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In the opening pages, Familiar's protagonist, Elisa, is driving from Wisconsin, where she has been visiting the grave of her dead son, Silas, back to her home in New York--back to her husband, Derek, and her living son, Sam. As she is driving down the highway, she notices that that the crack in the windshield of her Honda has mysteriously disappeared. Even more mysteriously, she then realizes she is no longer driving her Honda but is now driving a Dodge.
When she arrives home, she discovers more changes: her marriage to Derek, though never great, is now on the verge of divorce. Incredibly, Silas is no longer dead. Sam, with whom she has a fairly good but not great relationship, is now estranged from her and living in California with Silas. She now has a completely different job.
Elisa is convinced that she has somehow moved from her original life in one universe into a new life in a parallel universe. She has no idea how this has occurred, but she is fairly certain that she has been transported into a parallel universe.
This story begins as a science fiction story, and the science fiction element remains important throughout, but it is actually more a story of a family in crisis: the pending, possible end of Elisa and Derek's marriage and these parents' separation from their sons. The tensions within the family and Elisa's attempts to resolve them are the real focus of this story.
Familiar is a great character study as we watch Elisa try to adapt to the new world in which she finds herself and try to change herself in the present universe to be more like herself in former universe while struggling with herself about whether she should try to change at all.
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As the story ends, we have no resolution to anything. What has actually happened to Elisa is not clear. Did she really move from one universe to a parallel universe? Or is, as is hinted in a few places, she suffering some sort of mental breakdown? Obviously, the latter makes more empirical sense, and there is some narrative support for thinking that Elisa is simply suffering some sort of neurological or psychological problem. Still, much in the story equally supports the hypothesis that Elisa really has moved from one universe to another. The author simply gives us no final answers.
Furthermore, the tensions within the family are not fully resolved. The final pages indicate that Elisa and Derek decide to get back together after their trial separation, but we are not told why or how this happens. And Elisa and her sons are not reunited although Elisa and Silas have a tentative online relationship.
But the novel ends on a positive, optimistic note. It seems that Elisa has, in the end, accepted living in this new universe and is even content to do so, and a hopeful note is sounded that possibly she and her sons will overcome their differences just as she and Derek have reunited.
Ultimately, though, nothing is settled. We are left with mysteries. For some, this may be unsatisfactory, and I will admit to being slightly disappointed that the story ends abruptly with the key plot points unresolved. Nevertheless, the body of the story is utterly fascinating, particularly Elisa's relationship with her sons and her attempts to make amends for what she and Derek have done to cause their estrangement from their children.
Thus, overall, I very much enjoyed this story and can definitely recommend it to most people. If you like stories with definitive answers and neatly wrapped endings, however, this novel is probably not for you.
When she arrives home, she discovers more changes: her marriage to Derek, though never great, is now on the verge of divorce. Incredibly, Silas is no longer dead. Sam, with whom she has a fairly good but not great relationship, is now estranged from her and living in California with Silas. She now has a completely different job.
Elisa is convinced that she has somehow moved from her original life in one universe into a new life in a parallel universe. She has no idea how this has occurred, but she is fairly certain that she has been transported into a parallel universe.
This story begins as a science fiction story, and the science fiction element remains important throughout, but it is actually more a story of a family in crisis: the pending, possible end of Elisa and Derek's marriage and these parents' separation from their sons. The tensions within the family and Elisa's attempts to resolve them are the real focus of this story.
Familiar is a great character study as we watch Elisa try to adapt to the new world in which she finds herself and try to change herself in the present universe to be more like herself in former universe while struggling with herself about whether she should try to change at all.
*********SPOILER ALERT*************
*********SPOILER ALERT*************
*********SPOILER ALERT*************
*********SPOILER ALERT*************
As the story ends, we have no resolution to anything. What has actually happened to Elisa is not clear. Did she really move from one universe to a parallel universe? Or is, as is hinted in a few places, she suffering some sort of mental breakdown? Obviously, the latter makes more empirical sense, and there is some narrative support for thinking that Elisa is simply suffering some sort of neurological or psychological problem. Still, much in the story equally supports the hypothesis that Elisa really has moved from one universe to another. The author simply gives us no final answers.
Furthermore, the tensions within the family are not fully resolved. The final pages indicate that Elisa and Derek decide to get back together after their trial separation, but we are not told why or how this happens. And Elisa and her sons are not reunited although Elisa and Silas have a tentative online relationship.
But the novel ends on a positive, optimistic note. It seems that Elisa has, in the end, accepted living in this new universe and is even content to do so, and a hopeful note is sounded that possibly she and her sons will overcome their differences just as she and Derek have reunited.
Ultimately, though, nothing is settled. We are left with mysteries. For some, this may be unsatisfactory, and I will admit to being slightly disappointed that the story ends abruptly with the key plot points unresolved. Nevertheless, the body of the story is utterly fascinating, particularly Elisa's relationship with her sons and her attempts to make amends for what she and Derek have done to cause their estrangement from their children.
Thus, overall, I very much enjoyed this story and can definitely recommend it to most people. If you like stories with definitive answers and neatly wrapped endings, however, this novel is probably not for you.