J: I think it’s something that I think about in daily life a lot. I’d love to hear your thoughts about this theme and what got you to thinking about these themes? You started with these two girls who are isolated and thus become vulnerable and build it up to how Kamchatka as a peninsula is isolated and thus vulnerable. One of the things I found really powerful about this book was that you tackled this theme of isolation and how that leads to vulnerability and it was layered throughout the novel. The themes and characters of this book stayed with me for most of the year, and so I was thrilled to speak with Julia Phillips about this amazing book, Kamchatka and her experiences in Russia, her writing process, and more.

Each time you read it, more depth comes out. I became entranced by this novel because of the way it immerses you in a world that’s both known and unknown. Disappearing Earth was a finalist for the National Book Award, the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize for Best First Book, longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, and appeared in numerous Best of 2019 lists, among many, many other accolades. Rather, it’s about the effect this disappearance has on the rest of the community, and the everyday violence that this event reveals.Įach chapter is told in the point of view of a Russian woman in the aftermath of the disappearance, and slowly the novel reveals a full portrait of the diversity of life on Kamchatka, in indigenous communities and ethnically Russian communities, in rural regions and in the city. But the genius of the novel lies in the fact that the book isn’t about the abduction. This beautiful and atmospheric novel set on Kamchatka, a peninsula in the east of Russia, opens with the abduction of two young girls in a city. If I had to recommend only one book this year, it would hands down be Disappearing Earthby Julia Phillips.

Julia phillips author