Summary

Chapter Nine opens with its own case study: the life of Purnima Ekanayake. Born in Sri Lanka, Purnima went on a class field trip to the Kelaniya temple, where she told her class that she once lived on the other side of the river. Impassioned, Purnima kept mentioning an incense maker killed in a traffic accident years ago. Upon investigating, her family found that there was, indeed, an incense maker killed in a traffic accident, called Jindasa Perera. Purnima was presented to Perera’s family, who accepted her as, “Jindasa reborn” (80).

Janie and Anderson meet for the first time in a diner. After ordering his book, she realizes that reading the cases in Dr. Anderson’s book feels compelling and “strangely familiar” (81). Janie describes reading the stories so passively that it felt like she was “absorbing them” (82). Her...