This review first appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette June 29, 2024
Many romantic comedies are labeled “quirky.” The problem with its overuse is that when one comes along that is truly quirky, the word doesn’t do its duty, or the heavy lifting required of it.
“The Love of My Afterlife,” by Kirsty Greenwood, is “quirky” incarnate — with so much heart and comedy that readers will find it difficult not to laugh while reading. Our protagonist, Delphie, dies and ends up in an afterlife waiting room. There, she meets a charming stranger who seems like her soulmate. But before they can explore their connection, he’s mistakenly sent back to Earth.
Delphie is offered a chance to return to Earth herself, with a 10-day deadline to find Jonah, the mysterious man. With nothing to go on but a first name and the last initial of T. in a crowded city, she has to rely on her instincts and — perhaps the crux of the book’s lesson — ask for help, which comes from unexpected people and places.
Greenwood has said that she wanted to create a world in which Delphie had to reach out to people and get to know them to literally save her life. Mostly because Greenwood found herself in a parallel circumstance, after a move pushed her to quickly make new friends
The book amusingly begins in the afterlife, known as Evermore, set in a laundrette — mundane and therefore not menacing. “The Love of My Afterlife” was advertised as “The Dead Romantics” and “Flea Bag” meets “The Good Place,” and while this is true — in the beginning to a distracting factor, as it mirrors “The Good Place” — it diverges into its own beautiful powerhouse.
The characters are endearing and the dialogue is sometimes emotional and often hilarious. Delphie will be relatable to anyone who has had trouble making new friends over the age of 30, or has ever felt out of place in life. Even though readers will see an early plot twist coming, we are along for the ride because it is offbeat, fun and lively, and Delphie’s alternating loneliness and self-discovery keep us invested.
Anything but fine
The reader understands, through Delphie’s actions, that in many ways, she is a kind, compassionate person who serves her neighbors, including caretaking her nonverbal, elderly neighbor, Mr. Yoon. She cooks for him, helps him into the bath and makes sure he has put out his cigarette each night before bed. She is kind, but it is telling that her only friend is nonverbal.
We are often taught that serving others — whether through our actions, like taking care of a neighbor — takes the focus off of our own problems. Look over here! See how we serve! We are fine. Just fine. When the truth is that we are anything but.
Such is the case for Delphie.
Then, through circumstance, she is forced to propel herself into the orbits of new people. She takes weekly life-drawing classes, goes to clubs and black-tie events, and pushes the boundaries of what she thought she was capable of.
This lends itself to funny moments, such as when Delphie, in a haste to come up with a poem to recite in front of a friend’s parents, recites words from the song “Boom! Shake the Room” by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. That scene alone makes the book worth reading for the laughs — and there are many more.
This book has an author’s note at the beginning which adds vital context, and more books would be served well by this type of introduction. Greenwood mentions that her passion for reading and watching rom-coms developed into an obsession with her writing them:
“This is not a throwaway genre for me. It is everything. The joy, romance and sense of friendship that these stories bring to people in a tough world is so very valuable: I want to write books that honour the precious time that readers spend with them.”
It’s refreshing to find an author who shouts her love for the genre. Yet even without the author’s note, that love would shine through in this enchanting, captivating story.
Meredith Cummings is a freelance journalist and teaching assistant professor of journalism at Lehigh University.