Beings - by Ilana Masad (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Named a "Most Anticipated Book" by the LA Times, Washington Post, Autostraddle, and Town and Country

From the celebrated author of All My Mother's Lovers, a new novel based on true events asks whether extraterrestrial life might be what ties us to one another, to history, and to reality itself.

"Ilana Masad is an exciting talent."-Garth Greenwell
"Masad is a writer on the rise."-Kristen Arnett

In 1961, an interracial couple drove through the dark mountains of New Hampshire when a mysterious light began to follow them. Years later, through hypnosis, they recalled an unbelievable brush with extraterrestrial life. Unintentionally, a genre was born: the alien abduction narrative.

In Ilana Masad's Beings, the couple's experience serves as one part of a trio of intertwined threads: Known only by their roles as husband and wife, Masad explores the pair's trauma and its aftermath and questions what it means to accept the impossible. In the second thread, letters penned by a budding science-fiction writer, Phyllis, to her beloved, Rosa, expose the raw ache of queer yearning, loneliness, and alienation in the repressive 1960s-as well as the joy of finding community. In the present day, a reclusive and chronically ill Archivist attempts to understand a strange forgotten childhood encounter while descending into obsession over both Phyllis's letters and the testimony of the first alien abductees.

Over the course of a decade, Phyllis wrestles with her desires and ambitions as a lesbian writer, while the abducted couple grapple with how to maintain control of their narrative. All the while, the archive shatters and reforms, redefining fact and fiction via the stories left behind by the abductees, Phyllis, and the Archivist themself. Masad makes human what is alien and makes tangible what is hidden - sometimes by chance and sometimes intentionally - in the archive.

Review Quotes

"The past and the future meet in this smart and tender novel about a 1960s couple who encounters extraterrestrial life, an obscure sci-fi writer who lives on through her letters, and the present-day queer archivist who investigates both. Ilana Masad explores the feeling of being different, being out of place, being doubted and doubting yourself, and in the end just being. A remarkable book." --Laila Lalami, author of THE DREAM HOTEL

"Beings is a mystical, glamorous, intimate, and ambitious human mystery with unforgettable characters that asks, are we really all alone out there? A true stunner." --Emma Copley Eisenberg, author of HOUSEMATES

"Beings is the alien abduction meets lesbian yearning novel that will restore your faith in the universe. Ilana Masad excavates the juiciness of historical archives and the otherworldly mysteries of the everyday in her most brilliant work yet." --Ruth Madievsky, author of ALL-NIGHT PHARMACY

"Ilana Masad is one of the most exciting young writers working today. Beings shows off the best of Masad's writing: intelligent, vivid prose; engaging mysteries; deep emotional truths; and the ability to remind readers that the unknown can be thrilling." --Megan Giddings, author of MEET ME AT THE CROSSROADS

"Three gripping narratives entwine as supernatural encounters and personal revelations transform lives in the 1960s and the present... Miraculously, Masad makes this dense braid of stories easy to follow, elegantly blending serpentine sentences, endearing and intimately observed characters, natural dialogue, and playful, generous asides to keep the reader in enthralled suspense. A dazzlingly original testament to companionship, curiosity, and faith in ourselves in times of fear and loneliness." --Kirkus (starred review)

"An incandescent exploration of memory, narrative, and sexual identity, Beings is certain to delight readers of literary fiction with sf elements." --Booklist (starred review)

"Masad (All My Mother's Lovers) spins an affecting tale of aliens, alienation, and archives... The interconnected narratives reveal the power of stories and archival material to reach across time and help an isolated person find themselves. Readers will be swept away." --Publishers Weekly

About the Author