Author Ernest Dempsey's second collection of short stories "The Blue Fairy" takes a subject that has been dreaded for centuries - 'Death'. It is one of the few works of fiction, which neither treats the subject as the 'D word' by bringing in fantasies of afterlife nor compromises the solemnity by trying to evaporate the reality of death in humor. Instead, Dempsey explores the many sides to the subject that make the final departure a meaningful reality of existence. Inspired mostly by real life experiences, Dempsey's "The Blue Fairy" ingeniously integrates dying with living. It is a book for the soul.
The Blue Fairy: and other tales of transcendence
Ernest Dempsey
Modern History Press (2009)
ISBN 9781932690927
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (7/09)
Dedicating this book to his dear aunt who passed away in 1992, Dempsey has written a collection of short stories on the subject of death. Thinking about death tends to make people uncomfortable, for obvious reasons, I would assume. Because of this, I was very curious about what I would find inside these pages. I was actually quite impressed. While the subject is about death, the stories actually led me to develop some thought-provoking questions about life. It is the living who has to deal with the loss of their loved ones, not the dead.
In several of the stories, people vainly try to hold on to something that will connect them with the deceased love one. Sometimes the only thing that they can keep is a memory, other times it might be something that the person had with them when they died. Dempsey adds plenty of twists to the stories to keep them thought-provoking and sometimes a little twisted. That’s what made reading “The Blue Fairy” so fun.
In several of the stories in “The Blue Fairy” by Ernest Dempsey, I found myself feeling discomfiture for the characters, especially when they were asked to do something or had to deal with an issue regarding someone’s death. It definitely calls to mind my own mortality. I think that readers will really enjoy burying themselves in this book. No pun intended of course.
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