Elysiana

By Chris Knopf
The Permanent Press, $28.00, 304 pages

It’s the Summer of ’69. Drugs, booze and free love roll as endlessly as the tide across Elysiana Beach, a twenty-five-mile long stretch of South Jersey coastline filled with a cast of unforgettable characters, caught up in the inevitability of their own personal quests. Alternately brain-damaged, bombed, brilliant and blustery, the summer denizens of Elysiana weave their own pieces of a much larger tapestry as the season rolls on to a score-settling, hurricane-filled climax.

Elysiana is one of those novels whose appeal lies not so much in a loaded, complex plotline,  as in its incredible array of characters. It doesn’t matter what path the characters are going down, it’s enough that they’re going and that they’re being themselves while doing it. Knopf skillfully outlines each character in clear detail and then builds them stronger and more tangible through their every action, no matter how minute or inconsequential. Pretty much every character in the story produces some emotional response in the reader, whether it’s disgust, admiration, respect or sympathy. Highly recommended if you’re looking for a story that will engage you from page one.

Reviewed by Heather Ortiz