Sara Flannery Murphy's debut novel, The Possessions, resists easy genre classification. The protagonist, Eurydice, a shy young woman with a troubled past, works as a "body" for the Elysian Society. Her job involves channeling dead wives, daughters and girlfriends for their grieving loved ones by taking a pill called a "lotus." Eurydice's life is one of routine and numb efficiency, interrupted by a new client, Patrick Braddock, who forges a more intimate connection with her as she channels his deceased wife, Sylvia.
Outside of the imaginative premise, though, The Possessions is surprisingly grounded. There are few futuristic or otherworldly touches aside from the lotus, and Murphy dispenses with the dense world building common to science fiction. Patrick Braddock's seemingly idyllic relationship with Sylvia soon reveals itself to be more complicated as Eurydice starts playing amateur sleuth and learns more about the circumstances surrounding Sylvia's unusual death.
The Possessions is essentially a psychological thriller with a science fiction twist. Numerous mysteries weave in and out of the main plot, adding a page-turning element to the book, and another ingredient to Murphy's intriguing genre fusion. The more questions are answered, the more fragile Eurydice's identity seems to become. When she starts to confuse Sylvia's thoughts and emotions for her own, The Possessions raises the terrifying possibility that Eurydice might be permanently displaced from her "placeholder" life. Murphy's debut novel mixes these intellectual fears with more down-to-earth threats, resolving its mysteries in shocking and thoughtful ways. The Possessions is difficult to classify but very easy to enjoy. --Hank Stephenson, bookseller, Flyleaf Books