5 stars

A complex, emotional tale of life, death, parallel worlds, and the bonds which transcend them all

Nicholas "Nick" Taylor is your average thirty-something, middle-class, American male. With a wife, a house, a steady job, and a loving dog named BD, it seems that he has nothing to complain about, and yet he is not fulfilled. Nick goes through life, day after day, with a mind numbed by a constant, comfortable routine. Then one night, while Nick is out walking BD, he and his faithful companion suffer an early and tragic demise during a convenience store robbery. When he awakes, he finds that he and BD are in a field outside the strange yet familiar town of White Catcliff, being rescued by a talking cat named Theodore.

From anthropomorphized animals to residents from throughout history, something is not quite right about White Catcliff. The longer Nick stays, the more mysterious the entire situation becomes and the more questions he has. What is White Catcliff? Where is White Catcliff? How did Nick--and the other residents--get there? And what is the history behind the journal hidden within eighteenth-century sac de voyage? The truth is far stranger than Nick could have ever imagined and will force him to reevaluate his views of the universe, himself, and his destiny. Yet with this great responsibility comes great personal sacrifice, one that could leave him stranded in a parallel world all alone. Will Nick be willing to take that plunge?

Return to White Catcliff by Inna Val Helm uses an entertaining and compelling story, complete with gorgeous illustrations by Leni Prouse, to explore the complex subjects of parallel worlds and non-linear movement through spacetime.

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