Review: Sleep Peacefully, by NC Marshall

I've had a busy couple of weeks, but I finally found time to finish this book. I am in that partially lost state now when you've finished reading the pages and the words, but you are still with the characters and wrapped up in the story, thinking over what happened and how you feel about it. You can't shake the book from you, you know? Perhaps this is only just me.

Anyway, Sleeping Peacefully is about a woman named Natalie (or Nat) who lives in the UK with her husband and her five year old son, Josh. It is focused around the death of her sister, Jess, and it ends up being a dual narrative with her as the other narrator describing the events before she died.  I suppose it's like a detective novel, in a way, except the ones investigating Jess' death and the circumstances that surrounded it are Nat and her family; there are no police involved. I would find it very hard to categorise, but an uncategorisable book equals a unique one, and one of interest to someone who has read a lot of books.

The book at first is quite descriptive, going into detail about Nat and her life in the present day. You can tell Marshall has had this character a long time and really knows her; she writes from her point of view easily, as if Natalie is a real person and she is just simply telling her story. For some this beginning may be a little slow, but her detail is necessary to the essence of the tale; it sets the scene, as it were. You are propelled forward by the gaps in your knowledge - and hell, there are lot of gaps your brain will want filled. I am a self proclaimed impatient book reader, and when I got into this book and fell into the story, I felt rewarded for waiting; suddenly, you want to know how and why Jess died. You want to know her secrets, what she has been keeping from her family, and what is going on with Nat. With this book, you get that thirst.

I have to commend the supernatural aspect of this novel, because in a sense I didn't even feel like it were supernatural at all. Jess' presence through Nat seems almost normal in the context of things; Marshall writes it as if she were writing about something entirely day to day and earthly. This I really love, because, you know, I've read a lot of books where ghosts are scary, dramatic and angry - but Jess is just Nat's sister, and of course she is none of these things. Although Nat is uneasy and terrified, I never felt threatened by Jess, and her attempts to reach earth are almost heartwarming; she is seeking peace not only for herself but also for her family. No one can hate on a love motive, even from someone on the other side.

I should probably wrap this up before I reveal too much, but basically this book is like a shoe with a lot of loose ended laces, and there is something extremely satisfying about the way they all tie together when it concludes. You start with questions, and through Nat's pursuit you pass secrets, lies, dramatic revelations and a wisp of mortal danger, you arrive with your answers...or do you? NC Marshall deserves credit for her well thought out and thought provoking tale, and I suggest you all go read it and discover whether Jess ever does manage to Sleep Peacefully...

"The boundaries which divide life and death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and the other begins?" - Edgar Allen Poe