Chloe Benjamin - The Immortalists
The story of four siblings who we first meet in childhood, when they visit a local psychic who foretells the exact date of each of their deaths. We then see how each life plays out: Simon, a life as a dancer in a gay club cut short by AIDS; Klara meets her death date during a magic act on stage; Daniel is a military doctor and Varya a scientist. These siblings are all miserable in different ways, battling with the possibility of meeting their end on a pre-determined date. It becomes almost a self-fulfilling prophecy rather than any magical influence. The writing is engaging, absorbing, and the premise interesting enough to see me through to the end - but, for me, this was harder work than I usually like in a novel.