This was more of a historical novel that I had expected it to be which is silly of me not to have realised beforehand, because when reading the description now it is very obvious that it is. I guess I was just too fascinated by the idea of the prairie witches and them being vaults. But after reading about 15% I noticed I still wasn’t invested in the characters and I’m afraid didn’t really care about the whole dust bowl business. I see this novel is already is getting rave reviews, so I know it’s just me, but I’ll give this one a miss and won’t finish it.
Thank you Penguin Random House UK and Netgalley UK for the ARC

One of the most interesting parts of modern history to me is the period after the Great Crash in the USA: on the one hand you have the creation of shanty towns of men looking for work in all the major national cities (Hoovervilles), and also coinciding with the dustbowl phenomenon on the great plains, poor farming metrology ripping away the topsoil and rendering the whole area barren. So if you feel the way I feel, I've got The Antidote for you, a magical realist saga of the dustbowl, of a Prairie Witch, a teenage basketball player, of murder, sentient scarecrows and time-slipping cameras. Bear with me as I try to explain some of those things, but take my word for it, it is worth it.

Whilst we will delve into her back story as the tale proceeds, The Praire Witch offers a service to all the local townsfolk - namely for a price you can tell her a memory and she will take it from you, store it and then, when required she will return it to you. Sometimes happy memories that people want to savour afresh in later life, but often niggles of guilt, or in the case of the local sheriff, huge numbers of instances of corruption. Except on the night of the financial crash, her vault crashed too, and now she cannot summon up the old memories and only hears the new ones. Into her story comes Asphodel Oletsky, a third-generation Polish immigrant, and teen basketball champ who is now living with her uncle after her mother was murdered. He seems disengaged, and she needs money to take her team to the regional championships, so she apprentices herself to the Prairie Witch, and whilst she doesn't develop the ability to store memories, she is very good at making up replacement memories for those who want to retrieve them. Her uncle's farm (which has a self-aware scarecrow) is the only one seemingly unaffected by the dustbowl, and starts displaying strange lights at night, and when a photographer for the government - there to record the disaster - takes photos on his property with her new camera it develops photos from the past and future of the land, from dinosaurs to future generations. Threaded through this is a tale of murder and corruption, with the local sheriff chasing the witch for what she might know, and the larger story of the death of a town, and the coming of age of Asphodel.

Considering how high concept much of The Antidote is, it is a testament to Karen Russell's writing about how easily this all slips down. The Prairie Witch's job seems to fit naturally in the land that has literally forgotten itself, and memory and false memory end up being a major part of the book - not least when the Polish immigrant farmer has to reckon with the persecution that he escaped in Europe now being delivered by himself and colleagues to native Americans. Its a big book about big things, and yet it always manages to always connect to its characters personally, and its many digressions and flashbacks never derail the central narrative. A surprising, strange but rather terrific way of recontextualising the history of the dustbowl.

During the Great Depression, a dust storm steals a prairie witch's vault of memories and must work with a local farmer, his basketball playing niece, and a government photographer to get them back. A very interesting premise but unfortunately it makes up very little of the story. Likewise, while I appreciated the level of research and detail that has gone into the book, it bogs it down and at times makes it feel like you're reading a textbook on the founding of Nebraska. Some parts at beautiful but the plot line is overcrowded and needed to be streamlined. Not one for me.

I normally don't enjoy books set during the Great Depression, but when I came across one that featured memory loss and a memory curse, I was intrigued. I decided to step out of my comfort zone and give it a try, and I'm so glad I did! One thing I can say for certain is that the author is an exceptional writer. I particularly loved the witch character; she added a fascinating layer to the story. I really hope that many readers who appreciate historical fiction and magical realism will give this book a chance.

The Antidote is a brilliantly on-the-nose magical realism set in America’s Dust Bowl, 1930s Nebraska. ‘The Antidote’ is a prairie witch who can keep your memories safe: speak into her emerald ear-horn and your secrets, shames, private joys leave your mind and enter hers instead. But after the dust storm, The Antidote wakes up ‘empty’. Along with three other characters in an accidental found-family, they face what’s ahead, together.

My goodness, I absolutely loved this book! I highlighted endless quotes and passages from this one, and found myself completely unable to put it down. The Antidote makes a curious protagonist: she moves between narratives, sometimes speaking to herself and narrating in a first-person voice, others to her child in a second-person voice, and also we eventually have three other characters feeding in. This makes it a definite ‘must concentrate’ read. Between the cast of characters, there’s a lovely found-family feeling that weaves a gloriously told story about a nation’s forgetting, with a great yarn of climate running throughout.

