Vera lives in a small, isolated town, surrounded by mountains and dampness year-round. It is rare for an outsider to come to their town, just as it is rare for someone to leave on their own. Sadly, however, the mothers of this town live with a strange affliction, one that causes some of them to simply vanish into thin air. When Vera becomes a mother herself, she feels, and fears, that affliction, wondering if it will come for her as it did her own mother. Vera has a decision to make: stay and face the possibility of being yet another mother overtaken by their affliction, or take her life into her own hands.

WOW! Schaitkin’s second novel blew me away. It is deep, honest, and insightful, not to mention extremely enjoyable. Her words paint a beautiful picture for the reader of Vera and her life, as well as the other characters and the settings. The characters are not only well developed, but they have some serious messages to send to the reader about the pressures of motherhood: the sacrifices and loss of self, the judgements faced, and legacies left behind. Vera herself is an interesting individual and she drew me into her life. She also had me wondering what I would do if I were to face similar circumstances and challenges. I cannot wait to see what Schaitkin comes up with next!

Elsewhere - set in a small town nestled in the mountains far away from any other towns lives Vera. Her town is a unique one, some mothers vanish straight up into the clouds. "Our affliction opened us to pain, yes, but also to heights of beauty, and of love, that people elsewhere would never know because they did not know what it was to love in the shadow of our affliction, our love deepened and made wild by the threat that hovered over it." As Vera grows she wrestles with missing her mother and also the thoughts of if she too will disappear once becoming a mother.

This story is centered around motherhood: the good, the bad and the ugly. We see the judgment given towards mothers from other mothers, how for some motherhood can become all encompassing, the joy and love that you feel for this new person you created, and the fear that comes with life and parenthood. I have mixed feelings about this story. I wished there had been a little more info at times to prove if my theories were right regarding those who disappeared but that may have been intentional. Also as a mother myself I didn't like all the judging of the mothers that vanished as most of the mothers had quite young children and those are very difficult years but for the story's sake I can see that this may have been done to help rationalize why some mothers vanished and other didn't. I did however read many thoughts I myself have had through the years so I think some will really relate to parts of the story.

Thank you NetGalley and Celadon for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is set in a small isolated town, where several times a year, mothers suffer from “the Affliction” - they disappear, and then all photographs of them are burned, their possessions are sold, and everyone forgets they ever existed. Our protagonist is Vera, who see from her childhood through her adulthood. I will say no more about the plot so as not to spoil it, though I don’t know if I even could - people say it’s best to go into this one blind, but I feel like I left it after reading it blind as well. 😂

The book is very atmospheric with interesting writing and a lot of imagery, but at the end of the day it left me with a bit of that feeling of “there is no there there.” Like instead of being drawn into this strange vaguely dystopian society, I spent my time trying to figure out what was really going on, only to never really get the answers I sought. I suppose it was meant to be an allegory or something.

That being said, I am very much looking forward to discussing it with my book club, so thanks to Celadon for free copies of this one for my book club.

I was not sure what to think of this one as a mother, wife, and woman. I just didn't really connect with the story,

in a small town between the mountains, there is a small town. The people in this town love living there and no one leaves. From time to time, a woman will disappear. There is no warning and the person that disappears never returns. Vera has grown up in this town. Her mother disappeared. Vera and her father have lived a quiet life. This strange town even has odd ceremonies when a woman would disappear. In spite of all the oddities, life continues. Children are born, grow up, and have families. Would a woman that will disappear have a sense of what is coming? As a mother, Vera fears disappearing. Will she be the next one to go?

This beautifully descriptive story examines connections. Connections to your hometown, to a lifestyle, and to your family. Why do only the mothers disappear? Is it easier to disappear or to stay and watch the bond you have with your child change as they grow up? Alexis Schaitkin has created an amazing and ethereal land where motherhood is a blessing and a curse.

