It may be that Felice Holman is living her second life as a writer. That, at least, was the opinion expressed by Holman's aunt--a psychic--when Felice was born. Aunt Marie informed the author's family that she had had a message from "the other side" regarding young Felice. She was the reincarnation of Florence Marryat, a prolific if little-known novelist who lived in the 1800s.

Holman isn't sure whether she knew, when she first began to write as a child, that she was allegedly a reincarnated writer, and so turned to writing in a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. And she's never been sure whether or not to believe the story, even though her Aunt Marie was well-regarded enough as a psychic to be a personal consultant to many of the movie stars of her day. Regardless of the truth (which no one, it seems, will ever know), Holman grew...