The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

Now, this book was a much-needed palate cleanser from all the thrillers and horror books I’ve been reading. But don’t worry, I’ve already made a trip to the Strand and picked up some classic horror, new thrillers, as well as some age-old political commentaries that I’ll be reading and writing about soon.

This was such a sweet book. It honestly strikes the perfect balance between heartwarming and heart-wrenching. Although it’s only 196 pages, there is so much to unpack in this story and many lessons to take away from it. From what I can see online, not a lot of people seemed to like it, for their own reasons, but I really thought it was simple yet effective in what it was trying to say. It doesn’t have many frills, but there are several moments of relatability and it even left me pleasantly surprised at times. 

It begins on Eddie’s 83rd birthday as he works his longtime job as a maintenance worker at Ruby Pier, a seaside amusement park that reminded me of Coney Island in the summertime. But this is no ordinary day at the pier, it’s the last day of Eddie’s life, though of course he doesn’t know it yet. When an attraction breaks down and a cart full of people begins to malfunction, threatening to topple, Eddie notices a little girl standing in the path of the massive metal car about to plummet to the ground. Without hesitation, he rushes forward to push her out of harm’s way.

In heaven, Eddie meets five people who, in one way or another, had an impact on his life. Their stories are intertwined with his, like an invisible string connecting them. Eddie learns that his life affected theirs just as much as theirs affected his. With each person he meets, he is given a new lesson that helps him realize he isn’t as mundane as he has made himself out to be.

The book is comforting in the way it suggests that there is always a reason we end up on the paths we choose to follow.

What I love about this book is that it offers a vision of the afterlife and what it might look like in a very nonreligious way. The tone of the writing never felt like it was pushing readers to believe in something godly, but rather spiritual. It invites you to simply contemplate and question the possibility of an afterlife and imagine what your own might look like.

Eddie is reunited with five people who shaped his life in different ways, some he may not have realized were so impactful, some he expected to see, and others he never wanted to face again. Eddie doesn’t think he’s special; he believes he lived a simple, unremarkable life and that he was essentially a nobody who wouldn’t be missed when he was gone. But he soon learns that nothing could be further from the truth. 

The book is comforting in the way it suggests that there is always a reason we end up on the paths we choose to follow. There were many reasons why things in Eddie’s life didn’t work out the way he had hoped, some of which were unbeknownst to him at the time. For example, he never left the pier and worked there into old age despite his dreams of leaving. In the end, though, he realizes that his purpose was to be there all along. The pier needed him, and deep down, it was where he was happiest.

I’m at a stage where I’m learning that what will be will be, and if something is meant for me, it will come.

This idea resonated with me a lot at this point in my life because I’m at a stage where I’m learning that what will be will be, and if something is meant for me, it will come. Similarly, Eddie’s path begins to make sense as he listens to the five people reflect on his life and the ways their lives were intertwined with his. He comes to understand that all the hardships and unpleasant moments he endured—the war, his years at the pier, and struggles within his family—shaped him into the person he was at the end of his life.

Even though his life wasn’t extraordinary in the traditional sense, he wasn’t a celebrity or the world’s richest man, he was rich in the ways that truly mattered. It takes the five people he meets in heaven to help him finally see that.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven is a short read, but was very very pleasant. I wonder who my 5 people would be?