Or Not to Be

by Laura Lanni

Alive, Anna considered leaving her husband. Dead, she naively believes she has escaped this difficult choice. How cruel for relationship problems to tag along to the dead side.

On November eleventh, Anna Wixim, mother of two, number geek and palindrome seeker, finds herself dead at forty-four. While wandering the universe and watching her family grieve, Anna learns that the two-way portal between her life and death remains wide open. Still, Anna hesitates to return to the man she loves. She has many reasons, real and imagined, to hesitate. The universe is full of wonder; time is boundless; she doesn’t have to do laundry. And her husband doesn’t want her back.

Based on his own experience in crossing a yawning space-time gap, her husband, Eddie, understands the rules of the universe, including Anna’s free choice to come back to him. He also knows that she doubts his love because he forgot to say that he loved her—for twenty years. On top of that, he wasn’t even nice for the last two months of her life. Don’t judge. It wasn’t fair for the universe to reveal Anna’s deathday to him. Eddie couldn’t function, couldn’t have a conversation or take a full breath, faced each year with the relentless approach of November eleventh.

Genres: Fiction

281 pages, Paperback

First published November 11, 2014

About the author

By day, Laura Lanni teaches organic chemistry to hundreds of undergraduates. When not teaching or writing, she can be found working with writers in her critique group, running (slowly), hugging her grandchildren, riding a jet-ski, blogging, and baking.

Reviews

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

(This is a review of an advance copy I received from the author.)

Since she can remember, Anna Wixim has had an obsession with a certain date: November eleventh. So when, on a particular November eleventh, she figures out that sometime over the course of the day she's died, she's not particularly surprised. She's not particularly sorry, either. For the last few months, her husband, Eddie, has been increasingly distant, caught in what she has come to know as his seasonal funk. Anna figures her death is probably for the best because her marriage was falling apart anyway. She doesn't know, however, that Eddie is himself no stranger to the mysteries of life and death. The reason he pulls away from her every fall is that he's known the date of her death all along.

Laura Lanni's Or Not To Be is a beautiful and evocative book which explores the philosophy of life, death, and what comes after through the medium of Anna and Eddie's history together. As the story jumps backward and forward in time, the reader experiences significant events in both their lives, through both their points of view, and becomes part of the tragedy of a good relationship going bad through lack of communication.

I liked Anna very much. She was an unusual character in that she was a scientist without much of a romantic streak, and Lanni gives her a practical, no-nonsense voice which suits her. When she smells a flower, its molecules trigger her scent receptors; when she and Eddie kiss, their atoms come into proximity. It's an approach that could have been grating if overdone, but Lanni uses it just enough to give a clear picture of Anna's character. Her scientific mind also provides a firm jumping off point for discussions of death and the soul that hinge more on relativistic theory than theology. Some of the questions the book raises are ones I wonder about myself, so it was exciting to me to see them in print.

Some of the later portions of the book contained a bit more exposition than I would have liked, and there were a few minor editing glitches. But overall, I enjoyed my journey to the "dead side" with Anna and Eddie, and I look forward to seeing what questions Laura Lanni will tackle next. Highly recommended.

[Laurin Bellg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laura Lanni’s writing is crisp and clean with a modern vibe that lures us into an age-old question with a fresh twist – what happens when we die? Exploring choice and circumstance from multiple angles, she intrigues us with the “what ifs” and “why nots” of this strange arrangement called life. With tight (but not rigid!) prose she explores in ways both humorous and heartbreaking that our exit point may not be so random after all. Perhaps within certain spaces of opportunity where matter bumps up against antimatter, we might have a choice as to whether or not we want to stay on this planet and how. Setting reverence and convention aside, she dares to explore her characters’ true feelings about the lives they’ve chosen and reflect upon the good, the bad and the uncomfortable with an inner truth we recognize but don’t always feel brave enough to confess – even to ourselves. Entertaining from the beginning and intriguing to the end, with an unexpected but satisfying conclusion that tidies up a multi-thread plot, Lanni leaves us with a teaser of yet another twist in the array of possible returns to the physical. I very much enjoyed this debut effort and look forward to reading more from this promising author.

