As dazzling and beautiful as it is thoughtful and heart-wrenching, this speculative fiction narrative centers on the indescribable pain and beauty of motherhood, and the mysterious and horrifying related “affliction” one small and isolated community has found themselves subject to.

Somehow, some way, this unnamed town has developed a story, a myth, that is inextricably entwined into all aspects of their culture, allowing them to both honor and bear witness to the wonder of motherhood, - albeit at a terrible cost.

“They did not exalt mothers as we did here. But then, nor did they sacrifice them”.

With a history as impenetrable as the town’s current belief system - Vera, our first-person POV narrator leads us through this strange and creepy world, shrouded in clouds and situated between two mountains, as she grows from childhood into her own eerily-localized experience of marriage and motherhood.

With a story that reads part Margaret Atwood and part “Island of Dr Moreau”, this sheltered and close-knit community is oddly convinced of their culture’s moral and aesthetic superiority, and only somewhat welcoming to the random stranger visiting from “elsewhere”.

“Our affliction taught us that you can’t wrest answers from a mystery.
We submitted to it. We bore it, carried it, so that there would be a place on this earth where people lived as we did and knew the things we knew. We did this not only for ourselves but also for them, for her, (a stranger) even if she could not appreciate it. We were necessary.”

Through their very strangeness, (some of which is downright disturbing), the author explores the necessary and spurtive set-up and tear-down of boundaries: the inside-then-outside (then farther outside) physicality of motherhood, all-subsuming carnal love, Individuality versus the community, pain versus pleasure, “here” versus everywhere else or “elsewhere”.

(Even an act as simple as the bodily ingestion of fruit - as the women eat the black and dripping “skin-fruit”, they devour and absorb it’s pulpy sweetness with a voraciousness that is unexpectedly terrifying. )

I loved this book, was disturbed by it, and absolutely could not put it down.

Fascinating and frightening, reminiscent of early dystopian sci-fi novels, this book is timely in a current context that is struggling with the imposed “policing” of women, their bodies, roles and expectations, and always, the looming obliteration of essential human-hood.

A great big thank-you to @Netgalley, the author and the publisher, All thoughts presented are my own.

I will be thinking about this book for weeks to come. The rich descriptions of food, dirt, clouds, and life pulled me in. The poetic prose and the push and pull between mothers and daughters kept me fascinated.

I read this while my daughters played in the backyard, their fingers covered in dirt, hair unkempt and wild. I looked at them and whispered along with Vera, you are mine.

Elsewhere follows a woman from girlhood to motherhood and beyond, slowly revealing the horrors that she once thought to be the norm. This book is about so many things, but for me the core message was about the pressures and thankless nature of motherhood. Mothers are born, used, and, in the case of this town, erased.

If you're looking for an unconventional, fascinating, and poetic read, check out Elsewhere. It may break your heart wide open.

Thank you to Celadon Books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved the author's first novel, Saint X, so I was lookin forward to reading her latest. Unfortunately, this one didn't work for me.

Vera lives in an isolated community where an “affliction” makes women disappear. Vera’s mother disappeared when she was young, now she’s a young adult fearing her own fate. Will the affliction come for her?

Elsewhere has an air of mystery throughout. It would be a good bookclub pick to spark discussion. A lot of speculative and dystopian stories explore the pressures of motherhood, a theme I always find compelling and still holds true here. Some of the bruising mother-daughter moments will haunt me.

It is a quiet story, which I don’t mind, but it lacked something for me. Maybe a bit underwritten. I would’ve liked to see some of the characters and conflicts fleshed out more.

Overall I liked this and interested to see what else Alexis Schaitkin writes.

This was a stunningly beautiful and atmospheric read. There is a sense of existential horror and dread throughout the novel that lends a nod to modern US issues--specifically, what happens when one does not wish(or is ready to be) a mother, and what it even means to be one in the first place. It was easy to get lost in the prose and the story itself, which was absolutely fascinating and not to be missed. Super spooky and one for the times.

This is quite an in-depth look at motherhood and identity. When a woman becomes a mother, she often feels she loses herself to the job of raising children…like her previous self has simply disappeared. And that’s what occurs in this speculative novel. Once motherhood is achieved, many moms simply disappear before their children are grown. It also examines our ties to home and our propensity to sometimes blindly follow ways of doing or behaving because that is the way it has always been done. Not all of the parts of this novel are easy to figure out though. I’m still confused by the actions of the non-mothers at the end of the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Publishers/Celadon Books for the ARC to read and review.

