Review: Everything Under, by Daisy Johnson

Rating: ★★★★★

Genres: Literary Fiction

Goodreads / Amazon

Everything Under is the story of a woman in search of the truth about what happened all those years ago, before her mother left. She has spent the last sixteen years forgetting, but now she has found her mother again and the memories return from those days on the river, the monster they feared and the dark secrets hidden beneath the waters.

The places we are born come back to us. They disguise themselves as words, memory loss, nightmares.

With these words, I was sucked into this book and read it in two sittings, and only because I had to work the next day. This beautiful book’s triumph is the poetic writing that guides the story, which is at once classical and mythical. There is an element of magical realism to it, strengthened by the muddy memory of the main character about the events she is trying to, and trying not to, recall.  I loved the symbolism of this book so much.

At under 300 pages, it’s easy to lose yourself in the story for one afternoon – it is also a nice way to read this book, as its atmosphere makes it almost strange to raise your eyes from the pages and find yourself back in your normal life. Sometimes, if you are quiet enough, you can almost hear the river where Gretel and her mother spent thirteen years.

Despite it being told in different time frames, it’s not difficult to follow them – the chapter titles are always letting you know in which point of the story you are. I thought that was incredibly helpful.

It reminded me of two books, Fates and Furies (one of my favorites of all time) and Bitter Orange, so if you love literary fiction and stories where fate plays an important role, you will really enjoy this one. I loved this book and I know I will re-read it – there is so much I want to read again, knowing what I know now about what happens.