"Elsewhere" is a lovely book. As I began reading, the book had an almost dreamy, hazy feel to it that returned periodically. The descriptions are so lush you can practically feel the damp of the mountain fog and hear the school children's musical recitals. Smell the smoke of the fire as photographs of a taken mother are burned in a community ceremony before her belongings are carted off the local shops to be purchased by other women of the town.
Protagonist Vera's hometown, suffers from and "affliction" in which some mothers just disappear into the night, and rather than try to hold their memories, the townspeople eradicate her existence. Vera's own mother disappeared when she was very young, and when it is Vera's turn to be a mother, she is terrified that she too will be taken.
Elsewhere has much to say about motherhood, how a woman can lose herself in mothering and primarily how horribly judgmental mothers are to other mothers.
Protagonist Vera's hometown, suffers from and "affliction" in which some mothers just disappear into the night, and rather than try to hold their memories, the townspeople eradicate her existence. Vera's own mother disappeared when she was very young, and when it is Vera's turn to be a mother, she is terrified that she too will be taken.
Elsewhere has much to say about motherhood, how a woman can lose herself in mothering and primarily how horribly judgmental mothers are to other mothers.