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: "It was only after a year of work that I rented my own apartment. All the upgrades I've made to my life since then have been in a similar vein. A used car instead of a bus pass, a plain winter coat to replace one coming apart at the seams. My life is neat, self-contained. A serviceable life. A placeholder." That life is 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. She doesn't concern her readers with how the lotuses actually work, for example, instead focusing on a twisty thriller plot more reminiscent of Gone Girl than The Windup Girl. 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. As Eurydice's relationship with Patrick progresses, it becomes difficult to tell if what they're engaged in is a romance or something more sinister.
The Possessions is essentially a psychological thriller with a science fiction twist. Like many thrillers, it raises frightening questions about identity and whether it's possible truly to know another person. Eurydice is more haunted in this regard than most, having essentially emptied herself out in order to become a vessel for others: "Who would I find beneath the thin surface of my skin...? I'm overwhelmed by the thought of all the women who would pour out of me if I were cracked open: swarming like insects, bubbling up out of my mouth. The women who have collected inside me over the years, filling up my insides until there's no room left for me." Patrick may be no better off, however--his personality is as multi-faceted and obscure as Eurydice's legions of borrowed women.
The numerous mysteries that weave in and out of the main plot add 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
Shelf Talker: The Possessions combines a speculative premise in which men and women channel dead loved ones as a profession with a dense psychological thriller plot that questions the permanence of identity.