Vera grew up in a small town isolated from the world. It’s high on a mountain, where the clouds come down to envelop them in the evening. It’s self-contained, with a supply man who comes twice a year to deliver goods and take away wares to sell for them. Almost no one ever comes to the town. But sometimes someone leaves.
The mothers of the town suffer from an affliction. Sometimes they disappear. No one knows for certain who it will be or when it will happen. But in hindsight, there are always signs. A mother who is not attentive enough to her children. Or a mother who is too close to her child. The clues are there, for anyone who looks.
Vera was young when her mother vanished. As she was growing up, it was just her and her father. He owned the town’s photo store, and she worked the counter for him. Vera was okay with it being just her and her father, even though Ana’s father had remarried after her mother had gone. Ana and Vera had been the best of friends when they were younger and played with their dolls together, but after their mothers disappeared, Ana didn’t want to spend time with Vera anymore. She became friends with other girls in their class, and then she started dating a boy.
One day, a stranger came to their little town. A woman, alone, checked into their small hotel. By the next morning, everyone in town knew that there was a stranger. She introduced herself as Ruth and asked respectful questions of the residents. Vera got a chance to know her a little, as Ruth would come into the photo store and buy film. She never brought it back to get it developed though. Eventually, Ruth is found to have taken something from one of the residents and is forced out of town. And life goes back to normal.
Ana and the other girls find boys, get married, and start having babies. Vera keeps working the counter at the photo shop. She believes that she will be single forever, but a visit to the dentist changes her mind. Peter is the new dentist, learned from his father. He had been in Vera’s class at school, but she’d never gotten to know him. He is sweet and kind, and she quickly finds herself falling in love with him. They marry and Vera gives birth to a girl they call Iris.
While Vera never stops thinking about the possibility of her disappearing, it’s not until after one of her birthday parties that Vera truly starts to fear that she is soon to vanish. She had let Iris make demands for the party for herself and her friends, asking for cucumber coins and powdered doughnuts and crafts. It’s after that that Vera starts to feel herself ebb away at the edges. There is a photo from the party, where Peter and Iris are there, smiling together, and Vera is a blur.
As the weeks go by, and Vera feels a tingle in her hand, or struggles to find her voice, she also makes plans. If she is one of the ones who is to suffer from the affliction, is there anything that she can do to stop it? And if there is, what will be the cost?
Elsewhere is an atmospheric novel about the price that some women pay for motherhood. Author Alexis Schaitkin has crafted a story that evokes loss and heartache, resilience and wonder. As I watched Vera grow into womanhood and then motherhood, I couldn’t help but wonder, do we become what we fear? Or do our fears make us strong enough to become our best selves? Schaitkin doesn’t shy away from the questions about what makes a woman, a mother, her best self, making this a powerful novel wrapped in a moving story.
I listened to the audio book of Elsewhere, narrated by Ell Potter, who brought such atmosphere to her reading. Her sharp British accent imbues this story with depth and gravitas, and her telling is timed in such a way that offers time to let the words sink in, let the ideas marinate, and let the reader process the meaning of the story. I thought her narration was lovely and fitting, and I would definitely recommend it as a powerful way to take in this story.
Elsewhere is not an easy story to read. There is sadness and mystery, this strange affliction that only affects the mothers of this small town. But it cries out to be absorbed and discussed, so it would be ideal for book clubs, and I’ll be surprised if it doesn’t start showing up on reading lists of college courses. It asks a lot of questions without offering up easy answers. This is not light summer reading, but it is important reading. And it’s just a lovely experience to boot.
A copy of the audio book for Elsewhere was provided by Macmillan Audio through NetGalley, with many thanks.
