Chloe Benjamin | THE IMMORTALISTS

Plot (via Goodreads):

If you were told the date of your death, how would it shape your present?

It's 1969 in New York City's Lower East Side, and word has spread of the arrival of a mystical woman, a traveling psychic who claims to be able to tell anyone the day they will die. The Gold children—four adolescents on the cusp of self-awareness—sneak out to hear their fortunes.

Their prophecies inform their next five decades. Golden-boy Simon escapes to the West Coast, searching for love in '80s San Francisco; dreamy Klara becomes a Las Vegas magician, obsessed with blurring reality and fantasy; eldest son Daniel seeks security as an army doctor post-9/11, hoping to control fate; and bookish Varya throws herself into longevity research, where she tests the boundary between science and immortality.

Review:

When I read the premise to THE IMMORTALISTS by Chloe Benjamin over the summer, I just absolutely knew this was a novel I had to read. This novel is a literary masterpiece, weaving together four stories throughout four decades and could not be more beautifully written. As our story begins with the four Gold siblings visiting this psychic, I was immediately drawn to these four children and the way that Benjamin is telling their story. I absolutely loved their fierceness, vulnerability, and how their personalities shined right off the pages.

As we dive deeper into this glorious novel, we find that it has been split into four sections, each in a different timespan allowing each Gold sibling to tell their story. I was fascinated with Simons story and found myself laughing, tearing up, and taking a deep breath at its finale wondering what else I am getting myself into. Simons story is poignant, nostalgic, and a phenomenal opener to this amazing novel. Jumping into Klara's section, I was surprised with how the writing was clearly just as strong, but it just seemed like a completely different story and I was blown away by how charming and beautiful Benjamin's words clasp together to create such a sensational novel. I loved Klara's section just as much and was dumbfounded by the voice that Benjamin gave to her and this story that was brilliantly devastating with amazing prose. Daniel's section was just as good, blending in aspects of Simon and Klara's sections with just enough of a thread to remind the reader this is all one family and one novel, but no Gold sibling goes unrecognized. I found his to be a little bit more of a crime fiction with the family dynamic still highly visible...and it was again, an amazing story. The novel ends with Varya's section and I'll admit, I cried and laughed. I loved getting to witness each sibling through time from other sections and how much they have changed or stayed the same. It was a phenomenal idea to end with Varya's section and I honestly couldn't get enough of this family and how Benjamin created these four amazing stories with some of the strongest literary characters I have ever read and captivated me with blending these stories into one novel, but reminding the reader that these are four different characters and they are going to be heard.

There are novels that you read for entertainment, some for escape, and some just out of boredom. Once in a while, if you're really lucky (and you believe in luck) you find something that captivates you and holds you hostage until the final page is read...and you feel changed. This is that kind of novel. This is a must read for anyone.

*Special thanks to Putnam Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 5/5