Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin
Reviewed by: Beth Weimer, Communications Specialist
Genre: Literary Fiction
Suggested Age: Adults
What is the Book About?: Somewhere, an idyllic but isolated community lives amongst the clouds in a remote mountain valley. Growing up, young girls like Vera experience a lifestyle that is wholesome and traditional, except for the ‘affliction’ that marks their community: the regular, unexplained disappearance of young mothers. It’s a burden they bear collectively because it makes them special, unlike towns Elsewhere; something strangers like Ruth will never understand. But the constant speculation of who will go next takes on different depths when Vera becomes a mother and begins to feel herself slipping away, like her own mother did long ago…
My Review: There’s not a whole lot I can say without spilling this story’s secrets. I was left with a lot of questions, but I really enjoyed Schaitkin’s atmospheric style, framing, and peripheral insights. Obviously, the novel explores the all-consuming nature of motherhood, and there’s much to unpack within the role’s mythological layers of love, status, sacrifice, and darkness. The story also exposes our capacity for cruelty, obsession, and self-inflicted realities, as well as the inescapable impact of place. The vagueness of time and other elements leaves a lot open to the reader’s interpretation, and I realized the twist long before Vera did, but still enjoyed the unfolding. This book is sometimes categorized as dystopian or speculative, but I can’t imagine our own Elsewheres don’t actually exist.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Provocative, Broody, Memorable
Give This a Try if You Like… Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin, The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
Rating: 4/5
