What readers think of The Antidote, plus links to write your own review.

This story takes place during the period around Black Sunday in the Dust Bowl years. It is a multi layered story with an unusual cast of characters and the story of the town they live in.

Beneath the story is the question for what happens when we choose to forget a memory. Does forgetting really serve us? And what gets sacrificed for the individual or for a community.

It is a well told story with some fantastical elements that allow you to chew on this idea of memory and it's importance both for individual integrity, and for the collective good.

This is a terrific "five star" read that weaves historical fiction and magic realism to vividly tell a Dust Bowl era story. The author has a vivid imagination and creates a compelling story. She creates well-drawn and in-depth characters that readers will care about. Days after finishing the book I am still thinking about it and marvel at how masterfully the author interlaced different facets of the history of the United States.

It is rare for me to read at night without falling asleep, but I was up until the wee hours last night reading The Antidote. This morning, my mind is reveling in new perceptions of history and human behavior – the connection between the trail of tears and the dust bowl; how money makes evil comprehensible; the role of memory in conscience…

The Antidote informs through history and secrets revealed without being pedantic. Shifts between narrators are seamless and propel the storyline without disrupting it. History and philosophy are woven into edge-of-your-seat plots. There are villains and witches, miracles of nature, a magical camera, a sensate scarecrow and more. These devices appear so naturally in the story that they don't seem implausible: they are all part of prairie life.

Did I mention it is also very funny?

The best book I've read since North Woods.

Dorothy, we're not in Kansas anymore.

In Karen Russell's The Antidote, we come to know the place of Ur, Nebraska, from the Dust Bowl on Black Sunday, April 14, 1935, to the Republican River flood, on May 30, 1935. This kaleidoscopic novel combines the genres of dystopian, fantasy, and speculative fiction to create a view of a geographical area's collective memories of the past, present, and future. It's hard to describe the many elements of this book, but consider some of the allegorical references…who is the Wizard behind the curtain, what happens to the turtle crossing the road in The Grapes of Wrath, what does Plato illustrate in his Allegory of the Cave, and why does God test Job.

The story follows a prairie witch Antonina who is known as "The Antidote," Dell, a young female basketball player living with her Uncle Harp who farms the land, a photographer, Cleo, who is sent to document the area in images, a corrupt sheriff, and a mysterious scarecrow, who asks himself, "What am I?" "Who am I?"

Draw aside the curtain, leave the cave, and prepare to be amazed by this quantum storytelling. I will read this book again because it is so satisfying. I am absolutely amazed at the depth of its story.

Since I had previously read Swamplandia I knew that this book would be a bit different but at the same time intriguing. The unusual mix of characters made for unexpected and interesting reading. I liked how each chapter was a different character's story which made the book easy to follow. If Karen Russell writes another book I would definitely read it.

A novel about a 1935 dust storm would not likely normally make it onto my TBR list - unless, of course, it was written by Karen Russell whose debut "Swamplandia!" was a Pulitzer Prize finalist AND one of the New York Times Top Ten books of the year!

I had thoroughly enjoyed "Swamplandia!" and was more than eager to get an advanced reader's copy of "The Antidote" (huge thank you to BookBrowse and Alfred A. Knopf Publishers). I was captivated immediately! The prologue opens with a disturbing and sad childhood memory of Harp Oletsky, a farmer in the tiny town of Uz. Harp is the uncle of Asphodel (call her Dell) a feisty, basketball loving teenager struggling in the mire of grief over the loss of her mom. Dell becomes entwined in the life of a Prairie Witch known as the Antidote who is searching for her stolen baby son and has the ability to absorb and store the memories, whether good or bad, of her clients.

The epic dust storm swirls around these amazing characters and all the town residents and the completely evil sheriff and the visiting plucky female photographer who plays a vital role in the narrative. Mix in the cold, hard truth that this land was cruelly and unjustly stolen from the native American Indians and sprinkle in the normal human failings and occasional redemptions and you are reading an instant classic!

Filled with heart and love and intellect and exquisitely crafted, this book is for all readers of fiction!!

I am not quite finished with this book, partly because I am so in love with the writing and am luxuriating in the language. I often re-read particulary exquisite (or hilarious) sentences.I have been marking passages I love with post it tabs,and the book looks like a porcupine! I LOVE this book!

A deeply moving story of life during the 1920's Dust Bowl (and beyond) in Uz, Nebraska, with a Prairie Witch, a Scarecrow, the murders of women, and a government photographer.

Yes, there is a very complex plot, but this author keeps you engrossed about every circumstance. She described "Black Sunday" with great details of what this storm did to the Nebraska Plains and how it affected the immigrants who relocated there. There is much discussion about the Native Indigenous people who were already inhabitants, who knew how to maintain the land and animals.

The author writes an essay about the historical events of the Pawnee tribes in the back of the book, so enlightening! Though a work of fiction, I felt educated by this book; felt sad, angry, empathetic and sorry for what happened to the Native people. Mixed amongst all of this was a black family, the Oletsky's, who also experienced the demeaning taunts from the white settlers.

Harp Oletsky, an original landowner, is the Grange Master with a teenage granddaughter who loves Basketball. (I so enjoyed the game!!) Hereto is another version of the story. This is an intense read but so well worth it.

Thank you, Karen Russell, for such a compelling story with true history attached.