The Effect by Linda Hoy

Linda Hoy had some unusual experiences surrounding the death of her mother. She began to investigate the possibility that what we physically see is not all there is. Perhaps like in Plato's story, we are only seeing the shadows of reality.

She began looking for a theory that would explain everything and read everything she could get her hands on. She wanted to grasp the spiritual in an understandable way.

A dream encouraged her to investigate life after death, the brain and the existence of the soul. She writes about dark matter, how the Aborigines view time, creativity linking us to something beyond ourselves, dreams of future events, lucid dreaming, entanglement (mind and machine, mind and mind), entrainment, multiple universes, and more.

She was surprised by the Groundmut theory, found a spiritual home in a Quaker church, and draws from John Dunne (aeronautical engineer) and J. B. Priestly.

Most of her book is about giving reasons “that something exists over and beyond our physical selves... I am still unable to name what or who it is that's out there...,” she writes. (208) If pushed, she'd call it God, she later adds.

She realizes that people who abhor the idea of “Anything Out There will never shift no matter how much evidence is trowelled on the page.” (209)

She calls for an increased effort devoted to exploring the concepts she has covered in this book.

Linda Hoy begins her journey as an avowed atheist yet comes to the conclusion there is something or someone out there, beyond the observable physical reality. She has a great deal of anecdotal evidence as well as reports from investigative authors. After reading this book, one would need to face the overwhelming evidence to a spiritual reality.

Linda is very personable in her writing, including many of her own experiences. There were times when I thought she may have included too much of her personal experiences.

Linda has by no means come to the point where she is willing to see the spiritual reality as the Christian God. But this is a good book showing the journey from atheism to “something” out there.

Linda Hoy is a British author best known for her works for children and young adults. She won the Children's Book Award in 1994 and her first television play won the Silver Award for Drama in New York in 1985. She has taught creative writing and regularly leads writing workshops in schools and universities. She lives in Sheffield, UK.

O-Books, a division of John Hunt Publishing, Ltd., 280 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.