The story of four siblings--Simon, Klara, Daniel, and Varya--who are each told the date they are to die by a fortune teller, and how they choose to live their lives. What an interesting concept, and really, the magical aspect of the premise is not really relevant to the question the author explores.
Some live with reckless abandon and have short but full lives; some, afraid of death and taking risks, don't really live at all. Others are haunted by their past, mental illness, etc. Chloe Benjamin does a great job of exploring the different ways people deal with death, and along the way shares her insight into family, parenting, and the magical power of stories and love.
And despite the outcomes, Benjamin reminds us that we are lucky to live in a time where we are still able have some control over our own fate. As Varya reflects upon their mother, Gertie, who represents the family's Jewish background and traditional ways, she sees that Gertie gave her children "the freedom of uncertainty, the freedom of an unsure fate... As the only child of immigrants, her father had few options. To look forward or back must have felt ungrateful, like testing fate... But Varya and her siblings had choices, and the luxury of self-examination. They wanted to measure time, to plot and control it."
Some live with reckless abandon and have short but full lives; some, afraid of death and taking risks, don't really live at all. Others are haunted by their past, mental illness, etc. Chloe Benjamin does a great job of exploring the different ways people deal with death, and along the way shares her insight into family, parenting, and the magical power of stories and love.
And despite the outcomes, Benjamin reminds us that we are lucky to live in a time where we are still able have some control over our own fate. As Varya reflects upon their mother, Gertie, who represents the family's Jewish background and traditional ways, she sees that Gertie gave her children "the freedom of uncertainty, the freedom of an unsure fate... As the only child of immigrants, her father had few options. To look forward or back must have felt ungrateful, like testing fate... But Varya and her siblings had choices, and the luxury of self-examination. They wanted to measure time, to plot and control it."