Evacuation Plan: A Novel from the Hospice
by Joe M. O’connell
Published by Dalton Publishing
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Reviewed by Maria Elmvang
Aspiring script writer Matt visits a hospice in order to gather inspiration for his great play. Spending the days getting to know the people staying there, Matt realized the hospice is full of stories, for anybody who cares enough to sit down and listen. From the lady whose sister ran off with a circus artist (or wanted to, anyway) to the old man who was just hoping to be reconciled with his children before he left this earth, Matt talks to them all, asking them what was their best experience in life, and hearing the stories they just have to get off their chest–before it’s too late.
The idea behind Evacuation Plan is brilliant. Joe O’Connell works from the theory that “everybody has a story to tell,” and you are left with the knowledge that this is without a doubt true. The book changes focus constantly with the chapters alternatingly being told from Matt’s point of view, and then from the view of one of the people at the hospice.
The main thread running through all the stories is death and how to cope with it, but this is not a strong enough connection to get the stories linked together properly, and Evacuation Plan ends up feeling more like a book of short stories with a common theme, than like a full novel. This doesn’t make the book any less worth reading, but it is always an advantage for the reader to know what to expect, in order not to be disappointed by the number of loose threads left hanging.
Though dealing with a sober subject, Joe O’Connell manages to be neither too somber nor engage in too much gallows humor. Death is faced unapologetically and straightforward–a very refreshing change from books that tend to either shy away from the subject, or wallow in it.
Armchair Interviews says: This is more a collection of well-written short stories than a novel, with the thread that connects are the stories at the hospice.