Fiction Review

Claire
by Jim Meirose
ISBN-10: 1412040191
Review by Heather Froeschl

Walter and Lucas make a disturbing discovery in a nearby field after hearing an explosion and seeing the resulting fire begin. A plane had some misfortune, apparently exploding, spilling some of its contents and then crashing to the ground. What fell out of the sky was not just debris, but a sealed coffin complete with occupant, being shipped from one funeral home to another. Annie, a little girl that lived not too far away, also witnessed the falling plane. She would have an encounter with the lady in the coffin too, and it would change her life though she had no idea of how or why. The body in the coffin, Claire, has its own point of view.

Walter and Lucas open the box and discover Claire, finding that she is dead but eerily fresh. They decide to take her home, hoping for some kind of reward. After a few weeks Claire is still fresh as a daisy and the brothers decide to sell her to a freak show/fair that is passing through. Meanwhile, Annie discovers a cache of dirty magazines in her family's basement and the reader finds that Father is just a bit off base, perhaps even obsessed with a certain sort of woman. He lusts after an image and ignores his willing wife. And readers are also given the unique perspective of the dead woman's take on things...life, buses, being the star of the freak show. These chapters and parts of others are written in an almost poetic manner, with incomplete sentences creating a feel for details rather than spelling them out in context.

"Claire" is a somewhat disturbing tale of chance happenings, circumstance, and the desperate needs of people. It is a short book that might leave some wondering what the heck they've just read. Entertaining in its own way this book addresses some real life dilemmas - poverty, family commitment, and secret desires. Jim Meirose has written a strange book. I can accept the unusual and respect the desire to stand out in a crowd, but I cannot overlook spelling, typographical, and punctuation errors. There is not a quotation mark to be found in this book, leaving the reader to struggle through character conversations.

For all of its faults "Claire" is still a morbidly interesting story. I wouldn't be at all surprised if sometime down the road an independent film is made in its image. Though I don't think I'd personally want to see it.