The Displacements: A Novel

Daphne Larsen-Hall has it all, including a surgeon husband, Brantley, with whom she shares a family and lives in an upscale Miami neighborhood. Suddenly, Hurricane Luna forces Daphne and the children to evacuate without Brantley. Their hurried exit has left the family penniless as they look for food and shelter, and soon Daphne realizes that their circumstances are more dire than she realized. The Displacements reveals how each member of the family deals with the emotional trauma of the disaster, and what risks they are willing to take to survive.

The Displacements is a novel about a hurricane, but I found it chilling in the sense that the details are all too plausible. Daphne and her family are not prepared for the abrupt changes Luna brings to their lives, and it made me consider my own preparedness. The social disparities within the Tooley Farm shelter were tough to swallow, yet in this case and throughout the novel, Bruce Holsinger provides an excellent narrative that pushes the reader to consider how they think of the world. This book was eye-opening and well done, though it could have been condensed somewhat.