Where the living are not really alive and the dead not truly dead

Book review: Lost Among the Living by Simone St. James

Simone St. James is an author whose books I pick up by default, and I've noticed that her plots have progressively got better with every new book that she has written. Hence I had marked April 5 on my calendar as the day her latest book, Lost Among the Living, would be released.  I had expected it to be an engrossing gothic mystery with a paranormal twist, and it didn't disappoint. It also deftly explores the loss, hopelessness and uncertainty felt by wives of missing-in-action soldiers in World War I. While thousands of unnamed soldiers fought for England in foreign lands, their wives and fiancées, unknown to history, waged their own war against grief and abandonment and against a male-dominated society which refused to acknowledge their existence or contribution.  

This book revolves around Jo Manders, whose husband, Alex, is reported missing-in-action in the war. It has been three years since the war ended, but Jo is barely drifting through life, still unable to cope with the despair of losing her husband. In the aftermath of Alex's disappearance, Jo is left to fend for herself and support her mentally unstable mother's upkeep in an asylum.

In flashbacks, it is revealed that Alex had appeared in Jo's dull and dreary life like a blinding flash of light. She was swept off her feet by his concern for her and his ability to deal with any situation. After a whirlwind romance and hasty marriage, when Alex decides to join the RAF, she is left with only a few months of happy memories to cling to. Her grief and inability to move forward in life come across strongly, even as she takes on the demanding role of a companion to Alex's wealthy aunt, Dottie Forsyth, to support her mother.

After a tour of the continent, Dottie and Jo come back to England to Wych Elm House in Sussex, the home of the Forsyth family. It is a large, rambling house at the edge of a dense forest. Jo meets Dottie's estranged husband, Robert, and her ailing son, Martin, who also stay at Wych Elm House.

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Jo soon senses an otherworldly presence in the house - in the corridors, the terrace and in her room. She hears footsteps following her, feels a chill in the house, sees objects mysteriously appear in and disappear from her room and hears the sound of a dog's growling at night. A damp, cold mist seems to follow her, outside and inside the house, leaving dry leaves on the floor of her room, which cannot be seen by anyone but her. 

The mist had stopped moving, I realized. It hovered in the woods, blurred among the trunks of the trees, still and cold. It almost seemed to be watching me. I stared out of the window and watched back.

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Jo sees startling visions of Frances, Dottie's young daughter who had jumped to her death from the upper terrace of the house. She also has recurring nightmares, often dreaming of the dark forest and sometimes hearing Alex calling out to her. She soon realizes that an undead spirit is trying to convey a message to her. She starts to investigate the events and people surrounding Frances' suicide and stumbles upon the fact that Alex had kept a lot of secrets from her. There are a lot of unanswered questions. Did Frances truly commit suicide? Did she have a real dog named Princer? Did Alex meet his cousin Frances on the day she died? Why are the villagers scared of the woods? What is Martin hiding from Dottie? Is Jo slowly becoming insane like her mother?

Shocking secrets are revealed, there is a major twist and Jo's life changes dramatically yet again. Divulging anything more will take this review into spoiler territory. So all I'm willing to say is that in the end, all mysteries are solved, both Frances' and Jo's ghosts are laid to rest, the house is sold off by the family and everyone moves on in life. After the feeling of despondency that hung over the entire first half of the book, I was very happy that it ended on a positive note, with everything resolved satisfactorily.

This book has managed to finally do what no other book could since February - break me out of my fantasy fascination at last! I am now moving on to more gothic mysteries and historical novels with a vengeance!