In 'The Third Hotel,' A Woman's Husband Returns From The Dead

In the novel "The Third Hotel," the main character, Clare, travels alone to Havana, Cuba, for a Latin American film festival. The trip was initially booked for two, but her husband, Richard, was hit by a car and killed five weeks before their departure. But, as Clare wanders the old city, she sees her husband walking the streets as well — resurrected from the dead.

“The grieving are very dangerous," writes Laura van den Berg. "They are like injured animals with fearsome claws, bloodied and pushed into a corner.”

Laura van den Berg will be reading at the Harvard Book Store on Aug. 7 at 7 p.m. 

Laura van den Berg, Cambridge-based author and lecturer at Harvard University. She tweets @lvandenberg.