Elsewhere

A Novel

By: Alexis Schaitkin

Narrated by: Ell Potter

2022 Library Journal Best Books of the Year, Long-listed

"The audiobook narrated by Ell Potter is riveting." -- Buzzfeed on Elsewhere

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.

Vera grows up in a small town, removed and isolated, pressed up against the mountains, cloud-covered and damp year-round. This town, fiercely protective, brutal and unforgiving in its adherence to tradition, faces a singular affliction: some mothers vanish, disappearing into the clouds. It is the exquisite pain and intrinsic beauty of their lives; it sets them apart from people elsewhere and gives them meaning.

Vera, a young girl when her own mother went, is on the cusp of adulthood herself. 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. 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. 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?

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.

A Macmillan Audio production from Celadon Books.

©2022 Alexis Schaitkin (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

Incredibly Compelling

This book is beautiful and mournful. It's like if Wyeth's "Christina's World" was a book instead of a painting.

Mothers and Daughters

Beautiful analogy of the relationship between mothers and daughters, the way the relationship shapes us.

Thought provoking

This was an enjoyable book. Both thought provoking and accessible, touching down on humanity in a way that is, at times, uncomfortably accurate.

Was there a plot?

Lots of unanswered questions and open plot holes. Such an interesting start to the book, but then it fell really flat. This could’ve been a masterpiece but overall it felt rushed yet insanely boring at the same time.

Poignant and heartbreaking

I am not a mother but this story broke my heart. I felt connected yet so confused and so many questions. After a while, you just go on the Journey with these characters and accept the story for what it is.