Thank you to @NetGalley for the ARC of this amazing book.

It’s an historical fiction novel mixed with magical realism and wow, I was not expecting it to evoke so many emotions.

The vivid writing is amazing. It’s so unique, atmospheric and very moving.

It has so much going on, dealing with memory, family, loss, hope, power, and resilience. And the ending! The ending had me sobbing.

A definite recommendation from me.

Excellent read.
Beautifully written so that you can almost see the dust blown prairie.
Her characters are well described and you feel for each of them as they move through their sadness as lonely figures only to coalesce in friendship at the farm and become something altogether stronger.

The Antidote by Karen Russell is a beautifully haunting and thought-provoking book that delves into the complexities of memory, history and the deep scars left by the Dust Bowl era. Set against the backdrop of the devastating Black Sunday dust storm, the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska, is not just a place ravaged by the Great Depression but also burdened with violent histories that refuse to stay buried.

The narrative follows a fascinating array of characters, including a "Prairie Witch" whose body serves as a vault for the memories and secrets of others, a Polish wheat farmer who learns the heavy price of hoarded blessings, and his orphaned niece, a gifted basketball player and witch’s apprentice, struggling with grief. Alongside these figures are a talkative scarecrow and a time-travelling photographer whose camera may expose both the town's hidden truths and its tragic future.

Russell’s storytelling weaves these elements into a reckoning with a nation’s collective amnesia, shining a light on the forgotten histories passed down through generations. The book is both a reflection on the horrors of the past and an exploration of the shimmering possibilities for redemption and change. With themes of social justice, memory, and the manipulation of history, The Antidote offers a sharp critique of how stories are told—and by whom.

Karen Russell’s writing is nothing short of extraordinary. She combines the Dust Bowl, brutal murders, prairie witches, time travel, and basketball into a rich, poignant narrative that challenges readers to think deeply about our climate crisis and the stories we often choose to forget. The Antidote is a book that evokes every emotion, and Russell masterfully crafts a tale that is as enchanting as it is urgent. This is a book that will stay with you long after you turn the final page.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

The Antidote is not your everyday, run-of-the-mill historical fiction. Set in the dry plains of 1930s Nesbraka, the story unfolds between the catastrophic Black Sunday of the Dust Bowl (April 1935) and the Republican River flood in late May of the same year, two extreme opposites between which Karen Russell has managed to fit a story going back decades, woven into a tapestry where real history meets magic realism. This one is not for the faint of heart: do not be fooled by the 400-something page count, it is far denser and heavier to make your way through than the amount of pages would suggest.

With a smooth and appealing prose, Russell brings alive the Wild West of the Kinkaiders: European immigrants settling on many acres of allegedly unused land, promises of bountiful harvests that will lead to lasting tragedy, forced native resettlement and a collective need for amnesia to forget the horrors committed in the name of "Better you than me." Dipping back in time to draw up the full portrait of the town of Uz and its inhabitants, The Antidote is voiced by multiple narrators, focussing primarily on the four main characters: Harp, uncle and farmer, Dell, niece and basketball-loving teenage rebel, the prairie witch who the novel is named after, human vault absorbing memories of fellow humans for a small price, and Cleo Allfrey, federal photographer employee in charge of documenting the Dust Bowl. Each short chapter is titled after the character whose POV is narrated, rendering the overall structure easy to follow.

However, the explicit POV structure is much-needed because the different voices all sound the same. I found myself puzzled by how similar the teenage niece sounded to the aging, world-weary prairie witch. Everyone came across as metaphorical, heavy on the observational descriptions, filled with lovely one-liners. The strongest and most distinct voice was that of the Antidote, the prairie witch herself, every time she directly addressed her missing son ("You"). While I liked all the characters, I realised they all bled into one and not in a purposeful literary device kind of way.
Moreover, the main plot of the Dust Bowl and the reasons that led to the phenomenon was cut through by a multitude of hefty storylines: oppression and violence against Native Americans, racial segregation, imperialism, homes for unwed mothers and theft of newborns, misogyny, witch hunt, queer relationships. It seemed to me that too many important narratives were worked into these 400-something pages, leaving me feeling unsatisfied and even frustrated at times when a chapter would abruptly end, leaving behind a storyline I'd just started to settle into. It was a lot. It was not a matter of lacking talent for one's ambition. It was simply too much.

