Wickett's Remedy by Myla Goldberg

Besides checking out books from the library, Buckwalter and I have also found a welcome respite from network TV by checking out several DVDs. Having a Halloween birthday has created in me an interest in the macabre, the otherworldly, and the paranormal. So we recently checked out a show from the SciFi channel called Ghosthunters. The basic premise involves two plumbers who, because of their personal experiences, spend all their free time looking for evidence of the paranormal with a group they created called The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS). These two links don't do the show, or the gentlemen, any credit -- the show is frantically interesting and the two main men -- Jason and Grant -- are adamant in their search for substantial evidence. They look for every possible explanation before they make any conclusions on their multimedia.
This show, like any spooky show, created in me a sense of unease, based off of the evidence they found. The pictures and videos are just interesting...but the EVPs are eerie and make my heart beat a little faster.


Which brings me to Wickett's Remedy...from the author of Bee Season, a book that I owned for 5 years before reading. The story is about a young woman in Boston during the 1918 influenza epidemic. The story is sweet, charming, and lovable -- but it was the haunting margins that made an impact with me. As I sat down to read the book after just viewing an episode of Ghosthunters, the quips in the margin of the book became more and more clear. The margins in Wickett's Remedy are the voices of the dead, correcting the memories of the living, expounding on their tellings, and adding their own two cents. I had a vision of the characters in Our Town, all properly seated on their tombstones discussing the weather. The margin speak is not creepy -- the realization of what you are reading is startling -- but the dead only wish to make sure the story is told accurately and by all speakers available.
Despite the sweet love story, the tender family moments, and Lydia's own growing confidence, the book resonates with an uplifting grieving song. For anyone who has lost a close friend or family member, it is a book that will restore a little of the confidence you lose when they are gone. For anyone who, during the constant chatter of the human mind, is unsettled by questions of life after death, the book will add some bravado to your spirit. For anyone who wonders whether those who are gone can still love and wish for you, it will not let you down.
I loved it. Nothing more can sum it up.