A Strange Companion

Manterfield’s bittersweet debut follows a young woman’s attempt to recover from overwhelming loss. Seventeen-year-old Kat Richardson thought she and her boyfriend, Gabe, would marry and spend their lives together. But those plans are dashed when Gabe dies in a rock climbing accident. Two years later, Kat has been having trouble moving on—until she meets handsome fellow university student Owen, whose playful and earnest personality has started to heal Kat’s broken heart. But their budding relationship is interrupted when she returns home to meet her new niece, Mai, who’s been adopted by her brother and his husband. There, Kat is confronted with the possibility that Gabe has been reincarnated as Mai. Manterfield presents the idea of reincarnation with just the right balance of skepticism and hope as Kat questions both her mind and feelings while acknowledging that “The problem with grief was that it didn’t come with a user manual.” This thoughtful story about learning how to live after loved ones are gone will captivate readers. (BookLife)