Whatever Wednesday - Serious Writing

 Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips is homework. My PA book club gang just read and discussed it. I think if I'd had my friend's note summary of characters ahead of time I would have enjoyed this book. 

The author tells us month by month, from a different female character perspective, what life is like and the sorrow and sense of loss impacted their relationship and decisions. There's a lot of disappointment, and the atmosphere is bleak. 

The book takes place in the outer reaches of Russia. The names are all tricky and I kept getting confused (my bad, my ignorance). Two young girls are kidnapped in the first chapter. From there we do meet a variety of women and hear their stories. Slowly the author pulls bits and pieces of everyone's story together. So many coincidences. Will the girls be found? Are they alive? 

You read the value of women based on the police work (or lack thereof). You read the value of ethnic characters based on the police work (or lack thereof). The author tackles a lot of issues in this book. 

The writing is excellent and Disappearing Earth is a challenge. Whew!