Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

‘Truly magnificent. An inspirational read’ MP, Award Winner of 2008 Reviewer of the Year



Elsewhere is based in what many people think to be heaven. It is based on a girl called Elizabeth Hall, but known to most as Liz, who is killed in a hit and run incident. The novel is about how she is trying to overcome the fact that she has died, but is still able to live like she did on earth. The story is about her, and the people she meets on here way to Elsewhere, discovering the adventures of life after death.

The structure of the verb tense throughout the novel is set very much in the present day; however, the chapter entitled 'Waking' is set in the past. It is telling the reader about a dream that Liz is having, and is a clever aspect of the plot. This is because, with out stating at the beginning what happened to Liz in the hit and run incident, the reader is told by the contents of her dream. In this chapter, there is also no gap between where the dream ends and where the 'real life' begins, as in many novels there are graphical features - such as stars etc, however, as the past tense starts at the beginning of the chapter, there is no way of knowing immediately that it is not in the present day. I think this is a good way of letting the reader know more about the character but is done quite subtly.

At the beginning of the novel, Gabrielle Zevin describes what happens after the accident, but from Elizabeth’s dog’s perspective instead of the Narrators. This was an unexpected start to the story, as I was unsure whether to read that part first, as it was entitled ‘In the End’. However, the reasons for this are because going to Elsewhere is part of a cycle and so the story starts with the end of the last stage. I thought this was a clever aspect of the story, as to some religions this is what they believes happens when they die.
The language through out the novel is quite informal as it is mainly from Liz’s point of view. This is a good feature, as the target audience, in my opinion, is for the teenage age range.

I personally feel that this is an amazing novel. To start with I was a bit unsure of how well someone would be able to describe life after death, with out having experienced it themselves. However, as soon as I started reading Elsewhere, I was gripped! It was very realistic and I was able, in some ways, empathize with each character, as you would feel very lonely knowing that you would never be able to see your family and friends again. I would recommend this book to anyone of any age!

MP Year 9