"The World Without Us", as in the world once we are gone or as in the world that isn't within us? Either interpretation would work for this soul-searching novel about loss and connection. Each of the main characters is dealing with a major loss. Tess has lost her beloved sister and her will to talk; Jim has lost his mother and the idea of a child and family that he feels has been taken from him by his girlfriend; Stefan has lost his daughter but also his connection with his wife (and the foundation of his family is beginning to crumble); and Evangeline has lost everything, including the thin threads of her past.

How each of them handles his loss is unique, but each of them does it somewhat by cutting off the world as much a possible. Tess stops talking, Jim runs to another life in the small town where he crosses path with the Mueller family, Stefan concentrates all his energy onto the bees he keeps, and Evangeline shuts out her family and pursues a less intimate (or ultimately more intimate) relationship with a stranger.

It is not the plot of this story that moves it forward, although there is a lot of hinting at a mysterious occurrence at the commune that was burned and from which Evangeline escaped, there is a body that needs to be explained and there are relationships that predate Evangeline's marriage that still impact her present. It is rather the inward turnings of these people that keep you involved and aching to understand. It is pathos but without melodrama, tragedy tinged with hope.

Juchau writes in a disjointed style, revealing only tidbits of information as she proceeds and making the reader decipher the clues to these people as if they were jigsaw puzzles that needed to be assembled to be understood. In the beginning this feels foreign and difficult, but as it proceeds it begins to feel right. It begins to feel as if this is a reflection of how we really get to know about people and how people really being to know about themselves. Which of us thinks in straight lines? Who doesn't seek the answer in some bad places before they light upon the truth, sometimes on their own doorstep?

My thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing, Mireille Jachau and Goodreads for an opportunity to read and review this marvelous work in return for an honest review. I recommend it highly and will most happily read other works by Mireille Jachau...a very impressive author indeed. ( )

Chosen for the cover.

I found it difficult getting through this book. It was an interesting premise, but the lack of quotation marks and the changes between timelines and past/present tense made it confusing to follow. There also seemed to be quite a few events that repeated themselves. The characters were also confusing, as there was no real differentiation between them, they all had the same voice and personality. I struggled to the end but I wanted more from this story. ( )

A story about our world (emotional, relational and environmental) falling apart. The characters are all lost, looking for someone to help them deal with their grief. ( )

Incoherent descent into cliche which is then "rescued" by epilogue where all is explained like a crap tv drama. 👎 ( )

An rather sad story. The main character, Evangeline, has been brought up in a commune in Nth NSW (sounds a bit like Nimbin). She knows nothing of the outside world and is exploited by the man running the commune. After being forced to have a child so that this man could profit she escapes with Stef, a German migrant and bee-keeper. Their is a lot of mystery in this book and much of it is not satisfactorily resolved. However, I did enjoy the book and love the descriptions of the countryside and life on the farm. ( )