Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily R. Austin
“Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead,” by Emily R. Austin opens a window on a uniquely Millennial/Gen Z experience.
Gilda, the story’s protagonist, is a 20-something neurodivergent queer atheist whose anxiety makes it hard for her to hold down a job and results in situational avoidance. For example, Gilda drives herself to the hospital with a broken arm after a rear-end accident, instead of facing the attention of calling an ambulance. She also drives around with a smashed car, rather than facing the challenges of filing an insurance claim.
Many of Gilda’s “quirks” or “eccentricities” may seem absurd or bizarre to some readers, but for others, her challenges of navigating life resonate strongly – this is the magic of fiction, in that Gilda’s story is a window into a real-life world foreign to some, yet uniquely and overwhelmingly familiar to others.
Over the course of the story, Gilda stumbles into a job as secretary for a Catholic church, despite being an atheist with no knowledge of Catholicism. She becomes enthralled by, and ultimately entwined in, the somewhat mysterious death of her predecessor at the church. The story is one of a fish out of water, as she strives to navigate life in a job that’s completely foreign and, at times, antithetical to her own.
Austin writes with wit, humor and dashes of ironic absurdity, as characters can feel like caricatures, but are also all too real. Despite the heaviness of Gilda’s tale, Austin crafts a story that is light, positive and ultimately hopeful. “Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead” should appeal to readers of contemporary fiction, and anyone looking for a window into lived experiences that may be different from their own.
“Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead” is the October selection for the Books & Bites book group. Join Books & Bites at 1 p.m. Friday, October 18, 2024 at Blaine Public Library for a time of community and lively conversation. For more information, visit the WCLS website at bit.ly/3YoVC2d.
Reviewed by Jonathan Jakobitz, Blaine Library branch manager, Whatcom County Library System
(Originally published in The Northern Light, Wednesday, October 9, 2024.)