NEW RELEASE


In Some Other World, Maybe - Shari Goldhagen (2015)

In December 1992, in Florida, Cincinatti and Chicago respectively, teens Adam, Sharon and Phoebe and Oliver go to see the blockbuster Eons and Empires movie. Across the years, their paths will cross and their lives become intertwined in unexpected ways as each embarks on adulthood. The novel is more literary and reflective, with a pondering, elegiac quality. At times, it loses pace and momentum, but the concept of these individual characters crisscrossing in complex and subtle ways is hugely appealing and interesting. What is powerful about the novel is the idea that, as the narrator says, there are 'so many different potential outcomes' to the lives of these characters and the story and the reader never quite knows how everything will transpire. Whilst I would have preferred other outcomes, I enjoyed the fact that the more predictable, straightforward, romantic, and perhaps the favoured options, weren't necessarily those the author runs with. The message seems to be in some other world, some other book, maybe things would have turned out differently and I really warmed to this concept. It got me thinking that a sequel or sequels with the same characters and beginning at the same point but pursuing completely different interconnections and outcomes could actually work really well. Character-wise, Adam and Phoebe felt much more intricately drawn and appealing than Sharon, and Oliver is somewhat sidelined, despite being a hugely empathetic character. Overall, an ambitious and thought-provoking read but something of a slow-burner and not one that panders to readers. (JC)


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