Elsewhere, by Gabrielle Zevin, 2005

Liz wakes up in a cabin bunk on a cruise ship, the SS Nile, only to reluctantly realize she’s there because she’s dead. She arrives in Elsewhere, a place where dead souls live remarkably full lives, holding jobs, having holidays, pets and even romances while aging backwards in anticipation of a return trip to the land of the living. Thoughtful and funny, the parallel world of Elsewhere is entirely original yet oddly believable, though the text makes a few misfires, and some may find a voyeuristic aspect unsettling.