Under the Spell
A Novel
-
- $21.99
-
- $21.99
Publisher Description
Under the Spell is the first novel by Benjamin Hedin, a dazzling new voice in American fiction. Newly widowed Sandra is searching her husband’s email for financial information when she discovers a correspondence between him and a woman named Ryan. Rather than simply sharing the news of the death, Sandra, who is shocked and hungry for details, instead impersonates her husband as she writes back to Ryan. This bold course of action will expose the secrets and solitude within her marriage, prompting her to reconsider everything she once held dear.
Unmoored and seeking connection, Sandra also meets Lee, a single mother with a drinking problem, and begins babysitting her daughter. But Sandra can’t stop herself from continuing the correspondence with Ryan, in the process uncovering more about her husband—and Ryan herself. A novel that forces us to question how much of a person, even those closest to us, remains obscure, Under the Spell reveals the astonishing, transformative power of grief. This compelling study in bereavement joins classics such as Don DeLillo’s The Body Artist and Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hedin's insightful if uneven debut concerns an Astoria, Ore., widow who discovers her late husband had led a secret life. After Sandra Tobin's husband, Dale, dies in a car accident on New Year's Eve, Sandra opens his email to sort out their financial information. While doing so, she stumbles on a message from a woman named Ryan Whitehurst, with whom Sandra becomes convinced Dale had been having an affair. Sandra writes to Ryan as Dale and they develop a correspondence, with Ryan unaware that Dale has died. Along the way, Sandra searches for hints, "no matter how guarded or tentative," that would give her insight on Dale and Ryan's relationship. In the meantime, Sandra befriends a troubled woman named Lee, whom she meets in a therapy group. Sandra also connects with Lee's daughter, Tina, and winds up taking care of Tina during a conflict between Lee and her ex-husband. While the email exchanges between Sandra and Ryan can grow tedious, often running on for several pages without advancing the plot or developing the characters, the inevitable showdown with Ryan is worth the wait. Along the way, Hedin exhibits a keen understanding of the ways grief leads to new possibilities as Sandra reexamines her life and marriage. This has good bones, but could use a bit more meat.
