Book Review
Elsewhere
by Gabrielle Zevin
Bloomsbury £6.99
This s a remarkable first novel by American author Gabrielle Zevin
and at first glance it appears to have a depressing focus - the death
of a 16-year-old girl killed in a hit-and-run accident.
Yet it manages to tackle the difficult and painful issues of a life
cut short through its exploration of rebirth and redemption. We move
from tragedy to many fascinating insights into the nature of grief,
love, life and death, remembrance and letting go.
Although it is a novel written for young people, I believe it has
universal appeal.
The central character, Liz, is the victim of the hit-and-run and the
story is told from her point of view as she moves from the world of
the living, travelling across water to the place called "Elsewhere".
"Elsewhere" is a place where old relationships are renewed, people
grow younger, new relationships are formed and life’s journey
is reversed as people are sent back to their earthly existence, across
water, as babies, to be reborn.
It is a work laced with humour and some sadness but overall it should
appeal to people of all faiths and those of none. The author says she
found her inspiration for the book in a quote by American writer Thomas
Wolfe:
"To lose the earth you know, for greater knowing; to lose the life you
have, for greater life; to leave the friends you loved, for greater
loving; to find a land more kind than home, more large than earth -
"- Whereon the pillars of this earth are founded, toward which the
conscience of this world is tending - a wind is rising, and the rivers
flow."
The book can be ordered from The Barnes Book Shop on Church Road.
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