Vera grows up in a small isolated town far in the mountains. The townspeople rarely see "strangers" as they call them since the only regular visitor is the man who brings supplies. What Vera knows for sure is that some mothers get the affliction and disappear. Vera grows up knowing the pain of losing a mother to the affliction and wonders if she will also be afflicted when she grows up. We see Vera grow, marry, and become a mother herself. She loves her daughter but she is plagued by the fear of the affliction. A powerful story of motherhood and identity.

Dang I don't even know, I'm still processing this book but I think it's 4 stars it could be 5 after I sit on it a while. I'm so confused about so many things like what did I just read? What is real? Am I real? And the writing, dang... the writing. Seriously I think I died a million deaths and was reborn to a higher plane. Even though I barely understood what was happening at times there were other times when it felt like I wasn't reading a book, I was seeing my inner thoughts translated into the page in front of me. Im lost in that world, where was it? When was it? Where were the others? What?!? Just what? But wow oh my gosh wow, oof, you know.
After a 2 week reading slump I devoured this book in one day.

I tried several times to get through this book. The narrator is not great and the story just does not grab me. I DNF this book. I won' t post a review when I DNF a book unless a publisher ask that of me. Thanks for the opportunity.

The narrative voice was too quiet for me. The forward momentum was a little slowly paced for my reading taste.

Thank you Celadon for an advanced copy of Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin in exchange for an honest review.

I was very excited to get the opportunity to read this book, they said that if you loved The Giver and The Ocean at the End of the Lane then this is the book for you. I was absolutely sold seeing as those are two of my favourite books.
This book has a slight dystopian vibe while still being grounded in elements of reality the reader can connect too. It starts off with a certain magic in the way the town in described. A town that is a little outside of normal and wholly its own but slowly you as the reader start to notice the cracks before the narrator does which lends to an eerie awareness that something is slightly off. The book doesn't explain why things happen the way they do which I think adds to the magic of the book. We as the reader can come up with our own theories on why the women in this town disappear and I definitely have my theories.

Although I really liked this book, I'm not able to rate it higher because somewhere in the middle the pacing just threw me off. The middle of the book just left me wanting more, especially because I loved the first half and the ending.

This is not a quick or easy read. The book doesn't give you answers or explanations and its up to the reader to piece the puzzle of the book together.

"Something happened here that happened no place else. We didn't know why it happened, or how."

"When a mother went, we woke in the morning and sensed it. The clouds that took her touched us all, connected us all, an intimacy we had never not known.
We felt her vanishing like a thread cut loose, presence turned to absence."

This was an original tale of motherhood. Was not sure what to expect when I started reading as have never read a book by this author. Elsewhere is a town with its own ethics and rules and the town is quite isolated.
Beautifully written on what it means to be a mother.

Thank you Celadon Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I want to start by saying this is my first book by the author.

I had no idea what to expect but the blurb about this book really pulled my interest.

The character we follow is one I know I enjoyed experiencing the aging process and the twists and turns to this book. I had so many moments that I just thought I knew what was going on but always abandoned the idea ((I will say one of my first ideas was the right so I love that)) I was just not sure and I started out early bookmarking so many things but quickly let that go as I got pulled further and further in. Oh I don’t want to give away the book so I can’t say much more than I really enjoyed it and need to read more this type book

I’m a huge cover lover and I must say, I almost did not read this book because the cover was not my favorite but I am so happy I read it! First off, thank you NetGalley and Celadon for this eArc in exchange for my honest review,

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the way motherhood was portrayed in the book.

Must Read!

Vera is from a secluded town that has no seasons. It is always damp and pervaded nightly by thick, white clouds that consume everything. Her town, though normal and quaint in almost every sense, has an "affliction:" Mothers disappear. Not violently, but quietly and without a trace, as if consumed by the clouds themselves. No one knows why, and the town accepts it without complaint. The extent of their curiosity begins and ends with trying to perceive why certain women go and others do not. Vera never truly considers the "affection" until she becomes a mother herself and begins to worry about whether or not she is doing anything to be cause for her disappearance.

