Elsewhere by Shelby Matheson

Title: Elsewhere

Author: Shelby Matheson

Genre: Fantasy/Historical Fiction

Publisher: Wombat Rhiza

Published: 4^th June 2025

Format: Paperback

Pages: 400

Price: $19.99

Synopsis: At the outbreak of World War I, eleven-year-old Elsie Clarke is sent to a mysterious school in the woods for only the most talented children. But fewer still, the Gifted, are invited to the other side – a sentient forest called Elsewhere with a magical secret.

Elsie’s world is transformed by the knowledge of Gifts – special talents born from their traits, desires and fears. Talents they will need when the formidable headmistress reveals that she’ll do whatever it takes to win the war, robbing the students of their childhood.

The Gifted must bring down her awful regime and win a battle of their own. But is Elsewhere recruiting them too, training them for something even bigger?

~*~

It’s 1914, World War One has broken out, and Elsie Clarke is off to a mysterious school in Wales for talented children. She meets Jack O’Connor, the child that nobody knows is there.

Yasmin, the Indian girl that nobody ever remembers, and the German twins, Klaus and Klara, who seem to have it in for everyone, including Elsie. But as the students learn more about why they’re at the school and what Gifts are, the spectre of the First World War looms in the background.

Nobody is sure what will happen in the war that they all thought would be over by Christmas 1914. But as the months go on, tensions rise in the school, and for Elsie and her friends, their only refuge is Elsewhere with Miss Tryll. With the world at war, Miss Coleridge’s Academy for Gifted Youths seems like it’ll be safe.

Far from the fighting in Wales, far from anything. Yet, tensions are rising as soon as Elsie gets there. One student calls anyone not heading to the war cowards. Everyone seems on edge around Klara and Klaus, especially as the war drags on and into 1915.

Elsewhere is a place beyond a gateway, a place that mirrors the school where things are different. Students can move between Elsewhere and the school without anyone knowing. Time moves differently in Elsewhere, and it soon becomes the safest place they can imagine as the war hits too close to home.

The nine students involved in Tryll’s class – Jack, Elsie, Yasmin, Klaus, Klara, Nelson, Maisie, Aria and Jonas – have Gifts they use to fight against a harsh educational regime. Their Gifts vary from hearing thoughts to going invisible, growing things, climbing things or being able to alter how people think.

There are dangers though, and things that Tryll doesn’t want the children to do without her. She has her own secrets and reasons though, which drive her caring nature and determination to ensure everyone, especially Elsie, is safe. The story pulled me along, as I wanted to know more about Elsewhere and how everything is fitting in with the war and the wider sociopolitical setting everything is in.

For most of the book, the war is far away, a distant thing that everyone sees as a great adventure and a chance to overthrow the Germans. Yet as a reader, the realities of the war were all too clear, and I knew that eventually the characters would be affected. It can be interesting reading historical fiction knowing what is to come, and seeing the characters come to terms with what is going on is surreal.

It exposes a lot of prejudice, which affects everyone and in this case, we see it weaponised against Klaus and Klara before the end of the war. It is this very prejudice that leads the Gifted to band together and become friends, and find out what it is that drives their gifts. Why are they Gifted and nobody else is? That is one of the big questions that unravels throughout the book, and one that I think is answered well, and that will be built on in subsequent books.

Elsewhere has combined historical fiction, portal fantasy and magic very well. It’s seamless and flows well, delving into the human condition and how children react to tension, war and how their families feel about them. The children all seem to come from broken families or situations where they feel like they’re unloved or don’t belong. It’s a lovely way to show that they do, creating a family and community where they can rely on each other when everyone else fails them. It’s a story of unity and friendship in a world where things are falling apart, in an eerie mirroring of the world today. I loved this book, and would have devoured it as a kid as well. I’m also looking forward to seeing what happens next when the second book comes out.