If you were to die today, what would you have taken away from life? What are your regrets? What did you do right? How did you overcome your disadvantages? Derek McFadden’s novel, What Death Taught Terrence, explores these questions by posthumously revisiting the major life events of the title character and trying to figure out, not the meaning of life but the meaning of his life. Here is my review of the urban fantasy novel, What Death Taught Terrence.
What Death Taught Terrence book summary
The story opens with Terrence being awakened by his mother’s voice. Realizing that his mother is long dead, he comes to terms with the fact that he too has now crossed over.
In the afterlife, he meets up with the friends and loved ones who died before him. Each helps him to prepare for a review of his life by reliving his most impactful moments from childhood to the end of his life.
At this review, Terrence is required to summarize what his life meant and what he learned as the result of his hardships, relationships, and choices. The right answer will earn him entry into heaven. The wrong answer will cause him to cease to exist.
Told out of order and by multiple narrators offering multiple viewpoints, What Death Taught Terrence is a personal reflection of one man’s life and his quest to wrap up his unfinished business so that he can move on peacefully, one way or another.
The characters
Our hero, Terrence, is plagued by disadvantages and trauma from an early age. Born with cerebral palsy, his physical limitations alone promised a challenging life for our hero. Even basic tasks, such as dressing himself, made him into a frustrated, vulnerable boy. He’s teased in school and even assaulted at one point. Add on the abandonment issues caused by his mother leaving at a young age and being raised by an alcoholic father. The result is a distrust of people and a hopelessness that a normal, happy life isn’t in the cards for him.
Then, a small collection of important characters slowly trickle into his life. From his father’s second wife, who he calls “Mom,” her kindly father, an elderly man that he meets in the hospital on the day of his daughter’s birth, and his daughter herself, this extended family gives him the confidence, independence, and companionship he needs to make his way in the world.
History repeats itself as Terrence becomes a young father. His daughter grows up in two households after he and her mother separate. But again, while not perfect, they make it work. Each of these characters, including Terrence’s new wife, accept him for who he is. They provide, not only a support system, but further learning opportunities to help him in his final review.
The afterlife
The afterlife that McFadden introduces in his novel includes God, heaven, and reconnections with loved ones, all of the best parts of what those who believe in an afterlife hope to find. However, the afterlife that Terrence encounters runs more like a sociology experiment. The God that he speaks with abides by a set of rules that he has created. He is a fallible God who allows free will to dictate humanity’s fate. His interference is minimal.
This God also takes the form of all of the characters in the story with whom Terrence interacts throughout his life’s review. He talks to Terrence as these characters after reliving each memory. These interactions guide Terrence towards his enlightenment. They’re his cheerleaders hoping he will succeed in his final review and be able to enter heaven.
When people question why bad things happen if there is a God overseeing us, this version of God helps to answer that question. Bad things happen because of our own free will and that of others.
To the reader, this can be a scary or comforting thought, depending on the context. But the story is framed so as not to take the side of any one religion or belief. Instead, the afterlife serves as a guideline for the rules of this particular story and afterlife. It provides the framework so that Terrence’s life story can be told completely with detail and reflection.
Final thoughts on What Death Taught Terrence
What Death Taught Terrence is an interesting take on the life story trope. It doesn’t set out to course correct one’s life. Instead, it’s a way to help the reader reflect on theirs before their time is up.
And if you read my interview with Derek McFadden back in May, you will have seen that this story is autobiographical in nature.
You can see the self-reflection and the philosophical depths that McFadden went in order to craft this personal tale.
It’s a morality tale in the truest sense but with the compelling nature of an epic life. While ordinary, and even tragic, on the surface, it’s a life that anyone would feel lucky to have lived in the end, hardships and all. I recommend this book to anyone who is feeling lost, disadvantaged, or faithless and needs to see life from a different perspective in order to fully appreciate it.
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