Review of The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh
Greek Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice Recast as a New York Ghost Story
Dec 26, 2008
Jack Perdu is a lonely ninth grade Classics prodigy whose life is forever changed when he is nearly killed by a speeding car. Awakening in a hospital, Jack begins hearing strange voices and later sees a man leap out of a window without leaving a trace.
Sent by his father to a doctor in New York, Jack winds up in Grand Central Terminal where he meets a strange girl, Euri, who offers to give Jack a tour of the train station’s secrets. But as the teenagers descend into the hidden depths, Euri reveals a shocking truth – she is a ghost who has led Jack into an underworld populated by New York’s spirits.
Ghostly New York Tours
Instead of frightening him, this revelation gives Jack a strong desire to find his mother, who died eight years ago. With Euri’s help, Jack searches the underworld, and discovers a world where invisible spirits get to see free New York shows, hang out in ghostly bars, and fly over New York City every night. Soon, Jack starts enjoying this world – especially when he learns that by holding onto Euri he gains ghostly powers too, including flight, invisibility, and the ability to pass through solid objects.
But Jack's nightly New York tours are also dangerous, as he discovers when he is targeted by Cerebrus, a giant three-headed dog sworn to devour any living person who enters the underworld. Worse, Jack learns that if he remains in the underworld for more than three days he can never return to the world of the living. As time runs out and Cerebrus closes in, Jack and Euri rush to find Jack’s mother – and learn some amazing truths about the underworld in the process.
A Modern Twist on Greek Myths and Legends
Winner of the 2008 Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery, The Night Tourist juxtaposes classic Greek mythology with secrets of New York’s infrastructure to create a page-turner filled with excitement, humor, and emotion. Katherine Marsh gives a sense of reality to her fantasy by including many historical New York figures in the book -- former mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, poet Dylan Thomas, and corrupt police captain “Clubber” Williams all provide ghostly cameos.
While the book is perfect for readers seeking Halloween ghost stories, Marsh also explores the lighter side the afterlife. At one point, Jack attends a “Now That You’re Dead” seminar about afterlife activities and later reads a guidebook advising underworld visitors not to eat or drink during their stay “even if they find themselves at an impossible-to-reserve restaurant” giving a sly nod to the myth of Persephone, who was forced to stay in the underworld after eating a pomegranate’s seeds. Later, Jack and Euri visit a Broadway show in New York and learn that ghosts like performing too.
At its heart, however, The Night Tourist is a story about two lonely teenagers trying to live their lives even after time has run out for one of them. The mysterious circumstances of Euri’s death and her wish to live again eventually make Jack try and help her – leading to a gripping final sequence that will linger in the reader’s mind long after the final page is turned. More than just a retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice, The Night Tourist offers a moving tale of friendship, loss, and forgiveness.
Night Tourist the Movie
According to an October 3, 2007 article in Variety, Universal Pictures has bought rights to The Night Tourist for a six figure deal and is set to adapt the book into an upcoming film. Those wishing to know more should visit Katherine Marsh’s website, which provides more information about the movie, secrets of The Night Tourist, and its upcoming sequel, The Twilight Prisoner, set to hit bookstores on April 7, 2009.
Marsh, Katherine. The Night Tourist. NY: Hyperion Books for Children, 2008. ISBN: 978-142310689
Do you enjoy stories that give a modern-twist to classic myths and fairy tales? Then read reviews of Selkie Girl, My Fair Godmother, and Rapunzel's Revenge.
