aprilamy 's review for:

The Antidote by Karen Russell

4.0

challenging dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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The “antidote” of the title refers to one of this novel’s main characters, Antonia Rossi, who is a prairie witch: you can tell her something you don’t want to remember, and she’ll keep the memory for you, until you’re ready to withdraw it from her bank. Until a huge dust storm hits the small town of Uz, Nebraska; after the storm, she’s lost everyone’s memories. But the story isn’t just Toni’s. We also get to hear from Dell, a first generation immigrant to Nebraska, his niece Dell, who loves basketball, and Cleo, a new-deal photographer with a haunted camera. We also hear from a scarecrow. And a cat. 

This is a wide-ranging book that covers a lot of issues, but I loved it most for the way it pushes back against the traditional “western expansion” narrative. America is promised as a new land full of opportunities for Europeans, but it holds the same traps of wealth, race, oppression—now coupled with a decimated land. It nods a bit to The Wizard of Oz and the story of Job, as well as the works of Willa Cather, but is its own thing entirely. I will not forget this book’s central idea, which is that we, as regular people, are unwittingly part of the government’s larger schemes.