The Immortalists

It's 1969 in New York City's Lower East Side, and word has spread of the arrival of a mystical woman, a traveling psychic who claims to be able to tell anyone the day they will die. The Gold children—four adolescents on the cusp of self-awareness—sneak out to hear their fortunes. A sweeping novel of remarkable ambition and depth, The Immortalists p...show more

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368 pages

Average rating: 6.47

477 RATINGS

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9 REVIEWS

Community Reviews

margardenlady
Dec 27, 2023
8/10 stars
Would you want to know the date of your death? This family drama addresses the havoc this could create among four siblings. The four snuck out to see a gypsy fortuneteller and finding this information as children colored their whole lives. The novel follows them one by one, as they live out their days, long or short. It was a fascinating thought experiment played out within the microcosm of this family. I appreciated the candor in addressing ea...read more
AbbeyLileTaylor
Aug 29, 2023
6/10 stars
3.5 Stars
Anonymous
Aug 01, 2023
6/10 stars
In 1969, the four Gold siblings visit a supposedly mystical woman who can tell the date on which someone will die. The oldest sibling, Varya, is 13 when they receive the prophecy, and learns that she will live to 88. Simon, the youngest sibling at 7, learns that he will die at 20.

Benjamin chooses to tell the siblings' stories consecutively, in order of their death, which took a lot of the suspense out of the question of whether the prophecies w...read more
Connie1
Jan 24, 2023
5/10 stars
I would have to warn a reader about the graphic sex included in the story if I were to recommend this book. There are some interesting observations in the book but it takes a long road to get to a few good points. Not my kind of story. It was an uncomfortable read for me. Sometimes the writing took so many twists and turns that I found it hard to follow (or care). I didn't understand the characters relationships with their family or why the...read more
meledden
Dec 31, 2022
10/10 stars
The premise of this novel is simple, but fascinating: four siblings visit a fortune teller who gives them the dates of their deaths. This has a profound effect on them and haunts them for the rest of their lives. The reader follows each of them to their end, one-by-one, throughout the book. The story initially presents like a children’s story, but strong adult language and sexual (and homosexual) imagery makes it not so. It is an intense read at ...read more

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