Rivka Galchen’s first novel, “Atmospheric Disturbances” is a little bit about the weather, a little bit about love, and a little bit about the nature of reality.  The plot is complex and I think that to enjoy it, it's necessary for the reader to suspend belief and just take it as it comes. At the beginning of the novel, Dr. Leo Liebenstein comes home to find that his beautiful wife has been substituted with a simulacrum (which is similar to a doppelganger, but according my dictionary even more precise: a similar but unsatisfactory imitation of substitute). As anybody in his particular situation might be wont to do, he decides to investigate her “disappearance”, but in a very interesting manner.

This is where the plot gets a little tricky. In his mind, his wife Rema, his psychiatric patient Harvey who went missing prior to appearance of the simulacrum, and a weather researcher named Tzvi Gal-Chen are all intricately linked. (The link is explained in great detail in the book, but I don't think it's necessary to go into that here.) On his investigation, "Leo" heads to Argentina (and terribly upsets the simulacrum in the process) and visits his wife's estranged mother where he learns a little more about his wife than he ever meant to.  Eventually, the simulacrum, Leo, and Harvey all end up together in Argentina together.

The narration is always told from Leo's point of view. As holes begin to fall in his theories, the reader is left to piece together what may be Leo's delusion (ironic because he himself is a psychiatrist) or his dream world. For someone looking for a book that comes to satisfying conclusion with the ends tied neatly together, this is not a novel I'd recommend as it ends almost more ambiguously than it began.  The doctor is finally  forced to decide what to believe and do about the simulacrum (who is alternatively referred to as the simulacrum, the doppelganger and finally, as “the blonde”) and how to live his life based on this important decision.

However, for those willing to explore some rather unusual views of reality, and who are open to a fresh, new writer who uses her attention to detail to keep you interested for the ride, this may be the book for you. I partiularly recommend it if you have a thing for neurotic psychiatrists with romantic notions.