Some Other Town: A Novel
3/5
()
About this ebook
Channeling the emotional intensity of Susan Minot and Amy Bloom—and infused with a witty, dream-like surrealism reminiscent of Margaret Atwood—this mesmerizing debut takes us inside the unsettling world of Margaret Lydia Benning, which turns upside down when she falls in love…and then unravels before our eyes.
“What I have to tell Ben is just this. At last I am certain. All the signs, all the dreams are in. And I know now I have made a terrible mistake. I was wrong, it turns out, about us.”
Margaret Lydia Benning lives adrift in the same Midwest town where she went to college. By day, she works at a low-level job for the Project, a university-sponsored educational publisher housed in a former sanatorium. There she shares the fourth floor with a squadron of eccentric editors and a resident ghost from the screamers’ wing. At night, Margaret returns to her small house on Mott Street, resigned to the disturbing overtures of her strange neighbor, Mrs. Eberline.
Emotionally sleepwalking through the days is no way to lead a life. But then Margaret meets Ben Adams, a visiting professor of art at the university. Despite the odds—and their best intentions—Margaret and her professor become lovers, and she glimpses a future she had never before imagined. For the first time, she has hope…until Ben inexplicably vanishes. In the wake of his disappearance, Margaret sets out to find him. Her journey will force her to question everything she believes to be true.
Told through intertwined perspectives, by turns incandescent and haunting, Some Other Town is an unforgettable tale, with a heart-breaking twist, of one woman’s awakening to her own possibility—and her ability to love, and love well.
Elizabeth Collison
Elizabeth Collison grew up in the Midwest and now lives in the San Francisco Bay area. She received her MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and has worked as an editor, graphic artist, and technical writer. This is her first novel.
Related to Some Other Town
Related ebooks
LOVE'S TRIUMPH BEYOND HOPE AND FAITH: A Young Pastor's Struggle during the Great Depression Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOut Of Here Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUriel’s Gift: A Personal Journey through Instinct, Intuition, Research and Revelation. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAnna: A Heartwarming Story about Love, Family and Friendship Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Teacher: A gritty, addictive thriller that will have you hooked Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Turnpike Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChasing the Fates Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChasing the Fates: Fates' Fool, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsScags at 18: Scags Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThrough His Veins Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAgainst the Wind: A Memoir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDusk Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWe Belong Together: The perfect heartwarming, feel-good read Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Archangel's Gift: A personal journey through instinct, intuition, research, and revelation. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelaying Eternity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Elements: Five Fantasy Short Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsElements: Five Fantasy Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRear-View Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsForbidden Ride: The Wild Wests, #4 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Not All Journeys End: Immortal Journeys Series Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSuzanne Collier’s Second Book of Mysteries and Mayhem Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLong Way Home: A Ficlet Novelette Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAt A Later Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLumberjack's Irresistible Bride (A Steamy Alpha BBW First Time Romance) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFifty Years in Heaven Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Time Until Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRenascent Soul Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEchoes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Walk into the Void Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Act Of Random Thought Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Psychological Fiction For You
Crime and Punishment Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Housemaid Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Strange Sally Diamond Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fifth Mountain: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life of Pi: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Club: A Reese's Book Club Pick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Dark Vanessa: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Flight: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sour Candy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Daughter: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Moby Dick (Complete Unabridged Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hogg Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Head Full of Ghosts: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Have Always Lived in the Castle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Certain Hunger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Notes on an Execution: An Edgar Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lover's Dictionary: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trial Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Yellow Wallpaper Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Grapes of Wrath Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Life She Was Given: A Moving and Emotional Saga of Family and Resilient Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Prodigal Summer: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Curse of the Reaper: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Misery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Persuasion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mrs. Caliban: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bean Trees: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Some Other Town
5 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Some Other Town by Elizabeth Collison is a highly recommended, surrealistic novel about a woman who has fallen in love.
Margaret Benning, 28, has bought a stone house on Mott Street and settled into the same town where she attended college. She lives next door to Mrs. Eberline, a woman who is likely insane and certainly has the potential to cause some serious trouble. Margaret works for the Project, a grant funded business devoted to writing beginning readers for children. The Project is located on the grounds of what was a sanatorium for TB patients. It is still referred to as the Sanatorium even though it now is the home for a wide variety of endeavors and programs.
Three months ago Margaret broke up with Ben Adams, a visiting art professor that she met at a gallery opening. Ben, 16 years her senior, could have been the love of her life, but she hasn't heard from him in 3 months. Mrs. Eberline is demanding that she go find him, insisting that Ben is in danger, but Margaret seems hesitant, perhaps because Ben was married or perhaps it was from their last encounter.
The writing in Some Other Town has a dream-like, ethereal quality. I began to question what was real, and wondered what parts should I take note of and what characters should I care about. I briefly speculated that all the characters were ghosts. While Collison's writing quality is quite good, it seems that something was not quite hitting the mark for me in the presentation. It could be the dream-like detachment she has given to Margaret and Ben in the novel permeated how I felt about it. We hear both of their voices, but mainly it is Margaret's voice you will be paying attention to.
Margaret seems strangely detached from everything, which, although it is explained by the ending, did make it hard to care about her through the whole novel. I couldn't understand why Margaret wasn't calling the police on Mrs. Eberline. There is no way someone would ever tolerate that behavior from a neighbor. The encounters between her co-workers at The Project provided some much needed comic relief, but even then Margaret wasn't engaged with them - even though the reader is seemingly expected to care about their antics.
In some respects, the ending gave me more respect for the book than I initially had. The problem is that some readers are not going to stick with the book to get to that ending. Yes, it is technically very well written, almost poetic at times, but it is also an unconventional presentation that requires readers to take note of everything and care about the characters in spite of the enigmatic qualities of the novel. 3.5
Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of HarperCollins for review purposes.