one of her clients whose wife died under mysterious circumstances.

In an unnamed city, Eurydice works for the Elysian Society, a private service that allows grieving clients to reconnect with lost loved ones. She and her fellow workers, known as ''bodies'', wear the discarded belongings of the dead and swallow pills called lotuses to summon their spirits -- numbing their own minds and losing themselves in the process. Edie has been a body at the Elysian Society for five years, an unusual record. Her success is the result of careful detachment: she seeks refuge in the lotuses' anesthetic effects and distances herself from making personal connections with her clients.

But when Edie channels Sylvia, the dead wife of recent widower Patrick Braddock, she becomes obsessed with the glamorous couple. Despite the murky circumstances surrounding Sylvia's drowning, Edie breaks her own rules and pursues Patrick, moving deeper into his life and summoning Sylvia outside the Elysian Society's walls.

After years of hiding beneath the lotuses' dulling effect, Edie discovers that the lines between her own desires and those of Sylvia have begun to blur, and takes increasing risks to keep Patrick within her grasp. Suddenly, she finds her quiet life unraveling as she grapples not only with Sylvia's growing influence and the questions surrounding her death, but with her own long-buried secrets.

A tale of desire and obsession, deceit and dark secrets that defies easy categorization, The Possessions is a seductive, absorbing page-turner that builds to a shattering, unforgettable conclusion.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

In an unnamed city, Edie works for the Elysian Society, a private service that allows grieving clients to reconnect with lost loved ones. She and her fellow workers, known as “bodies,” wear the discarded belongings of the dead and swallow pills called lotuses to summon their spirits—numbing their own minds and losing themselves in the process. Edie has been with the company for five years, an unusual record. Her success is the result of careful detachment: she seeks refuge in the lotuses’ anesthetic effects and avoids personal contact with her clients.

But when Edie channels Sylvia, the recently deceased wife of Patrick Braddock, she becomes obsessed with the glamorous couple. Despite the murky circumstances surrounding Sylvia’s drowning, Edie breaks her own rules and becomes emotionally attached to Patrick, moving deeper into his life and summoning Sylvia outside the Elysian Society’s walls. And as the lines between Edie’s and Sylvia’s desires begin to blur, Edie finds herself taking increasing risks to keep Patrick within her grasp. Suddenly her quiet life begins unraveling, as she grapples not only with Sylvia’s growing influence and the questions surrounding her death, but with her own long-buried secrets.

A tale of desire and obsession, deceit and dark secrets, The Possessions is a seductive, absorbing page-turner that builds to a shattering, unforgettable conclusion.

About the Author:

Sara Flannery Murphy grew up in Arkansas, where she divided her time between Little Rock and Eureka Springs, a small artists' community in the Ozark Mountains. She received her MFA in creative writing at Washington University in St. Louis and studied library science in British Columbia. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband and son. The Possessions is her first novel.

About this edition

• Publisher: Scribe UK
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1911344668
• ISBN 13: 9781911344667
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368