Whitcomb, Laura. Under the Light.

Whitcomb, Laura.  Under the Light.  Houghton Mifflin  2013  237p  ISBN 978-0-547-36754-5   hs/adult  Hardback   VG  Fantasy    

Laura Whitcomb writes beautifully.  The reader witnesses main character Jenny’s pain and understands immediately why she escapes the real world and enters her supernatural world.  Her father and his expectations, all in the name of religion, are oppressive, and Jenny has to find a place for herself in “another world.”  It is during one of her escapes from her body that she meets a boy who shares her pain at the same time he is experiencing his own.  They are in a perfect position to be taken over by others, and Helen, who is stuck somewhere between heaven and earth, takes over Jenny’s body for a short period of time in order to be with James, who has taken over Billy’s body.  During their time on   earth, Helen and James come together sexually.  It remains for Jenny and Billy to figure out how and why this happened.  Beginning in church, Helen slowly reveals herself to Jenny, and Jenny gains some much-needed confidence in herself.  The development of a relationship between Jenny and Billy is a thing of beauty to read.  The reason for Billy’s pain is revealed, and Jenny has gained the ability to stand up for herself against her parents.  She is there for him.  Whitcomb tells her story by switching in and out of bodies, much the way that Helen moves in and out of human bodies as she needs them.  The reason she has chosen Jenny is not just to have her tryst with James, but also to confide the story of her greatest loss to someone who will understand.  An attempted exorcism, the break-up of her parents’ marriage, and new discoveries end this book.  This is a refreshingly creative, albeit sometimes confusing, account of love, self acceptance and new beginnings.  Whitcomb knows how to tell a story. 

Note that on page 142, there is a confusing sentence: “It took me a moment to remember that the ghost Helen said he had been her host.”  There seems to be a missing word.  A reader needs a certain maturity to follow the action of this story and to comprehend its conflicts, so it is best for the high-school library and/or for the young-adult section of a public library. 

Summary: Jenny’s pain is palpable, so she discovers a way to escape her parents’ oppression by leaving her body.  Confusion sets in, however, because someone else has entered her body to share a relationship with a lover James, now in Billy’s body.  Jenny and Billy build a relationship after the affair.     

Fantasy, Romance-Fiction                                    --Martha Squaresky