I thought The Antidote was a strong contender for a 5-star rating when I started the novel but I've had to come to terms with the fact that it bit off more than it could chew as I made my way through the chapters. By the end, I, too, like the characters stuck in heavy dust, was gasping for air and a break. I crawled my way through the final third of the book, renewing the promise I wouldn't DNF this. It's a shame. I loved the setting. I enjoyed the characters, particularly how women-centric it was. I delighted in the magic realism (a witch capable of taking in and storing people's memories, a sentient scarecrow, a thinking and vengeful cat, a camera capturing the past and possible futures). But The Antidote should've been three (maybe four?) distinct novels rather than just the one.

"Fear is a ghost. It grows in proportion to what we all know and never say. It swells on what we do and do not admit to our own awareness."

It’s 1935 in Uz, Nebraska, a twenty-five-year old town with a population of fewer than 300. A prairie witch (whose name we eventually learn) takes the “deposits” of townspeople’s bad—or good—memories through an emerald-green earhorn while in a trance, removing those experiences from the depositor’s mind to keep them safe in her own body. Asphodel Oletsky is a fifteen-year-old basketball player and unlikely witch's apprentice whose memory of her murdered mother fills her with a bottomless rage. Her uncle, Harp, is baffled by the miraculous sparing of his wheat crop, and his alone, from the devastating dust storm of Black Sunday. Cleo Allfrey is a Black photographer sent West by the Resettlement Administration to frame and fix propaganda images for Roosevelt’s New Deal. And the scarecrow in Harp’s field is suddenly, alarmingly, awake and full of memories. From these five viewpoint characters, Karen Russell weaves The Antidote, a characteristically gripping and surreal novel that’s also a moving exploration of grief and loss, a reckoning with the true history of how the West was settled, and a resonant but never obvious angle on L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz (1900).

It’s no good asking who the Wizard, the Wicked Witch, Dorothy, the Tin Man, etc., are. The Antidote isn’t exactly a retelling or a revisitation. Baum’s novel has been interpreted as allegory about, amongst other things, moving off the gold standard, the plight of American farmers, the plight of American industry, the inherent evil of the American West and Native Americans in particular, political revolution in general, and the military performance of US soldiers in the Spanish-American War. Where Russell finds her connections is in these themes: the plow of empire, the oppressive potential of money, the abdication of personal responsibility for collective wrongdoing. As the novel unfolds, its shape becomes clearer: it’s both a story of speaking truth to power as consolidated in one man (a corrupt sheriff), and a far more complex and cynical indictment of the power for evil that lies in everyone. Cleo Allfrey’s time-traveling camera reminded me of the goggles in Russell’s short story “Haunting Olivia”; the photos it takes show both the near and distant past, as well as many possible futures. Combined with Harp’s speech at the climax of the novel, their purpose is to show the people of Uz (and “us”—the readers—and perhaps also “the US”, the nation) that their prosperity is built on theft from, and the murder and displacement of, Native Americans (always called “Indians” here, because it’s still the ‘30s) and unfair treatment of Black settlers. The people of Uz can reclaim those memories and try to make reparation, or ignore them and keep ruining their own land; their choice will determine their future. The fact that they riot when shown Cleo’s photos is telling, but no less disappointing for that.

Still, within the ecological and social messages of the book, there’s a groundedness in emotion and an investment in the characters that stops it from being preachy. The witch’s description of her time in the unwed mothers’ home is a story in microcosm about finding love and joy in darkness, and also reinforces the idea of the power of collective action. (She muses that the people who kept her and other pregnant women imprisoned there were outnumbered; had the women chosen to act together at any of various points, they could have freed themselves.) Her love for her lost son motivates her throughout the book, and when that storyline is finally resolved, it’s perfect and devastating. Dell’s love for her mother fires her athletic ambition and her tentative romance with her best friend and teammate, Valeria Ramos (which is beautifully conveyed, the girls’ combination of confidence and shyness with each other just right for their age). Harp loves his murdered sister and his niece but also seeks personal absolution through truth-telling, and it’s his perspective that shows us the historical irony of Poles forced off their land by German imperial interests moving to America and doing the same thing to another group of marginalised people. 

As a recasting of Baum’s concerns for the Anthropocene, The Antidote succeeds fabulously, and is also entertaining, compelling, and well-written. My sole complaint is that the ending takes a smidge too long to wrap up—but really only a smidge, it’s a question of a dozen or so pages. Do seek this out if you’ve enjoyed Russell’s work in the past, and even if you haven’t tried her yet. I’d only read that one short story of hers before, but found this highly rewarding.

