This Life is the Next Life

When I agreed to review Patrick McNamara's Conan Doyle's Wallet, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But since I had read two fiction books recently that had spiritualism as main plot elements (A Death in Vienna and The Spiritualist) and had watched a movie that revealed Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's views on supernatural phenomena (Fairy Tale: A True Story), I felt that this book was the proper follow-up to the thoughts and questions that had come up.

What I found in this book was part-biography and part-discussion of the author's views on spiritualism and the afterlife. Patrick McNamara is a medium and psychic in Britain who had always been fascinated with Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries and a very public believer in spiritualism. When McNamara was able to buy a wallet at a Christie's auction of Conan Doyle's effects, he got a special insight and connection to the man who died in 1930.

I was hoping that this book would have more of a history of spiritualism in modern times but it does briefly tell the stories of some famous cases -- enough information to allow one to do more research on the subject if you were interested. The Conan Doyle biography is disjointed but comprehensive and again is a good introduction to the subject. Most of the book actually belongs to McNamara's own views on the afterlife, the materials of which we are made and the ability of anyone who desires it to become a medium.

The only major complaint I had about this book was that it was quite poorly edited. There were sentence fragments and superfluous punctuation all over the place which detracted from the reading experience. However, the author makes the point that if we put out positive thoughts and feelings, we receive positive feedback in return so I will recommend this book to anyone interested in this subject and hope that you end up with a second edition! And if you would like to learn more about McNamara, you can visit his website.

Not a skeptic nor a believer,
K


Buy Conan Doyle's Wallet: The Secrets Within on Amazon or find it at your local library.