Now, here is a disclaimer: this book will not be released until January of 2020 so if it sounds like something you’d love to read, don’t drop everything and head to your local indie bookstore. You WILL be disappointed.
Now, I received a copy of How Quickly She Disappears from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and I also really wanted to share with my bookish family how I liked or disliked the book.
How Quickly She Disappears is a novel by Raymond Fleischmann set in July 1941 in a small town in Alaska. Elisabeth and her husband John live there contentedly with their eleven-year old daughter Margaret. All of that changes when a man named Alfred flies into town looking for a place to get some rest. Elisabeth, also known as Else, offers her home and that’s perfectly fine…until Alfred kills her closest friend, an indigenous man named Mack. But that’s not where the story ends, no that’s just the beginning. In fact, the tale doesn’t truly begin until Alfred tells Else that he has information about her sister’s disappearance almost twenty years prior. He claims to know where she lives now and why she never sought her sister out. This is a mystery that Else has been living with for so long…how could she not want to know more? But Alfred isn’t just going to give her the information, no, he wants her to pay for it. Three gifts in return for information. And so the question is how far will one woman go to know the truth?
Courtesy of raymondfleischmann.com
Overall Score 4/5 ⭐
Don’t get me wrong, I hated pretty much all of the characters. Well, hate is a strong word. Let’s just say that if any of these people were real, they wouldn’t be in my circle of friends (or associates or acquaintances, in fact I’d probably stay as far away from them as I could). The characters tend to be self-absorbed, bitter, and they make some of the worst decisions imaginable. All of these characters deserved a good slap but that is also a part of why I kept reading. I was hoping that Else would get what was coming to her, that Alfred would get punched in the face and that John would just cease existing. And because I was hopeful that one or all of these things may occur, I continued to read. I am not sure if that was the author’s intent but it was mine. That’s why such characters are so important! In fact, I recently posted on that!
Like I said, I don’t like the characters. But I did love the internal turmoil they went through (say what you will about my mental health) and the beautiful description that Raymond Fleischmann gives when describing the Alaskan scenic views. Else is so enslaved to her quest that she neglects her family and everything else around her. She will do whatever it takes to get the truth and that’s what Alfred seems to be asking. It is like watching a large wave coming that you know is going to cause a lot of destruction but you cacn’t stop watching. I wanted to know what Alfred would ask, whether or not Else would give in, if she would tell her husband about the deal she struck and what Alfred’s motivations were. In fact, I felt like I had to know, I had to see the wave tear through the town or else I wouldn’t have been satisfied.
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read this book review. If you have any questions, comments or social criticisms be sure to leave them down below because I love hearing from all of you! I’m curious if you think this is a novel you would pick up and read after reading this review, so tell me what you think. Have you ever read something because you just wanted to see what havoc a character would create next? If so, like this post and tell me what the book was so I can join in on the fun too!
And if you aren’t a part of my bookish family, be sure to follow this blog and become a part of it! Feel free to follow me on Instagram and friend me on Goodreads as well so you can stay updated on my wild crazy word nerd life!
Happy reading,
Chyina