The Vanishers & 2 Reminds Me

Heidi Julavits' The Vanishers is a fun, romp of a book built on top of some big issues. Its tone reminds me of The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas, minus the 19th century philosopher/scientists. So, get ready to suspend disbelief or belief or both, and have fun. This book has been described as a psychic mystery, true enough. The protagonist, Julia, is a young psychic hired to find a radically avant-guard film maker, who coincidentally knew Julia's mother at the time of her death.  Julavits uses this story to dig deeply into mothers, fathers, daughters, communication, grief, loss, suicide. It has a complex set of lively characters & relationships. But, don't despair, it is written with a very light touch and wit, and is often quite funny. In fact, Julavits'  writing style reminds me of Vendela Vida, whose work I enjoy very much. Vida's writing often has a musical phrasing: three sentences will set up a fourth that is a clever zinger. I learned in the acknowledgments that they are co-editors of the literary magazine The Believers.