This is an absolutely beautifully written novel. The author can definitely conjure a place and characters so well. However, I struggled with the story and not quite getting it because I was lost in the prose. I like my dystopian novels to be a bit more on the nose than this story was. But I’ve seen lots of love for it and will share it with those that I think will enjoy it. I’ll definitely try this author again.

Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin follows Vera, an isolated child from a small town whose residents "protect their own." The girls grow up to anticipate the next phase of their lives, marriage and motherhood, while fearing that their status in motherhood may lead to their disappearance,

Elsewhere is a fictional study 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. As a mother, I felt I could relate to these issues but wondered if my non-mother friends would relate to this book in the same way.

Thank you to Celadon and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

An enjoyable, unique read. It was refreshing to read something different! I was able to predict the end, but still greatly enjoyed the unfolding.

Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin

In an unknown and isolated town in the middle of nowhere, there's a community where no one leaves and no one arrives. Children are born, they grow up, marry each other and have children of their own. But after that, due to a mysterious affliction, mothers disappear into the clouds.

Vera is a teenage girl from the community. She had to grow up without her mother after she vanished when Vera was a little girl and she knows she's going to disappear one day too. They don't know what causes this affliction nor do they try to prevent it from happening, they just accept their destiny. But one day, a stranger from elsewhere arrives and everything changes.

Elsewhere is a work of speculative fiction about motherhood and everything that comes with it. From unconditional love and happiness to self-doubt and dealing with people's judgment.

This was a very intriguing and original story. Some parts of the story felt slow and I would have loved to know more about the affliction, but overall I enjoyed the story and the author’s writing style.

Thank you Celadon Books and NetGalley for the review copy of this book published on June 28, 2022.

"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."

This short novel is unlike anything I have ever read before. While some themes and pieces felt familiar, it's delivery was wholly unique.

Vera lives in a community insulated from the rest of the world, or 'elsewhere' as they refer to it. In her community, everyone knows everyone and they survive based on the good will of their supplier, Mr. Phillips who appears every month to bring goods, take orders, and collect hand woven baskets to be sold elsewhere. But, as idyllic and beautiful Vera's community is, the women of the town suffer from an affliction - an affliction that disappears mothers. However, the disappearance is not a thing the community fears and neither is motherhood. In fact, motherhood is revered and women are celebrated and worshipped for bearing children. Disappearing is just part of life, and is thought to save the children from a worse affliction. When a stranger arrives to the community and tries to ingrain herself in their way of life, it becomes apparent to the community just how protected they are, and how the people of elsewhere will never understand them.

The novel is broken up in five chapters, however, it read more like three long parts to me. Conspicuously absent from the text is any mention of place or time. It felt historic to me - perhaps 1950s or 1960s - and possibly taking place in NYC and at the shore.

Deeper themes of motherhood, sexism and ageism, violence, and sexuality permeate the novel. There was one slightly graphic sexual assault scene that may trigger some readers and the act of making love in the community actually inherently involves violence.

I tend to find authors I love and automatically read anything they publish. This was the case for Schaitkin as I absolutely loved Saint X. However, this book could not be more different from Saint X, so if the synopsis does not intrigue you but you loved Saint X, I would not read just because it is written by the same author.

That being said, this book held my attention all the way through, was a very quick read, and was fascinating in so many different ways. It's one that would be great to read and discuss with a friend or bookclub.

Thank you to Celadon Books for the advanced copy.

This was a strange, slow-paced, oftentimes boring, story about a tiny, insulated town, where mothers randomly disappeared into thin air, and everyone just accepted it and carried on.
While there were a some moderately interesting story developments, it was mostly just a slog to get through.
Thanks to #netgalley and #celadonbooks for this #arc of #elsewhere in exchange for an honest review.

Elsewhere is Alexis Schaitkin’s second novel, proceeded by Saint X. I never read her first book, but when I saw the description of this book I was intrigued. While it’s probably not my favorite book of the year, I am glad I read it if for no other reason than that the writing was absolutely stunning.

At the start of Elsewhere, the book’s main character - Vera - is nearing the end of high school when a stranger walks into her town. This was the first time she and her classmates had ever seen somebody from “elsewhere”, and the entire town is fascinated with her. It’s through this perspective that we learn about Vera’s community, a place where every so often mothers disappear. It’s a known risk of motherhood, and one the women and girls happily accept in exchange for the life they’re meant to have: a husband and children in a town where they’ve known everyone since birth.

