Limbo

Koerber (The Dog Thief and Other Stories) paints a quietly sweet portrait of the afterlife through a series of interconnected vignettes. Trey, a middle-aged Texan, and Alyse, the youngest and most recent arrival in Limbo, spend most of their days in their small, unnamed town playing poker in Lily’s run-down saloon and floating aimlessly around on “walks.” Like many of the inhabitants of Limbo, Alyse has many questions about why she ended up where she is, as well as a multitude of regrets about her past life. Over time, the reader is introduced to the rest of the town: the Preacher, known only by his title and his loose understanding of the Bible; the garden-loving Chinese Lady, isolated from her white neighbors by an impassible language barrier; Lily, the self-proclaimed mistress of the saloon and a shameless card shark; Warren, a sardonic ex-professor; and Warren’s dog, Dean. At first the white characters’ racism sometimes seems to be supported by the narrative, but this is mitigated later on as each nonwhite character narrates a chapter and is portrayed as a full person with flaws and desires. Koerber weaves a slow, captivating exploration of life, death, and the place of kindness and forgiveness in the salvation of the spirit. (BookLife)