From the acclaimed author of The Atmospherians, a gender-bending, body-switching novel that explores marriage, identity, and sex, and raises profound questions about the nature of true partnership.
“A big project knocking around in a small package, portending even bigger projects ahead.”—New York Times
“A little Kafkaesque, a little Hitchcockian, a little Freaky Friday, but McElroy makes this dizzying story their own.”—Electric Literature
When Eli leaves the cramped Bulgarian apartment he shares with Elizabeth, his more organized and successful wife, he discovers that he now inhabits her body. Not only have he and his wife traded bodies, but Elizabeth, living as Eli, has disappeared without a trace. What follows is Eli’s search across Europe and to America for his missing wife—and a roving, no-holds-barred exploration of gender and embodied experience.
As Eli comes closer to finding Elizabeth—while learning to exist in her body—he begins to wonder what effect this metamorphosis will have on their relationship and how long he can maintain the illusion of living as someone he isn’t. Will their new marriage wither completely? Or is this transformation the very thing Eli and Elizabeth need for their marriage to thrive?
A rich, rewarding exploration of ambition and sacrifice, desire and loss, People Collide is a portrait of shared lives that shines a refreshing light on everything we thought we knew about love, sexuality, and the truth of who we are.
Isle McElroy (they/them) is a non-binary author based in New York. Their writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, New York Times Magazine, The Cut, GQ, The Guardian, Vogue, Bon Appétit, and other publications. They have received fellowships from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Tin House Summer Workshop, the Sewanee Writers Conference, and they were named one of The Strand’s 30 Writers to Watch.
In May 2021, Isle founded Debuts & Redos, a reading series for authors who published books during the pandemic. Their first novel, The Atmospherians, was named an Editor’s Choice by the New York Times and a book of the year by Esquire, Electric Literature, Debutiful, and many other outlets.
My thoughts: Eli wakes up one morning in the apartment he shares in Bulgaria with his wife, Elizabeth. Only she’s not there. He discovers that he is now in Elizabeth’s body, and she has his. In Paris.
An exploration of how we see ourselves and others, how our bodies are part of our identities, or not. Elizabeth revels in her new masculine form, I did wish there was a little more exploration of the way society treats gender, as Eli has a pretty easy time in his wife’s skin, the story is quite gentle in that regard.
He goes to Paris to find Elizabeth at the behest of his mother, who thinks she’s talking to her daughter-in-law. He has to also present himself as Elizabeth to her parents. They may be in each other’s physical selves but with their own thoughts, experiences and knowledge, so he worries there’s things her parents might say that he can’t answer, because he hasn’t been Elizabeth for long.
The book explores their relationship, when they connect at last in Paris. Elizabeth (as Eli) doesn’t want to return to Bulgaria, or America, she wants to remain in Paris, living a different life in Eli’s body.
But their parents, very different people, pursue them, determined to help “Eli” recover from his apparent wobble, and reunite the couple. This causes its own issues, they married in haste and Eli comes to realise he doesn’t really know his wife at all on a profound level.
A fascinating, thought provoking read, I liked Eli, he’s sensitive and gentle, and in Elizabeth’s body, respectful and kind. She’s a lot brasher and more confident, which is interesting as in a man’s body, that slight arrogance reads differently. Very interesting book.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 