Karen Russell’s The Antidote is a mesmerizing blend of Dust Bowl history, magical realism, and deep emotional exploration. Set in the crumbling town of Uz, Nebraska, during a devastating dust storm, it introduces unforgettable characters: a "Prairie Witch" storing people’s memories, an orphaned basketball prodigy grappling with grief, and even a sentient scarecrow. The narrative also tackles larger themes like environmental collapse, collective memory, and the unsettling histories buried beneath America’s progress.

Russell’s knack for imaginative storytelling shines here. The way she mixes the whimsical and the brutal feels almost magical, making the book both thought-provoking and deeply entertaining. It’s perfect for readers who love richly layered stories that challenge conventional historical narratives while offering a touch of fantasy. If you’re a fan of her earlier works like Swamplandia!, this will feel like coming home in the best way possible. The Dust Bowl setting and its eerie, almost mythical vibe linger long after the final page. A must-read for fans of speculative fiction with heart​.

A small midwestern town called Uz is overwhelmed by dust storms. Farmers who are already dealing with the Great Depression now face death, disease, and the ruin of all their hopes. Alternating chapters tell the story through the perspectives of four characters, a middle-aged farmer, his teenaged niece (orphaned when her single mother is murdered by a serial killer) who plays basketball, a "prairie witch" known as The Antidote, who collects peoples' memories and "banks" them in her Facility. (She wakes up in jail to find that all the "deposits" have disappeared.) and a scarecrow, whose "chapters" seem to consist of a single photograph on a page. There appears to be a fifth character, a photographer, but I didn't get far enough along to encounter him.
I tried to like this book because other reviewers loved it and Karen Russell is highly regarded, but I just couldn't connect with any of the characters. Despite the author's reputation, I thought her style was just peculiar. Nobody says "clear as a yolk" but she does, several times. Also, do readers really need to have the comparison between the Prairies Witch's "deposits" that disappeared and the those of the failing local bamks hammered into their heads? After 70 pages of this, I gave up and invoked the Nancy Pearl rule. (Stop reading a book you don't enjoy after 50 pages, subtracting a page for every year of your age over fifty. I could have quit this book after 30 pages, but I felt pressure to give a fair review so I hung in a bit longer.) I've read books I enjoyed about farm life during the Depression, about small town bigotry and injustice, about homes for unwed mothers, and even about girls who played high school basketball, but The Antidote, is not one of them.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Knopf for the opportunity to read a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I absolutely loved this book. Karen Russell just keeps getting better. I have read everything that she has published. This is her best yet. I was immediately hooked and could not stop reading. This is one of those books that you think about and anticipate even when you are not reading it. I know it is a cliché but I was truly sad when I finished it. I enjoyed it that much.

Karen Russell is a brilliant writer--a master at creating funny, vivid, high-stakes, magical plotlines brought to life by colorful, complicated characters. This may be the brightest and most complicated of her creations to date. First I'd like to thank #netgalley and #penguinrandomhouse for the opportunity to preview this ARC prior to its release in March 2025.

The majority of the book's action takes place in Uz, Nebraska, in the midst of the Dust Bowl and imminent collapse of the town due to drought. There seems to be a thread which centers on real historical events but since it was a digital arc (and I make it a practice NOT to look up info or opinions from other sources) I have no idea how much of the underlying story was rooted in real people and/or events (if any). The fact is, in spite of the book's surreal and magical components, it felt historical.

Russell manages to incorporate heavy themes like patriarchy, racism, sexism, and abuse of power (personal and governmental) within an overarching feeling of the supernatural and surreal. Included as well are prairie politics and....a girls basketball team. A LOT of story is packed into the 432 page book (including some old-timey photos), Again, being a digital arc, some of the most incredible details were more difficult to discern.

A consistent theme within the book was the transfer of "blame" down the line (and down the "scale" of human authority) - a "better you than me, them than us, etc." motif haunted the novel from start to finish. The other prevalent theme was the inability to live with guilt. Cue the Prairie Witch (aka - the Antidote) who has the ability to store memories - good and, esp, BAD - within her being via a trancelike process. This also gives Prairie Witches (there are an indeterminate number) the nickname of "Vault" as well. Other narrators include a very raggedy scarecrow who was "once loved" and, suspend disbelief, a cat. Finally, there is also a special camera that develops pictures from the past and future. If I've made it all sound pretty freaking cool, then my job is done.

A few things were left unanswered for me at the end which left me wondering but all in all the book was an incredible read. I highlighted SO MANY lines (to hopefully quote/promote in the future) but we are now living in our own form of dystopia which does not feel remotely magical. I am so grateful for books, writers, publishers -- ALL who support books and the arts -- and can only hope that this book finds its way to everyone and can be openly enjoyed.