This was...bizarre. It consumed me the way a good dystopian plot should, and the nature of the short sections encouraged me to keep reading at a quick pace. I would not say this book is character-driven or particularly wonderful world-building, but the thriller-like qualities of it are enough to really pull me in. I left with unanswered questions, but enough satisfaction that those questions didn't bother me. I think the nature of dystopia is to disturb and leave you somewhat baffled, and this book definitely did that for me.

I see a lot of people trying to compare this book to other works like The Giver or The Lottery, or even Margaret Atwood in general, but I'm struggling with those comparisons. This is an eerie commentary on motherhood and the way women are expected to lose themselves entirely to their children. I think if I related to this concept more or had any interest in children myself, I would have rated this higher, but this is not a topic I feel strongly about for the most part. I do think it was well-executed, though.

All-in-all, this was a short, interesting read that took me off of my beaten path in terms of my usual reads, which I appreciate. I would recommend this book to others, even if just to have someone to talk to about it with.

"In the face of the stunning immediacy of my child, I felt myself diminish to almost nothing".

Vera, a 16 year old on the brink of adulthood, lives with her father in an isolated town far from elsewhere. She has been motherless since she was 5 years old and she is not unique. There are many other motherless children in this quiet village; mothers just disappear. It is their "affliction" and no one knows why or who will be the next to be "disappeared." One day, while Vera is working in her father's photography shop, something incomprehensible happens in the village.... a stranger has found them in their relative isolation and comes in to buy a roll of film. Ruth is an anomaly as it has been a generation since an outsider from elsewhere has come into their midst and she is followed as if a rock star. Everyone wants to know her but her photography brings her back time and time again to the little photo shop. But soon her questions become too much and she is all but thrown out of town.
When Vera comes of age, marries Peter and they have a close and loving relationship, made more sweet with the birth of Iris who fills Vera's heart and life. Vera is consumed by her unconditional love for her daughter and will do anything for her. She dotes on little Iris, comforts her, spoils her, gives her everything she could need and want. Vera attends a mother's group to learn from others what she needs to know since she is motherless and can't learn from her own mother. But right after Iris's 5th birthday party, Vera notices in a photo taken there, everyone else in the picture is perfectly clear but she is doubled and blurry. She then notices her voice doesn't come to her sometimes, or her hands or feet don't move on command. Is the affliction coming for her? Already in town, many of her girlfriends have started to disappear... is she next? Are these signs? In an attempt to get ahead of a sudden disappearance, she takes the matter into her own hands, and leaves the town behind and goes elsewhere. There she lives out the rest of her life, traveling, meeting new people, expanding herself. But Peter and Iris are never far from her mind and she continually wonders if they think of her too.
One generation later, a stranger comes to town. She is followed around like a rock star. She seems to be interested in Iris, asking questions that Iris tells her she could never comprehend. Her aura begins to tarnish with the townspeople and soon, she is told she must leave them alone.

This stunning, hypnotic and gripping novel questions the role of a woman in motherhood and all the things she might give up or lose while in this role. The author uses "disappearing" to show the way she might be absorbed with motherhood and giving up all the ways she was before motherhood. In the story, Vera's friends who loved to garden have left their gardens unattended or gave up their beloved musical instruments. Others did the opposite and took up new hobbies and didn't pay as much attention to their children. Whenever a mother disappeared, those left behind would try to speculate what the clues were that were missed to tell the family that their mother was going to be gone, "something out of balance in the nature of her love for her children that set her apart." (@9%) This also adds to a woman feeling self-doubt, questioning if she is doing anything wrong or what she might be doing right and being judged by the villagers; trying balance their identities before and after motherhood so they don't disappear. If the mother disappears, is there anyway she can return to the woman she was before?

This is such a unique perspective on this delicate subject and Schaitkin makes such a profound social analysis of it. The book moves quite well and Schaitkin uses such atmospheric prose to draw the reader in.

"And we could do nothing but leave our daughters with some trace of ourselves and hope that maybe, someday, they would come find us."

