The story within the story is that of the girl, Keturah, who meets Death in the woods. Much like the classic, One Thousand and One Nights, she begins telling him a story so he would spare her life. But she leaves off the ending and promises to tell it the very next day. Things happen and Death relents a bit each day, which is how she manages to stay alive. 

So, this might have been more of a romance than anything else. But I liked it for the beautiful language. It had a lyrical quality to it. 

Examples:

The ending was very much expected — Death gets the girl — but I wouldn’t have liked it any other way. Maybe I should try out the other books by this author. What do you think?

This one was part of the Death Personified shelf-full of novels that I downloaded once upon a time. And I am so glad I did. It had flavors of Pratchett and Douglas Adams that made me laugh out loud. The goldfish had a surprisingly big part to play in the grand scheme of things. And the poor Devil was so put upon by God and Death both. 

Like all novels involving the Devil, this one too started when he hatched a plot to take over the world. Pity that things didn’t go as well as he’d thought they would.

A funny

 

Another single novel by the author. Yum!

 

A series with a hirsute teenager that I can read? Count me in!