The women in this novel are badasses - one of the best aspects - but they are also discarded and disregarded entities. More and more is revealed as the action moves forward and the book is filled with trademark Russel human and gorgeous writing throughout. I'm looking forward to seeing how this does in the world and just love Karen Russell!

Thank you to Karen Russell, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor Publishing, and NetGalley for this arc of The Antidote, out March 11, 2025!

📜Quick Summary: A dust storm is brewing over Uz, Nebraska, and with this storm, comes destruction to the Prairie Witch’s ability to hold on to other’s memories. Her body serves as a vault that locks away other townspeople's memories or secrets. What will this mean for the town?

❣️Initial Feels: This feels like it’s going to be heavier read, with a lot of depth and provoking topics.

👀Trigger Warnings: murder, social injustices

🙋🏼‍♀️Moving Character: The Prairie Witch! Can you imagine this town and its people who are walking around with holes in their memories? Lost thoughts and feelings…and of course, harboring awful, awful secrets.

📖Read if you want: multiple point of views, social justices, an increase of thoughts on our own memories and how they mold us

💡Final Sentiments: This is my first novel by this author, and there were many moving parts in this novel, with changing of point of views, but for some reason, I could not get sucked into this novel. I read so many amazing reviews, and I truly feel this novel will be a hit and maybe I’ll have to go back to do a re-read when things settle down. This book also holds a LOT of topics ... .so you’ll dive into the Sioux Indians, the farmer dealing with this drought, the effects on the Prairie Witch, her apprentice, etc. It’s a lot to unpack! How do our memories shape us? How do they mold our actions, our true selves? It opens your mind to think about your life, and how memories serve as a protection, but also a look to the future.

🌟Overall Rating: 4 stars

This novel was provided by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

I am a huge fan of Karen Russell’s work but I found this book extremely difficult to get in to and stay engaged with.

A stunning, glimmering novel that has encapsulated so many themes - "The Antidote" is a novel I'm so grateful to have had an early read of.

Set in 1935 in the small town of Uz, Nebraska, the novel is told through rotating perspectives of residents and individuals, starting with Olaf Oletsky, who is a struggling wheat farmer who's taken in his young niece, Alphodel, after the unexpected death of his sister. Asphodel "Dell" is a headstrong and immediately likeable character, focused on taking her girl's basketball team through the championships despite the resignation of their team's coach. The small family becomes unintentionally involved with The Prairie Witch, better known as The Antidote; in this setting, witches are known as Vaults and have the task of storing memories from individuals who don't want to be burdened with them. As the novel progresses, we're introduced to Cleo Allfrey, a photographer sent by the government to capture photos of the Midwest, and even given snippets from The Scarecrow that oversees the Oletsky's fields - the lone field that's produced a healthy crop despite the drought and dust storms sweeping the area.

The integration of magical realism in this novel is so seamlessly and thoughtfully done, highlighting ongoing themes and issues are still present in the world today. We see the Vaults as the scorned underbelly of society; individuals whose services are relied upon by all, given the thankless task of absorbing and keeping the dark, painful secrets we don't want to bear. "The Antidote" also touches on the foundings of the American Midwest and the nation as a whole, built on the violence and forceful evacuation of Native American populations - and the collective "forgetting" that has happened since then. In Allfrey's Graflex camera that she stumbles upon in a store and immediately purchases, we're given an item that sheds light and truth on what has truly happened, unraveling a serial murder cases led by the town's sheriff, in addition to the hidden foundations of the town of Uz.

Russell's writing is enthralling and engaging, and pulled me in from the first few pages. This novel is an eye-opening, all-encompassing novel that I know so many readers will enjoy when it's published in March 2025!

This was a strange and intriguing book. Days after I finished it, I am still thinking about it, still pondering what it means, still feeling as though there were way too many things happening in this story. There were multiple points of view (including a scarecrow and a cat), multiple time lines, it was a story about the Dust Bowl, about memory and history and basketball, murder and odd goings-on with a camera that takes pictures not only of the present, but of the past and the future too. There is a whole story line about the abuse of power, and there is an intriguing character who can store your memories, good or bad, for a fee, so that you don’t have to carry them around with you, but you can also retrieve them when you decide you want them back. This theme alone is worth the struggle to get through this book that feels scattered and overly full. The writing is good, even poetic in places, and despite how difficult I found the read, in the end it was all worth it.

“There is no way to tell the truth without first revealing ourselves as liars.”

