Reviewed by Kristin
Sam Elling is a software engineer with the ability to create
amazing programs. In fact, his latest
algorithms for an internet dating program are so good that they get him
fired. After all, what good is Sam to
the company if their clients find soul mates in just one match, and don’t need
an ongoing subscription to the service?
Fortunately, one of his test cases matches Sam up with co-worker
Meredith Maxwell. To computer nerd Sam,
Meredith (or Merde, as he uncomfortably jokes at their first meeting, yet she
laughs anyway) is much cooler and seemingly out of his reach, but after all,
his algorithms have worked their magic.
Sam and Meredith just fit.
In the wake of Sam being fired, Meredith’s grandmother
Livvie dies. Meredith and Livvie had
been extremely close and Meredith is swamped with the pain of losing her. When Sam and Meredith find Livvie’s tickets
for the last game of the Seattle Mariners’ regular season, they layer on extra
clothes, smuggle in Cool Ranch Doritos (Livvie’s favorite baseball food) and a
thermos of hot chocolate (Livvie believed that $7 was way too much to pay a
ballpark latte) and climb the bleachers in the rain. Quoting Livvie, Meredith smiles and says “No
matter how bad it gets, real fans stay for the whole game.”
Seeing just that hint of happy memory from an otherwise
mopey Meredith, Sam has an idea. He
begins building an artificial intelligence program which may be able to imitate
Livvie. Since Livvie was a hip and
happening senior citizen able to text, e-mail, video chat, and even use
Facebook, she had quite an electronic shadow.
Using that online communication archive, Sam is able to piece together
something that is not quite Livvie, but presents a close approximation.
Grieving Meredith is shocked when she discovers what Sam is
creating, but soon is hooked. She
suggests that Sam share the program with a wider audience. RePose is born. Online communication with your “DLO” (Dead
Loved One) can be simulated, as long as the DLO had an online presence before
their, uh, departure. Soon Sam, Meredith
and cousin Dash have almost more business than they can handle as users stream
into their newly created salon in an attempt to reconnect with a DLO. Some newly bereaved people simply want to say
goodbye, but some have trouble letting go.
Moral questions arise; is RePose helping people to grieve,
or is it simply a vehicle to profit from people’s sorrow? Should there be limits on what is available? Is it right for terminally ill children to be
begged to speak into the camera for hours, so that their parents will have
enough electronic communication stored to be able to speak with them after they
are gone?
Now I must admit that I have been on a Laurie Frankel binge
lately, but my only regret in that is that she has only published three
novels. First I read (and reviewed) her
latest book—This Is How It Always Is, then moved backward to Goodbye for Now,
and have just started her first book, The Atlas of Love. Why the recent obsession? Frankel creates characters who are very
likeable and believable. She also uses a
light sense of humor to deal with issues which might be difficult to
handle. While Goodbye for Now is about
people losing their loved ones, the author makes the story about more than just
loss; it is about life, death, letting go, or perhaps holding on just a bit longer.
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