Book Review: Just Because You're Dead Doesn't Mean You're Gone by Sandy Foster-Morrison

Just Because You're Dead Doesn't Mean You're Gone by Sandy Foster Morrison

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


If you're not "from here," then you might think you know something about East Texas from having watched the recent movie "Bernie." Frankly, the movie is spot on at revealing the snippy, elitist, prejudiced thinking prevalent there (and the horrific twang of speech!).

But this author: grew up there. Her memoir of that experience will make you cringe and groan if you are from here and it will make you exclaim in disbelief if you're not. But I can tell you from my own Piney Woods roots that her account of "how it was (is)" is all true.

Ms. Foster-Morrison has a breezy tone that sets the reader at ease right away. She is fiercely honest, a laudable act of courage, given her ancestry. I commend her for this.

Her story, a black comedy with tragic moments, is the story of "every-woman": how marriage, child-rearing, society and family influence and rule our becoming and if we are tenacious to a fault, as this author, having the will to become who she herself determines to be in spite of overwhelming odds against her, how we survive.

Personally, I deeply identified with the main premise: that those who have left their fleshly bodies have not "died," but in fact carry on communicating with us from beyond, especially when our relationships on this plane have unfinished business.

If you are looking to fantasize and be carried away, this is not the book for you. If you are looking for a meaty story, full of unexpected turns and raw emotion, one that will make you laugh and cry, and leave you deep in thought, read this book.

I dare you.





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