Shortly into this novel, a waitress in a New York cafe displays a tattoo, YOLO: You Only Live Once.
But do you?
What if life really matters, not because you only have one chance, but because it happens again and again, and consequences can unfold?
This story involves a water-phobic 4-year-old boy, Noah, who continually "wants to go home'' and "see his other mother'', despite having been brought up exclusively by solo mum Janie Zimmerman.
He knows the correct names of lizards, a type of gun, how to score baseball games and the Harry Potter characters although he's never been exposed to any of this information.
Janie's attempts to find out what is "wrong'' with Noah, and to find a "cure'' lead her to Dr Jerry Anderson, of Connecticut, who is fighting his own demons, having lost a son and his wife, and is now facing a diagnosis of aphasia, a form of dementia affecting language and the ability to talk, read and communicate.
Anderson is trying to complete his life's research and a book on reincarnation cases before he loses the faculties to do so.
He cites the case of Maurice Ravel, who "was able to think musically but was unable to express his ideas in writing or performance''.
Included in this debut novel are compelling extracts from a real nonfiction book by Dr Jim Tucker called Life Before Life.
Most cases are from Asia, where reincarnation is more readily believed.
The following weeks for Janie, Noah and Jerry are sad and harrowing at times, but funny and rewarding at others.
Facts, beliefs, personalities and attitudes all jostle for attention as everyone involved (including families of strangers) tries to work out what has happened in their particular situations, and how to proceed in the future.
There are shades of Lionel Shriver's writing, with realistic dialogue and intervals of intense detail, evoking many emotions.
Shakespeare is extensively quoted, and I liked the excerpt from an Emily Dickinson poem:
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind - Author Sharon Guskin gets philosophical, but keeps the action moving, and elicits genuine empathy for all characters.
The book is a work of fiction, including a mystery, and encompassing an interesting proposition that makes you think about what is possible.
Keep an open mind.
• Rachel Gurney is an avid Dunedin reader.
