Elsewhere was equal parts intriguing, strange, and poignant. Its discourse on motherhood at first felt obvious like everyone should know that mothers bleed for their children and feel an attachment unlike any other but it gave so much more. "Elsewhere" is everywhere that isn't Vera's isolated mountain home. Those that live there are afflicted with disappearing mothers yet none have tried to break the cycle. We follow Vera from childhood through to her own disappearance and beyond. She is not a remarkable protagonist but rather a cog in the atrium of her town. It sets her apart when she tries to leave a piece of herself behind for someone to find after she's gone. I marked many beautiful quotes throughout the book - both those that helped me decipher the mystery and those that were simply poignant observations. Schaitkin's writing gives and takes but it also verges so closely to realism that the speculative atmosphere falls away leaving me to question the truth about motherhood as a whole.
The cover is one of my new favorites!
The cover is one of my new favorites!