The Raising: A Novel (P.S.) [Paperback]

Laura Kasischke (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 15, 2011 | Series: P.S.

“Kasischke’s writing does what good poetry does—it shows us an alternate world and lulls us into living in it . . . The language catapults us into another plane of existence, one of facade and reflection.”  —New York Times Book Review

“Haunting, unsettling, and unforgettable, The Raising limns love, longing, belonging and the things we only think we know about life—and yes, death.” —Caroline Leavitt, author of Pictures of You

From Laura Kasischke, the critically acclaimed, bestselling author of In a Perfect World and The Life Before Her Eyes, comes a hypnotic mystery about one girl’s  tragic death and the fallout that occurs on her closely-knit college campus. Part Stephen King, part Donna Tartt, and wholly  unforgettable , Kasischke’s The Raising sets a new standard for hair-raising literary suspense.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Kasischke (In a Perfect World) delivers a satisfying if predictable campus novel that's both gothic romance and coming-of-age tale. A year after sorority girl Nicole Werner died in a car accident, Nicole's boyfriend, Craig Clements-Rabbitt, who was driving, is trying to put his life together. When snobbish sophisticate Craig had arrived from New Hampshire at Godwin Honors Hall—a selective college within a huge Midwestern university—he soon got on the nerves of his more down-to-earth roommate, Perry Edwards, and Perry's childhood schoolmate, the beautiful Nicole. Now, Craig is a sober soul, but Nicole's former sorority sisters are unwilling to let her "murderer" be. Meanwhile, Shelly Lockes, the first witness at the accident scene, is hounded out of town, and Mira Polson, a professor of anthropology who looks too closely at Nicole's death, is forced to resign. Students commit suicide or are "accidentally" shot dead. If the narrative is convoluted, so is the diabolical, if improbable, scheme hatched by the sisters of Omega Theta Tau. Big Sister, apparently, watches over us all. (Mar.)
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From Booklist

Set in and around the campus of a fictional midwestern university, Kasischke’s eighth novel centers on a tragic car accident that has taken the life of beautiful, straight-A student Nicole. A year later, her sorority sisters are still up in arms and lay the blame for Nicole’s death on her boyfriend, Craig, who, they claim, is an irresponsible rich kid. But Craig’s roommate, Philip, who grew up with Nicole, has begun to think that she is not really dead and approaches his sociology professor, who is teaching a class on death, for help. Meanwhile, a witness to the accident has given up trying to straighten out the many erroneous newspaper accounts stating that Nicole was found covered in blood, for the girl she saw was not bleeding and not dead. Kasischke excels at depicting the psychology of the young and the traumatized even as she delivers a scathing indictment of the siege mentality of college administrators. In this literary page-turner, reminiscent of Donna Tartt’s Secret History (1992), the talented author inlays her academic novel with a touch of the supernatural and a deep sense of foreboding. --Joanne Wilkinson

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Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; Original edition (March 15, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062004786
• ISBN-13: 978-0062004789
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #882,215 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Laura Kasischke teaches in the University of Michigan MFA program and the Residential College. She has published seven collections of poetry and seven novels. She lives with her family in Chelsea, Michigan.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars "He had worked long enough with the dead to know that strange things happened." March 15, 2011

By Luan Gaines HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

The author taps into the insular environment of a college campus and the public's fascination with the supernatural in an era when life beyond death offers an alternative explanation to the cold hard truth of an untimely loss. A year after sorority girl Nicole Werner dies in a car accident, her boyfriend, Craig Clements-Rabbit, still bears the blame, a myth quietly growing around the tragedy, stories of the blonde-haired beauty still tethered to the earth, her apparition sometimes caught briefly by on campus. Returning to his Midwestern campus, a still- distraught Craig is conscious only of his profound loss. To counter Craig's obsession, his roommate, Perry Edwards, signs up for a class with Mira Polson, professor of cultural anthropology, to study the rituals of death, cultural explanations for afterlife manifestations and entrenched superstitions that the dead can indeed rise and walk the earth. Meanwhile, the only witness to the incident, Shelly Lockes, cannot fathom why the local newspapers misrepresented the facts of the accident, entirely ignoring her eye-witness account of the tragedy.

