A Second Chance After Her Son’s Death: A Portal to Another Universe

In “Under Story,” a grieving woman makes a discovery that could help her recover what she thought she had lost forever.

By Lauren LeBlanc

UNDER STORY, by Chloe Benjamin

The desire to transcend grief is itself a romance. Chloe Benjamin seizes on this wild yearning in her new novel, “Under Story.” In this expansive speculative saga, an estranged couple uncover more than they bargained for when they defy conventional physics and travel through time in a desperate attempt to reconcile the past.

Salter is a 36-year-old mycologist on bereavement leave from her position at a local university. But a reprieve from work is not enough — she needs to get away from her life. Inspired by a childhood friend’s second act working as a kitchen steward for a research station in Antarctica, Laurel decides to flee to the remote facility herself. Read the full review at the New York Times.