[Rhea · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Or Not to Be" by Laura Lanni is one of the most original novels I have read in awhile. It is about love, life, death, choices, regrets, hope and so much more. This book is highly emotional and I couldn't put it down until I finished it. The characters are well-developed, quirky and I rooted for them through the whole story. The story is intelligent and complex, managing to mix science, emotions and spiritual topics seamlessly. Laura Lanni makes you think, she makes you hope and she makes you feel. The novel is suspenseful up until the end and while it was not the ending I expected, or wanted, it was a fitting ending that didn't make me feel cheated. I enjoyed this book very much and can't wait to see how else Laura Lanni will make my brain and my heart twist and turn.

[Rebecca Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book intriguing from the beginning. A true page turner that I read in 2 days. I really can't go on without spoiling the book for others. I will say that this book was thought provoking, tragic, and beautiful. I have highly recommended it to my friends, and will continue to do so. I also did not understand the significance of the mysterious cover until the end of the book which I loved.

[Laura Lanni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read it again and I still love these whacky characters. In honor of ONTB's 2nd book birthday, and because the months after this book debuted were consumed by a knock-me-down family health crisis, we'll give away 11 signed copies to rekindle the hype for this tragic love story, and remind everyone that novels are the perfect holiday gift. Sign up for the Goodreads giveaway for 11 paperback copies beginning 11/12/16.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written, passionate, challenging, imaginative, intriguing.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Expect the unexpected with Or Not to Be by Laura Lanni. This book was interesting with its life and death views from the main characters. Each page will bring something new to the reader. An unusual book that will keep you spellbound.

I received Or Not to Be for free from Goodreads First Reads.

[Lou Clyde · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Or Not To Be, Laura Lanni tells an engaging story of the relationship between Anna and her husband and best friend Eddie. In a book that is kind of a cross between "It’s a Wonderful Life" and "Just Like Heaven", Anna finds herself dead. She is able to observe her life, both before and after her death, from the other side. Lanni does an amazing job telling the love story of Anna and Eddie from the perspective of both characters. The mystery behind Anna’s death and the decisions she must make will keep readers at the edge of their seats. You will come to love the relationships between Anna, Eddie and the rest of her family. Lanni’s writing is so real you will feel like you are in the same room with 5-year old Joey as he eats Oreos with one hand and picks his nose with the other. You will empathize with Eddie for never being able to please Anna’s mother. And you will share Anna’s frustration as her relationship with Eddie seems to fall apart. Or Not To Be is a clever and wonderful story that I savored from start to finish.

[Liv · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this book, only to flip back to the first page and start reading it again. I have never loved characters so fiercely as those Dr. Laura Lanni has conceived. They are exquisitely real, raw, and full of life even on the dead side. Aside from the tangible people in this book, it is also a beautiful love story. There are no roses, no sugar-coated kisses, no elaborate romantic weekends. There are Oreos, and hand sewn pockets, and three generation sacrifices. Before sitting down to read, I recommend having a roll of soft toilet paper on hand. A box of kleenex will not suffice in checking the tears of empathy and envy for the characters. In my own life, I can only hope to experience love so wonderful and such peace with death. The afterlife described by the author is so logical and appealing, I NEED it to be accurate.

[Antonius Hogebrandt · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first you follow Anna, who soon into the book realises that she's died during the day, though she's not sure how. She's given the choice of returning to her life, or stay dead. She can visit any point in the past and future, which is how we learn about her life.

In the second part, you follow her husband, and get some interesting perspective on their life, though I won't say more to not spoil things.

This isn't light reading, at least it wasn't for me. I really liked how non-linear it was, timeline wise, and that you could see actions from both the inside and the outside. How you're experienced by others isn't necessarily the same way you're experiencing yourself, which is a point well-made by this book. I also really enjoyed the explanation of death, and the mix of destiny/choice.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so unique and an interesting take on death, I really enjoyed it.