A sprawling and Wicked! (there is even a green “Prairie” witch) rewrite of the Wizard of Oz moved from Kansas to Nebraska and taking in biblical references (Oz renamed to Job’s hometown of Oz), climate change and climate refugees (it is set in the 1930s dustbowl), social economics (the Great Depression), ethic cleanings of indigenous people, racism, LGBTQ+ rights, misogyny and much more – perhaps a little too much but I always admire a book whose only fault lies in its ambition.

I read an eARC of this book so thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.

This was a fascinating historical novel looking at communities impacted by dust storms in the 1930s USA. I found this so interesting and it made me realise how few books I had read set in this time and place. However this isn’t just a historical novel. It also has elements of magical realism with an exploration of Prairie Witches.

This is quite a slow burn but it doesn’t suffer for it. I was always wanting to read on and learn more about these characters. We follow multiple points of view. We have our Prairie Witch, known as The Antidote, we have an uncle and his grieving niece who has come to live with him following the death of her mother, we have a photographer documenting the lives of the people and farmers in this community.

While we are following these characters we also see an undercurrent of a series of murders taking place in the community, a disturbing rabbit paw signature left at the crime scenes. As we traverse this story we learn more about this, a great injustice that has occurred and secrets that could shake the foundations of the town.

We explore memory, identity and how they are so closely intertwined. The Antidote is a vault. This means she can store people’s memories. When a shocking incident occurs, her whole business is threatened.

This was a fascinating novel that was enriched by the found family we observe as the character’s stories start to intertwine. I enjoyed the magical elements, the history and the way this built up to a satisfying conclusion.

Karen Russell has packed The Antidote with a little bit of everything: climate emergency, racism, wealth, misogyny, LGBTQ+ representation, Native American history, all layered beneath a captivating veil of magical realism, Dust Bowl blues, and a central mystery. Yet, despite the immensity of topics, it never feels overstuffed or weighed down. A true testament to her boundless imagination and skill as a writer

The novel is framed by two extreme weather disasters: first, a dust storm and drought, then the long-awaited relief of rain which goes on to become a catastrophic flood. Between these forces, the story unfolds with a cast of characters both strange and compelling: a prairie witch who collects people’s memories, a woman whose camera captures glimpses of the past and future, and a grieving girl and her uncle, trying to navigate their loss. Looming in the background is the presence of a man on death row, accused of murdering multiple women in the area, a shadow that lingers over everything.

It’s historical fiction with a surreal twist, and I thought it was pretty wonderful. Russell masterfully dissects the meaning of memory, exploring what it means to have, to lose, and to collectively remember. Strange but timely, this is a gem I highly recommend.

Thank you allowing me to read this before publication!

I think I this is just not the book for me. I requested the book based on the brief synopsis and cover but it wasn't what I thought. I have actually read two of the authors previous books I bought myself and enjoyed but really struggled with this. I don't know if it's because it wasn't what I was expecting but I found my attention wandering. It is a very long book (400 pages but felt longer). I wonder if I hadn't read this book in the back drop of current events, I might have not felt so negatively about it.
It is very clever and the characters well written. I get the feeling it's been very well researched and likely to be of interest to those who like American history. I also think that the premise is really good so I wouldn't not revisit in a different time or tell people to avoid.
Thank you for the opportunity to read though.

'The Antidote' is a superb novel - hugely imaginative, original, gripping, moving and profound.

Set in 1930s Nebraska during the Dust Bowl, the novel introduces us to an unusual ensemble of characters in the town of Uz who take it in turns to narrate. The eponymous Antidote of Uz is a 'prairie witch' who acts as a 'Vault' with whom locals are able 'deposit' memories which remain forgotten until they are 'withdrawn', all the while remaining secret from the Antidote herself who operates under a trance. However, on Black Sunday, she discovers that she has gone 'bankrupt' and no longer has access to all the memories she is meant to be storing, so has to resort to desperate measures.

Meanwhile, curmudgeonly and devoutly religious farmer Harp Oletsky has recently taken in his wild and spirited niece Asphodel following the murder of her mother, Lada. Sheriff Vick Iscoe is adamant he has caught the man behind the Lada's murder and that of other women, but not everyone is convinced. Asphodel is also trying to lead her local girls' basketball team to regional victory, while Harp is wondering why his crops are flourishing and his land. uniquely, seems to have avoided the effects of Black Sunday. And African-American photographer Cleo Allfrey has been dispatched from Washington DC by the Resettlement Administration to capture life in the Great Plains States as a way of gaining support for President Roosevelt's New Deal.

