They say that funerals are for the living. Similarly, the ghosts that haunt Angela Meyer’s second novel exist in the same way – revived as they’re remembered by the living. Meyer’s ghosts are famed, glittering figures from history – David Bowie, Marlene Dietrich – alongside inventors and philosophers, whose work and ideas coalesce in the background of Moon Sugar.
The book begins with death, although as a whole Moon Sugar is radiantly life-affirming. On a trip to Europe, free-spirited Josh disappears in Berlin. Although no body is found, his family receives a suicide note via text, which is enough to shut down any potential investigation. But it’s not enough to quell the curiosity of his best friend, Kyle, or one of his lovers, Mila. Desperate to know the truth about the last moments of the man both desired to know better, Kyle and Mila independently journey to Berlin, where they meet, and start to piece together Josh’s final days. Their search brings more questions than it answers, about Josh and about the mysterious experiment he and Mila had participated in together some months before he left.
