This was such a lovely, hopeful and thought provoking work of fiction. But here's the thing - a bit of me believes/hopes that it's bordering on fact.Mitch Albom's 'The Five People You Meet In Heaven' tells the tale of Eddie, the fairground maintainance man and his story begins on his 83rd birthday.......his last day on earth.
To help him put his lifetime into perspective he is met in heaven by 5 people from his past, some he knows - some he doesn't, but they all hold information that will help Eddie make sense of his life and understand what led him to arrive in heaven on the day he did.
The message seems to be that whether we are aware of it or not, everything happens for a reason but more importantly, even trivial things can shape a person and that every encounter, occurance or event is tightly woven into the fabric of our lives.
It is a very quick read, at just over 100 pages, but Mr Albom's writing style seems to pack a lot into those 100 pages. It's not 'gripping' or 'fast paced' but it is a page turner. I read it in one sitting as I couldn't wait to find out who Eddie's 5 people were and what his personal heaven would be.
I don't think I've ever sobbed as much over a book as I did at the bittersweet ending of this one. I didn't see the 5th person coming and was literally moved to tears at their fragment of Eddie's life.
It gets 5 out of 5 from me and I'm so glad I've read it.