This book surprised me. It wasn't what I'd expected from the description. Yet, I'm pleased with what it turned out to be.

The overall tone of Elsewhere is very somber, with few points points at which the tone varies in emotion. It's gripping, nonetheless. This is a straightforward telling, as if being recollected by the narrator/ MC (it's first-person) to a trusted friend; there's no sugar-coating, no dancing around subjects, no frills and fluffs in the language.

The story of the town is mysterious and engaging. There are odd goings-on, and the culture of the people there has adapted to the mysterious happenings. They're closed off from the world, unique, with a way of living all their own, and they make no apologies for it. It's what they know. To them, it's normal. For a time it felt like this was the story of life inside a cult, when a stranger comes in and is questioning of their ways, yet they defend their customs and see the stranger as the wrong one. It's fascinating to see such a perspective, to read about possible societal differences that are accepted as normal because for the people living there, it is normal. This is what reading is for, to capture different takes and possibilities and to make one think outside the box, and this book nails it.

I can see how other readers see this as a focus on motherhood, and even the description points that way. Maybe that's what I was supposed to read into it. But I didn't. The MC's role as a mother is only a small art of her journey, and while it is the catalyst for major change in her life, there's so much more to explore in this book, so much more takes place. We see a girl rejected by her best friend; we see a father-daughter relationship that just goes through the motions, lacking adequate affection; we see a town of people fiercely devoted to their town, their families, their customs; we see enduring romantic love; we see female friendships; we see fear of the unknown; we see struggle and growth and tough decisions. There's so much in this novel, I wouldn't dare whittle it down to being just about motherhood.

I can't say that I liked any particular character. I can't say that I liked the trajectory of the story or of the lives of the characters. I can't say that I agree with the decisions made. But I can say that I liked this book. I will say that I recommend it.

I read this on NetGalley as an advanced copy, and didn't notice a single grammatical or spelling error, nor was there anything that seemed in need of further editing. It read like a finished copy already. Bravo to the author and editors!

I think this has been one of my favorite reads this year!! I thoroughly enjoyed the tone/atmosphere of it and can’t wrap my mind around it being written by the same author as ,Saint X. I liked the writing in ,Elsewhere much more, it was compelling and much smoother story telling. I specially thought the pacing of the story was great, the information was dolled out just right to keep the mystery/suspense going without leaving you completely confused as to what was happening in this world.

Unfortunately I did not finish this one. I couldn’t get into the atmospheric/dystopian storyline. After a few pages, I put it down and didn’t want to read on.

I read Elsewhere in anticipation of my book club's May discussion of it. I knew nothing about the book, I thought the cover was a bit strange and didn't understand it, but in I dove. It took me a little bit to get into the book. It is an odd story and a very literary work. I was taking the book far too literal to enjoy it. As I continued I started to notice the gems of quotes, I got into the narrative about mother's and who we are and what we sacrifice to be mother's. When I finished the book I just sat and went, "huh". I literally couldn't not describe how I felt about the strange little book.
I found a friend who had finished the same time as me and we had a lengthy discussion about all the questions we had. We found we had very different answers to some of the questions, and you know what, it didn't matter. We each took the book how we wanted to and there is something special about a book like that. This book leaves a lot open to interpretation, it does not give you clear cut answers for most questions you might have. Sometimes this drives me up a wall, for this book it worked for me.

Read this is you are open to different. Read this if you want a book to make you think and are okay with not everything wrapped in a neat little bow. Read this if you like literary fiction that makes you think deeply into what it means to be a mom.

I really enjoyed this book. Although, not plot-driven the slow and intentional story-telling was beautiful. The story itself was an interesting dissection of Motherhood and the sacrifices one makes when becoming a mother. As a mother myself, I found the main character Vera relatable. After I finished this book I find I am still reflecting on some of the situations. Overall, I would recommend this book, especially to mothers.

Thank you to Celadon Books for the advanced reader's copy.