Memento Mortale
Due to the yellow fever outbreak, Mildred Mortale is spending a boring summer indoors. The growing popularity of electric lights has made their kerosene lamp and candle company obsolete, and with the family business in bankruptcy, their house has become little more than shadows and lonely echoes. When they’re asked to host a family member’s funeral, Mildred’s mother hatches a plan to turn their home into a full-time funeral parlor. That’s when Mildred learns she can communicate with the dead. When a necklace of a deceased woman is found in her mother’s possession, Mildred comes to a startling realization as to the true reason so many restless spirits linger in the home. But what can she do as a 13-and-a-half-year-old girl no one listens to?
Walsh’s storyline beautifully explores the power of one’s voice. At the start, many characters are stuck in their own troubles. Mildred’s relationship with her siblings develops in heartfelt ways as the trio begin talking to each other while trying to make sense of their family’s difficult and changing circumstances. Despite being the youngest in the house, Mildred is the catalyst for the book’s development. I enjoyed seeing her find confidence and stand up for herself. Despite the setting being contained mostly to one house, Mildred’s world is rich with otherworldly mayhem. All the characters are eccentric in the best possible ways. Meanwhile, Walsh’s delightful sense of humor helps to lighten what could otherwise be a gloomy tale. Memento Mortale is an enjoyable novel that’s a little spooky, a lot of quirky, and altogether charming.
