The Pallbearers Club by Paul Tremblay
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Paul Tremblay’s THE PALLBEARERS CLUB is a sublime achievement, a novel in the form of a memoir (drawing partially from the author’s own life) by the pseudonymous Art Barbara, but which also offers us the viewpoint of a second narrator, his friend since high school Mercy Brown, in the form of notes in the margins as well as what those of us in the business would call “editorial letters.” Mercy has a few things to say about the way Art is representing (or misrepresenting) his life to the reader.
Like much of Tremblay’s recent work, this is a character-driven literary novel that dips its toe into the horror genre. You won’t find fast-paced thrills between these pages, but you will find expertly drawn characters and, yes, moments of absolute horror. Tremblay’s authorial voice — sometimes humorous, always earnest — rings authentic throughout, whether it’s Art talking about all the terrible bands he’s been in or Art relaying a night of grueling terror that will stay with him for the rest of his life. Mercy’s frequent use of sarcasm endears the reader to her, even though it’s clear she’s hiding secret wounds.
THE PALLBEARERS CLUB is a vampire story of sorts, although not of the cape and fangs variety. Art becomes more and more convinced that Mercy is secretly feeding off his vitality, and in a way she is, but so is he, because these two are not good for each other (despite Mercy introducing Art to better music than he was listening to previously). It’s refreshing that Art and Mercy’s relationship isn’t romantic but rather one of lifelong friendship. They’re best friends, but they’re also the worst friends. It’s very relatable. We’ve all had people like that in our lives at some point.
Beautifully written and exquisitely, gracefully told, THE PALLBEARERS CLUB is a novel like no other I’ve read. I’ve always been a fan of Tremblay’s work, but this is a next-level achievement. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
(Note: Longtime Tremblay fans will enjoy spotting a few clues that THE PALLBEARERS CLUB takes place in the same world as one of his previous horror novels.)