Elsewhere follows Vera from her teenage years up through adulthood as she starts dating her future husband, gets married, and has a daughter, the risk that she’ll be the next to go hanging over her head all the time.

Admittedly, I didn’t fully understand the end of this book and there were parts of it that felt slow-paced and almost unnecessary to the plot. It’s unfortunately probably not a book I’d pick up again, but the beautiful writing and imagery kept me reading through to the end.

Okay so imagine a beautiful, idyllic village set on some green mountain with waterfalls cascading around it. Zoom in. Now you you see some moss-covered cottages, children playing in the streets until the fog chases them home. Zoom in. Every single townsperson turns their head. Oh shit. They’ve seen you. And now they’ve all started to walk over to welcome their very Special Guest.

Elsewhere is an unsettling experience. It is the story of a collective. It is a narrative about a colony who lives in a perfect remote mountain village in which each child is taught that Motherhood is a coveted status, a role that one trains for and aspires to. And once you become a Mother, your life is complete. But then you might disappear. The fog may suddenly pluck you from existence. And then the townspeople will burn your image and memory.

There is an eerie calm to the narrative voice. A chasm of emotional dissonance stretches between the reader and narrator. The story feels engulfed in mist, that fuzz at the edges of your vision that causes you to squint to make sure whether the figure who is approaching is a friend or foe. And despite the narrator’s insistence that her village is absolutely perfect, there is a casual undertone of violence as she describes each sinister detail.

Elsewhere is an captivating story full of atmosphere and intrigue with insular community vibe similar to Comfort Me With Apples. I loved it. The story explores the cult of motherhood in a unique way that begs for further discussion.

Do you plan on picking this up? Or have you read it already? Definitely message me if so, because I want to know how you interpreted some scenes!

Thank you so much, CELADON for sending me an advanced copy

A captivating and thought-provoking female dystopia. Dark and unique, Schaitkin is a masterful world-builder.

Elsewhere is an imaginative fiction of a hidden town where mothers keep disappearing once in a while. This is called an 'affliction'. No one knows why they disappear or where do they go after disappearing.
The main character Vera is the one through whose eyes we see the story progressing. We see this progression first in Vera as a child and later as a mother. Through all these we get to see her relations, friendships and the town people with their beliefs. There is lot of underlying tension in this novel where societal pressure on women to become wives and then mothers is just a norm and even though everyone knows that mothers disappear at some point it's ok with everyone. A lot like what women face in our society as well I feel.
Liked: The emotions of a mother's love and the fear of getting separated from her.
Didn't like: The author didn't explain why the town was hidden or the affliction. I would have probably liked the book more if the reason of this affliction would have been explained. And where do the women disappeared to? Did they vanish in thin air or did they just decide to leave the town on their own accord due to the confines of the societal expectations.
Thank you Celadon Books for giving me an opportunity to read this book.

what the heck, this was so good? I LOVE all of the commune/culty type books that have been coming out in the last year or so and this has stood out as totally unique from all of them. delightfully weird, dystopian goodness. the first half of the book felt much stronger than the second half so i'm rounding this up from 4.5. highly recommend!

Listen, listen. I think this is a phenomenal book. It's edgy, it's a little dark, it's got a little cult vibe, it's interesting. The cover is amazing and I love that it ties in with events in the actual book. I thought the the writing was really good. The story itself is definitely enough to entrap you into the book. Now all that being said, I unfortunately was not able to finish this one. I read 40% and then I started to feel unwell and triggered by the mother/daughter material. I read the ending to see if this ended up taking the route I thought it was going because I didn't want to continue it if it did. And I was right on where it was going. I'm really sad because this sounded right up my alley and I am really sad that I couldn't finish it. I would still definitely recommend it though because I did think what I read was really good. Maybe I will be able to read it in the future when this kind of content doesn't affect me as much.

Thank you to Celadon Books for sending this my way for my honest review.

I started this following with the audio but then I finished the novel through audio.

That end! Sometimes you are reading a book and somewhere you get lost and want to stop. I liked the beginning. Establishing the town and the stranger. And then the middle parts of Vera coming of age had me intrigued. I don’t want to give away anything but more in the late middle I stopped caring about Vera and didn’t empathize with her, but I'm so glad I continued reading. It was the end that did it for me. The concept of our eternal search is what makes this novel amazing. Brilliant prose.

I have tried picking this book up twice now and just can't get into it. I will try again at a later time and amend this review.

Thank you to netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.