In a strange confluence of disparate perspectives, including that of Nicole's sorority sister, Josie Riley, Kasischke fashions a compelling tale where imagination morphs with reason, a murky landscape in which the lost Nicole both haunts and comforts. Of course, logic dictates a reasonable explanation, the author presenting the story characters' memories and interactions, that don't quite fit together smoothly. Set in the college's Godwin Honors Hall, these relationships are by nature claustrophobic, the reports jarring in their inconsistencies, the perfect breeding ground for otherworldly suppositions. Plausibility is left for the reader to decide. In prose that evokes that middle ground between logic and imagination, a youthful demographic is happy to participate in the making of a myth, an acceptance that the impossible may be possible. No matter the final resolution, the ambiance of what-if permeates Mira and Perry's determination, Shelly's frustration and Craig's innocent embrace of true love. Though somewhat long- and eventually obvious- Kasischke pulls through, reminding us of life's impermanence and death's inevitability. Luan Gaines/2011.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Midwestern Gothic April 21, 2011

By Literate Housewife

Format:Paperback

Perry, a new college student from a small Midwestern town, finds himself drawn to his fellow students from his home town even they were not close in high school. His roommate, Craig, is from the East Coast and is completely condescending about their Midwestern college and Phillip's upbringing. Craig's not even remotely nice until he meets Nicole, one of Perry's high school classmates. As Craig and Nicole develop a relationship, life gets easier for Perry. Easier, that is, until Nicole dies in a car accident while Craig is at the wheel. From the beginning, something's not right about the accident. Shelly Lockes, the sole witness to the accident, can't understand why the newspaper wouldn't want to interview her about it when what they've reported isn't what happened. Things don't set well with Perry either and he eventually asks his anthropology professor, Mira Polson, to help him look into it. The Raising is a multifaceted novel about all that makes up college life and all that can go wrong when one attempts to question authority.

The Raising is a book that requires the reader to take a deep dive into the story. From the first I was unable to split my reading attention with any other novel. It forced my complete concentration and I gave it freely. I enjoyed living amidst Shelly, Perry, and Mira within the mystery they were all certain was taking place at the college. Their confusion and frustrations added to my own apprehension. There were several occasions where I was sure I knew where the story was going. I was wrong each and every time. I loved how I knew nothing that the characters didn't know.

This novel caught my attention while I was researching galleys on NetGalley. When I learned that Laura Kasischke was from Michigan, I immediately requested it from Harper Perennial. As soon as it was loaded up on my Kindle I started reading it. I love it when the Michigan connection leads me to wonderful new books and new-to-me authors. Kasischke is one of the most interesting and imaginative writers I've come across in quite some time.* While Perry, Nicole and Craig's Midwestern college was a lot more eery than my own, it was nice to be back in college again there.

The Raising is not something to pick up unless you're in the mood to puzzle through a book. There are times you feel as though you're trying to find your way in a dark, unfamiliar room. At the end, it all comes together as if the lights are turned on and your eyes have no need for adjusting. Still, there's some niggling uncertainty that keeps you thinking about the book for a long time afterward. It was so worth the effort to me. I highly recommend The Raising and look forward to the next time I can read Laura Kasischke.

* I'm not just saying that because she's from Michigan, either.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting and Poetic April 30, 2011

By Randall Neustaedter

Format:Paperback

I have read all of Laura Kasischke's novels and I will continue to read every one she writes in the future. Here's the reason. She is one of those writers who creates beautiful sentences, who has a poetic mastery of her craft, and who does not hesitate to write a harrowing story. Like her other novels, female characters, otherwise leading their normal daily lives, are forced by circumstance into some very challenging situations that threaten to completely disrupt their existence. The reader simply watches the story unfold and watches these women cope with the problem. In this story the problem is how two women handle the mysterious and suspicious death of a college girl. In her previous novel, In a Perfect World, the problem was the effect of the apocalypse on one isolated woman. Kasischke handles her material with a deft touch and keeps the reader's interest with a mix of empathy and fascination. Five stars again for this portrayal.