Alexis Schaitkin

Solid melodrama showing the consequences of the death of a young woman on the people around her. It's not a mystery or a crime whodunit; there is an answer but it's not one that will satisfy the mystery reader. It's more existential than that. Schaitkin explores race, class and delusion in this well-written, compelling story.

This is a mysterious, cloudy, and compelling fantasy, by the author of the fantastic debut novel Saint X. Here, Shirley Jackson's classic short story The Lottery is transferred to a hidden German mountain community, where mothers disappear for no apparent reason. Rituals abound after each woman is gone - the distribution of her worldly goods by the women, and the burning of any photos of her by the men. Narrator Vera, whose mother is gone, grows into a lovely marriage and an intense show more motherhood, and then disappears, of her own free will. She takes us with her in the aftermath, and we find out where she ends up and follow her through her life, without ever knowing if the ritual leave-taking by the other mothers is voluntary or unworldly. It's disconcerting for the reader to be left to make the determination, but the writing is an absorbing combination of the poetic and the harsh, and the book could easily, maybe should, be reread, to fully fathom the secrets within.

Quote: “You do not get to keep what is sweetest to you; you only get to remember it from the vantage point of having lost it.” show less

Elsewhere is unusual, mesmerizing, surprising, imaginative, deep, uncomfortable, disturbing, thought-provoking. It feels familiar, but it’s just different enough to knock you off balance. The writing is lyrical, lofty, in the clouds. In fact most of the story takes place in a town so high in the mountains, so protected, so hidden, so isolated, that it feels like the town itself is in the clouds. And everywhere else is, well, just Elsewhere. It doesn’t even need to be differentiated into show more individual towns; the townspeople know all they need to: Elsewhere is not here and they don’t need any details.

This town is so idyllic it could be heaven itself, up there in the clouds – except for the affliction that regularly befalls the community: some mothers vanish, disappearing into those very same heavenly clouds. Only mothers. A family goes to bed and in the morning the mother has disappeared. There is no advance warning nor any explanation left behind.

Every child, however – male and female – has grown up knowing the traditions and rituals surrounding the affliction and the role they are expected to play in following them. The disappearance of a mother may be sad to those left behind, but the rituals do not allow for sentiment or deviation. It appears that the townspeople have taken what was initially very frightening, unanticipated and negative and over time turned it into a positive thing, something that makes them special and grateful. They are the lucky ones, unlike those poor, unlucky masses residing Elsewhere. Their rituals and routines make them feel safe, feel better, feel happy with their lot.

Vera is our narrator. Hers is the only townsfolk mind we get a peek into, so we can’t be sure if she is the norm, but the picture she paints of life “up there” isn’t always flattering. The traditions can seem harsh, rigid and cruel. Not many of them have seen a stranger from Elsewhere and when they do they are initially fascinated and drawn to them, feeling sorry that they have not been privileged to be “here” before and certain they will soon see and understand the townspeople’s way. When the strangers don’t, that pity eventually turns to disdain and anger and maybe even violence. Our way is better. Don’t you get that? If you don’t, what’s wrong with you – and you don’t belong. Tolerance is not our strong suit.

Elsewhere speaks to the complexity of motherhood: the doubts and unknowns, the self-criticism and sense of impending doom or failure and identity loss. But motherhood doesn’t only change the mother; it is also life-changing for all those around her. The entire society has to adjust and adapt and make the best of things. Vera understood the history and rituals and expectations of life in her town, but as an often-rejected outsider she was perhaps even more worried and uncertain about the future than the other women. Author Alexis Schaitkin does an amazing job of examining Vera’s fears, the actions she takes to try and test fate, and the unexpected consequences of those actions.

There’s a lot going on in Elsewhere. It’s not an easy book to read but it’s very, very satisfying and makes you think. Thanks to Celadon Books for providing an advance copy via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion as a Celadon Reader. I recommend Elsewhere without hesitation. All opinions are my own. show less

Mothers just disappear. It is their ‘affliction,’ the girls believe. No one knows who will be the next to go, or when, or why. Although the town speculates, considering every anomaly of behavior as an omen of a disappearance.

The town is isolated, in a mountain jungle enveloped by mist. They make baskets to exchange for goods delivered from Elsewhere. The girls bond in threesomes, so if one disappears they have one friend left. They marry young and have children who they obsessively love. show more And, they are filled with anxiety, fearful their mothering is insufficient and will cause them to be the next woman to disappear in the night.

When a stranger comes into the town, she is at first embraced. The girls all vie to be near her. She becomes especially close to one girl. This stranger from Elsewhere crosses a boundary that makes her not only unwelcome, but a threat to everything they believe.

Elsewhere by Alexis Shaitkin is an eerie dystopian story, a kind of fable about motherhood. It is about the drive to escape from the place and relationships of our birth that we deeply love, and the fervent, fraught relationship of mother and daughter.

I received an ARC from the publisher. My review is fair and unbiased. show less