Review - In Herschel’s Wake by Michael Wohl
I received a free advanced copy from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
In Herschel’s Wake tells the story of the life and death of the author’s father. Michael learns of his father’s death through unconventional means, but soon the reader learns that nothing about Herschel Wohl was conventional. His death sends Michael and his siblings (Anais and Toby) to a tiny island in the Caribbean to bury their father.
This is a family with complicated relationships, secrets, and trauma, and these three adult children come together for the first time in their lives to take care of someone who never took care of them.
More than anything, this book is about the author’s relationship with his father. He tells stories of Herschel’s break from societal norms in the ‘70s, his drug use, his ever-changing homes, and his quest to be a published author. Ultimately, Herschel is forced to flee the US and live a somewhat transient life in the Caribbean, moving whenever his past starts to catch up to him.
Now Michael, Anais, and Toby have come to Statia to sort out Herschel’s affairs, hold his funeral, and gain some sort of closure. Michael is left to sort through his father’s unsavory digital footprint and jump through hoops to bury the body. The limited services on the island mean that the most minor details are left to Michael and his siblings, from finding someone to build a casket to washing and dressing the body.
I found this book alternately interesting, disconcerting, and touching. The author works his way through his father’s life and their relationship as he works through his father’s death. Ultimately, I felt this book was about the love we have for some people even if we don’t really like them very much.
In Herschel’s Wake was published in September 2022 and is available now!