The Antidote is simply extraordinary. Propulsive. Timely and urgent. I read it on the eve of the most consequential election of my lifetime, and by the time I finished, I was shaking and crying and cheering because of its powerful warnings and hopeful vision for the times we live in now. It’s an incredible, must-read book.

It opens in the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska, during the Dust Bowl drought. Anyone who has read Karen Russell knows that her novels are bound to have an overlay of fantastical realism, and this one is no exception. The book is filled with the perils and promises that face us and how our memories are the key to understanding where we came from and where we’re going.

The Antidote follows five characters, the most compelling of whom is the Prairie Witch aka the Vault, whose body acts like a bank fault for neighbors to deposit their most heinous memories. The result is a town of spellbound amnesiacs who have holes inside them where their memories once resided. There’s also a Polish wheat farmer who is the sole person whose farm has not been destroyed by the dust storm (not unlike the main character Kate Southwood’s excellent Falling to Earth). His orphaned niece is a basketball star and an apprentice to the Prairie Witch. Finally, we meet a scarecrow infused with human thought and a New Deal photographer whose camera, purchased at a pawn shop, sees things that are not there yet and things hidden in the town’s shameful history.

Within these pages, we discover stories of a murdered woman and a monstrous sheriff, an onerous Home for Unwed Mothers that will move even the hardest hearts, the injustice dealt to the Sioux Indians and the cult behavior of a town that wants to sweep all this under the rug. At the same time, the magical camera reveals the myriad possibilities of what could happen if we trust our greater angels and if we trust the land and nature to teach us how to see it.

Ultimately, this is a hopeful book that focuses mainly on memory – memory lost, memory revealed, and new memories that are waiting to be created. The novel is an achingly profound and transformative book. I owe a deep debt to Knopf and NetGalley for enabling me to be an early reader of a novel that will surely take its place as one of my top books of 2025.

It's not surprise to report that Karen Russell has created a masterpiece with her latest novel THE ANTIDOTE. A singular voice in fiction, Russell has been on my radar for years as an author who continually surprised me with her creativity and magical realism. This book, which I'm sure will be a blockbuster next spring, was a profound and deeply engaging book with lots of themes, fascinating characters, and a setting I'm not especially familiar with - the dust bowl and Nebraska in the early 20th century.

It wouldn't be a Karen Russell book without some magic, and in THE ANTIDOTE, we have a prairie witch who acts as a vault for people's memories. They can make deposits, which she cannot hear, and once they do, they forget them as well. They are able to retrieve them whenever they would like to. This is all well and good until a dust storm seems to wipe her powers away. There are also sub-plots about a farmer whose farm seems to be curiously untouched after the storm, his niece who becomes the captain of her high school basketball team, and a string of murders in the town being investigated by a corrupt police department.

It's a lot packed into one book, but Russell handles it with ease and creates a beautiful novel that I had a hard time putting down. I know tons of people are thrilled to read her new work and I'm happy to report you will not be disappointed.

In The Antidote, Karen Russell delivers a captivating exploration of the intersection between personal crisis and the larger forces of nature and society. Known for her inventive storytelling and unique voice, Russell's latest work is a blend of magical realism and sharp social commentary that keeps readers both enchanted and reflective.

The novel follows a diverse cast of characters as they navigate their lives amidst a backdrop of ecological upheaval and societal change. Russell’s prose is rich and evocative, filled with lyrical descriptions that transport readers into the heart of the narrative. The setting itself almost becomes a character, with the natural world vividly depicted, reflecting the turmoil and beauty of the human experience.

At the core of The Antidote is the theme of transformation—both personal and environmental. Russell skillfully intertwines the characters’ journeys with larger questions about identity, resilience, and the quest for meaning in a chaotic world. Each character grapples with their own challenges, often mirroring the struggles of the world around them. This connection between the personal and the universal adds depth to the story, making it resonate on multiple levels.

One of the book’s strengths is its character development. Russell creates individuals who are flawed yet relatable, each with their own dreams and disappointments. As their paths intersect, the complexities of their relationships unfold, revealing the interconnectedness of their lives. Russell's ability to delve into the intricacies of human emotion allows readers to empathize with the characters, even as they navigate difficult choices and moral dilemmas.

The narrative structure is inventive, with Russell employing a non-linear approach that reflects the chaos of life itself. This style, while initially challenging, ultimately enhances the reading experience by mirroring the characters’ struggles and the unpredictability of their journeys. The pacing is deliberate, allowing moments of introspection to balance the more dramatic events, creating a rhythm that is both engaging and contemplative.