As circumstances throw the Antidote, Harp, Asphodel and Cleo together, they learn more about each other, their own pasts and the history of the land on which they are standing, a history full of violence and oppression. They hatch a bold plan to share the truth with the rest of Uz, but there are plenty who have no desire to be undeceived.

This is such a clever and enjoyable novel, beautifully plotted and engagingly written. It engages seriously and thoughtfully with America's past, particularly the treatment of America's indigenous peoples by early pioneers, challenging the myth of 'terra nullius' (empty land) and exploring how this forms part of a cycle of displacement. White supremacy is interrogated in other ways - for instance the fact that Cleo is specifically tasked with obtaining photos of white Americans in poverty as their suffering is deemed more noteworthy and undeserved. The whole concept of 'vaults' becomes an ingenious way of thinking about memory and the role that cultural amnesia has played in America's history.

I think this is close to my platonic ideal of a novel due to the brilliance of its plotting, characterisation and writing and the seriousness of the themes it considers. It deserves to be one of the most garlanded books of 2025. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review.

Set in the dust bowl and 1930s depression era in the United States, The Antidote is a well-written, if ultimately unwieldy tale.

The initial pacing was good, as was the introduction of the Vaults - a group of women who, with special 'powers' are able to hold others' bad memories. What was an initially intriguing idea didn't hold my attention, partly as the novel lost its pacing and could have used a tighter edit. There wasn't really a plot, as such, either. I'm afraid I wasn't able to finish the novel, it just wasn't for me.

The idea of a witch who can take away your memories, good or bad, is intriguing. There are many, many themes and threads that run throughout. However, the story telling was as dense with detail, dialogue and characters as the blackout in the dustbowl, and I could not get a handle on this story, and did not finish it.

‘The Antidote’ by Karen Russell is a mesmerising and richly woven tale set against the backdrop of the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. The novel unfolds in the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska, and is packed with vivid, multifaceted characters, each carrying their own burdens and secrets. At its core, the novel is a study of memory, loss, and the consequences of human actions, all wrapped in a layer of magical realism.

Russell’s ability to craft complex, compelling characters shines through. The central figure, the Antidote — a prairie witch who absorbs the painful memories of others — is one of the most intriguing. Her eerie ability to carry people’s secrets forms the foundation of a plot teeming with mystery, from a New Deal photographer who captures both prophecies and remnants of tragedy, to a Polish farmer haunted by past and present regrets. Each character’s narrative is carefully developed, making their struggles feel both personal and universally significant. The diverse cast, including a basketball star orphan, a misunderstood scarecrow, and a wrongly accused young man, ensures that every chapter feels fresh and full of surprises.

Beyond its rich character work, ‘The Antidote’ serves as a historical meditation, weaving in powerful themes about environmental destruction and the erasure of indigenous knowledge, which many argue played a role in the onset of the Dust Bowl. Russell also touches on deeper societal issues, such as the oppression of Native Americans and African Americans, and how even those who fled persecution — like the Polish farmer — can unwittingly perpetuate cycles of harm. This adds a layer of gravitas to the novel, reminding readers of the often ignored lessons from the past.

The narrative itself is an intricate mosaic of mystery, history, and magical realism, and Russell’s prose is both lyrical and haunting. The story is sprawling, with so many characters and plot points to follow, but it’s a journey worth taking. By the time the threads all come together, ‘The Antidote’ is an awe-inspiring, thought-provoking work that captures the timeless struggle between memory and identity, as well as the delicate balance between humans and the environment. It’s a poignant and hopeful reminder of the potential for renewal and the need for compassion in a fractured world.

Overall, this novel is a beautifully crafted, imaginative, and deeply resonant story, making it a must-read for anyone interested in history, magic, and the complexities of the human experience.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

The Antidote, the second novel from Karen Russell, a Pulitzer Prize finalist with her debut, is an astonishingly magical read!

This novel is set during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression of the 1930s, yet it remains relevant with today's issues. It addresses issues such as poverty, racism, misogyny, memory and above all human connection

This is not a book to be rushed through; it demands reflection and thought, and that is its greatest strength. The essence of this novel reached the depths of my core, leaving me profoundly moved and contemplative.

Thank you to NetGalley and Chatto & Windus for providing me with an early review copy of this book.