The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk (Riverhead, 2022)
In 1913, a young Pole arrives at a health resort in the Silesian mountains, a place known to be free of consumption due to the still, damp air. Each evening, the residents gather after dinner and drink a mildly hallucinogenic liqueur while they debate the issues of the day: do women have souls? does a woman’s body belong to her or to the public? could a matriarchy exist? Meanwhile, rumors swirl about strange murders, bodies left scattered in pieces in the woods, and the abrupt suicide of a woman chills the new arrival. As they come to understand this place, and come to understand themselves, they find that both have changed, and someone—or something—is watching.
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