Beings - by Ilana Masad (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"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

Named a "Most Anticipated Book" by the LA Times, Washington Post, Autostraddle, Town and Country, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Lit Hub, and The Millions

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

"Engaging, elegant...Masad's wise novel is a restrained, gentle reflection on the nature of 'truth' versus memory with an elegiac and satisfying ending." --Angela Lashbrook, New York Times Book Review

"[BEINGS] make[s] the strange familiar, and the familiar strange, a fitting literary trick for our jittery age." --Kate Tuttle, Boston Globe

"The beauty of Beings is that, rather than tying everything up with a definitive ending, it leaves space for many interpretations without feeling incomplete." --Sara Polsky, Brooklyn Rail

"Cultural and literary critic Masad writes with shrewd sensitivity to her characters' humanity. Beings is a tender examination of reciprocal trust and of how conviction allows us to form both connection and identity...Beings reminds us that narrative requires suspension of our disbelief. So, too, does human connection." --Heather Scott Partington, Alta Journey

"With Beings Ilana has become a writer of literary sci-fi who reminds me of Margaret Atwood at her peak...Ilana writes in a space where emotional truth matters so much more than the factual one as much as we all Want To Believe, and it's in this space where storytelling gets to be both playful and profound." --Maris Kriezman, The Maris Review

"Compelling, thought-provoking...Masad's dual narratives tackle several of life's great themes: loneliness and community, exclusion and belonging, and the importance of feeling seen...using words that describe nothing extraterrestrial or impossible, Masad manages to create a sense of simultaneous unease and wonder...In Beings, Masad has deftly interwoven reality and potential to create a beautiful tapestry of a sci-fi novel." --Mariko Hewer, Washington Independent Review of Books

"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