While The Antidote is undoubtedly a thought-provoking read, it is also infused with Russell’s signature wit and humor. This blend of levity and gravity enriches the narrative, making it accessible without sacrificing depth. The book invites readers to reflect on their own lives and the broader implications of the choices we make.

In conclusion, The Antidote is a beautifully crafted novel that showcases Karen Russell’s exceptional talent for storytelling. With its compelling characters, vivid imagery, and profound themes, it is a work that lingers long after the last page is turned. Russell's exploration of the human condition in the face of uncertainty is both timely and timeless, making this book a must-read for those who appreciate literature that challenges and inspires.

I couldn’t get into this and I really tried. It’s not the books fault either. Life just kinda exploded and my brain shrunk and couldn’t process anything bigger than a Hallmark movie. I’m sorry!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced review and I’m sorry that I couldn’t finish to review this properly in the time frame given to me. I hope to try this book again when life settles down.

Like Swamplandia!, this novel by Russell is original and clever and quirky, full of memorable characters and events and ideas. But, also like her first novel, it isn't as strong as her short stories. The momentum of it comes and goes, and despite the depth of the characters, manages to keep them at a distance from the reader. Moments of high tension collapse into reverie that drags and ambles away from the reader, but without offering anything truly compelling the reader to continue following the story.

Being a lifelong Wizard of Oz fan, the many connections between this book and that were not lost on me. Some were quite clever. The dystopian nature of this story in Dustbowl Nebraska centered around 5 characters (one of them a scarecrow!) was interesting and engaging. The time-traveling camera held by the photographer character could capture past and present, warning of climate change impact, etc. I enjoyed but wish it were shorter.

I love Karen Russell. She has such a way with words. I'm so used to her surreal short stories, I expected a lot more "strange". This was a wonderful novel filled with so many things. A lot of authors who try this don't get it quite right and the story is just all over the place, but Karen wrote it beautifully and told us a very interesting, heartfelt, novel with just a wee bit of her magic.
I will continue to read anything she writes.

The Antidote by Karen Russell
Received as ARC.
Brutal drought and windstorms in Nebraska in 1930’s. A tale of a young girl Dell and a Prairie Witch.
Dell’ basketball team needed money to travel so she works with the witch aka the Vault
Chloe An African American photographer for the government who’s photos have unique exposures of history and future
Dell’s uncle Harp whose crop and fortunes of life did not fail with the drought and windstorms
They group together to stop police corruption of an innocent man blamed for mass murder

Harp Oketsky’s farm in dust-drowned Uz, Nebraska, is flourishing even as his neighbors’ are failing. And a serial killer is on the loose, even if the town sheriff tries to bury the plot. Central to the story though is a “prairie witch,” the antidote in the title, whose strength as a keeper of secrets might be on the wane. Russell is famous for elements of magical realism and this novel too weaves strands in expertly. At times the stories of the various characters strain to merge into a cohesive whole but the vivid and energetic narrative is a winner nevertheless.

The Dust Bowl meets horror and magical realism and social justice. This was a wild, stressful, strange story set at the height of the dust bowl in small town Nebraska. It weaves multiple viewpoints, including a scarecrow’s and cat’s, as a found family tries to make sense of history, memory, strange luck, and a string of murders. This story felt BIG and is something that’ll stick with me for a long time.

All my thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the pleasure of reading this ARC.

To say that Karen Russell has done it again would be to imply that she's ever not.

This is a book that will one day be taught to others looking to learn Magical Realism. It is lush with rich characters, rich descriptions, in a world that is the opposite of that. Each strange or wonderful or awful thing is taken in stride because it's told with such great care that you can only move forward. To say that I enjoyed this book would be an indecent understatement.

I've not read Swamplandia, though I've read every short story she's ever written. I now consider that a great personal failing that I must remedy at once.

This book is a testament not only to the breathtaking way that Karen Russell sees our world, but to the years and practice and honing her art. She is as ever, at the top of her game. The prose is stunning, the story is profound and vast. And this look into the forgotten people of a (nigh) forgotten era is one I've never see before - at least not like this.

Swamplandia was a finalist for the Pulitzer - I hope this one wins the prize.

This is one of the most unique books I've ever read. One of the most creative, most caring, and most evocative. Since reading it, I can see the land that is now called Nebraska through the eyes of the Pawnee, the Polish settlers, and the people who will inhabit it in years to come. But beware. Reading this luxurious story requires some patience, because it's not anything like an ordinary novel. It describes the world through a number of points of view, including a cat and a scarecrow. And we experience magic and more magic, to the extent that magic becomes commonplace by the end of the tale. Magic seems to be baked into the Nebraska prairie, but you need the right eyes to see it. And when you finish this wonderful novel, you will have them. I promise.