As her peers begin to marry and become mothers, they speculate about who might be the first to go, each wondering about her own fate. Vera, a young girl when her mother went, is on the cusp of adulthood herself. It is the exquisite pain and intrinsic beauty of their lives it sets them apart from people elsewhere and gives them meaning. This town, fiercely protective, brutal and unforgiving in its adherence to tradition, faces a singular affliction: some mothers vanish, disappearing into the clouds. Vera grows up in a small town, removed and isolated, pressed up against the mountains, cloud-covered and damp year-round. Richly emotive and darkly captivating, with elements of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" and the imaginative depth of Margaret Atwood, Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin conjures a community in which girls become wives, wives become mothers and some of them, quite simply, disappear. (All quotes are taken from the advance copy and are subject to change in final print.Book Description Paperback. Thank you to Celadon Books for providing me with an advance copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The author writes beautifully, weaving a tale unlike any other I’ve come across, but unfortunately, I seem to be only gravitating toward more concrete books in this unstable time. If you’re a fan of speculative fiction, books that have a dream-like quality, almost a fairy tale detachment, then you might enjoy this one. I can’t help wondering how I would have felt about it had I waited. Elsewhere will be available this summer, but I read it right away, as requested by the publisher. It is a shorter book, easily read in one sitting, but even with that, I found myself skimming some parts. “A mother was a chance to hate someone as much as you loved them, caring and wounding, a push and pull that only tightened the knot that bound you.” Alexis Schaitkin, Elsewhere This one has been getting great early reviews, so I can only assume it’s me.
It’s challenging to rate, as well, not knowing if it’s me and my strange head-space or if it’s the book itself. And it’s hard for me to let go of the instinct I still have to pick them up. I used to be a fan of more literary books, books that made me ponder, books with layers of mystery and unanswered questions. It’s perfectly fair to say that if I’d read this book in 2019, I probably would have enjoyed it more. I was intrigued by this book about mothers who disappear, but in the end it only made me sad. leaving more to the reader’s imagination. The synopsis for Elsewhere compares it to Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, one of my favorite short stories when I was in school, and while the description is accurate, Elsewhere isn’t quite as sinister. Unfortunately, Elsewhere is completely different from Saint X and didn’t quite captivate me in the same way. My thoughtsĮlsewhere is Alexis Schaitkin’s speculative fiction follow-up to her debut Saint X, an impressive mystery that had me riveted ( My Review). Provocative and hypnotic, Alexis Schaitkin’s Elsewhere is at once a spellbinding revelation and a rumination on the mysterious task of motherhood and all the ways in which a woman can lose herself to it the self-monitoring and judgment, the doubts and unknowns, and the legacy she leaves behind. When motherhood comes for Vera, she is faced with the question: will she be able to stay and mother her beloved child, or will she disappear? Reveling in their gossip, they witness each other in motherhood, waiting for signs: this one devotes herself to her child too much, this one not enough-that must surely draw the affliction’s gaze. Vera, a young girl when her own mother went, is on the cusp of adulthood herself.
Richly emotive and darkly captivating, with elements of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and the imaginative depth of Margaret Atwood, Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin conjures a community in which girls become wives, wives become mothers and some of them, quite simply, disappear.
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