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Sarah Broadhurst's view...
Runner-up for the Betty Trask Award 2015.
Winner of the Costa First Novel Award 2014.
One of the Top 10 books in the Lovereading Readers’ Choice Book of the Year 2014.
One of our Books of the Year 2014.
Eighty-something Maud is getting forgetful and so writes notes to herself. ‘Elizabeth is missing’ is one such note which Maud then becomes obsessed with for Elizabeth is indeed missing. She tells her daughter, the police, anyone who will listen. Maud is suffering from dementia which gets gradually worse throughout the book. Her daughter has to eventually take her in … and still, for Maud at least, Elizabeth is missing. For us, the reader too, only we do discover why. Slowly we get Maud’s back story and a strange mystery about her sister and her very dodgy husband. All becomes clear in a startling conclusion. The stages of dementia are thoroughly explored in a thoughtful, impressive manner. A fascinating debut.
The Costa Judges said Healey's book was “Utterly captivating and original.”
June 2014 MEGA Debut of the Month.
The Good Book Guide Review. At nearly ninety, Maud forgets where she is or why she has gone out, or when her daughter is coming, so she writes herself notes. When she visits her friend Elizabeth and she is not in, she writes a note: ‘Elizabeth is missing’. Although this continues to disturb her, no one will take her seriously. The narrative moves between the old forgetful Maud and a young Maud, remembering how her older married sister went missing. This is a magnificently assured debut from an intuitive writer.
~ Fiona Lafferty
Reader Reviews
In addition to our Lovereading expert opinion some of our Lovereading Reader Review Panel were also lucky enough to read and review this title.
- Phylippa Smithson - 'This was one of the most frustrating books to read, and in my top ten of books ever read.' Read full review >
- Alan Brown - 'A brilliant observation of the changing mind of a dementia sufferer masquerading as an average crime fiction story. Original.' Read full review >
- Suzanne Marsh - 'I was totally blown away by the original style of the narration...Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healy holds some wonderful writing.' Read full review >
- Suzanne Beney - 'A slightly melancholy tale, that’s also surprisingly uplifting.' Read full review >
- Victoria Emerson - 'a wonderful debut novel..I really liked this book. It was well written and I was interested in the characters from the beginning to the end.' Read full review >
- Ann Alderton - 'A well-written, well-plotted, warm and gently humorous story that inhabits the darkest depths of a mind damaged by dementia...One of the best books I have read in a long while.' Read full review >
- Celia Cohen - 'Heartbreaking but immensely readable. An excellent debut novel.' Read full review >
- Sarah Harper - 'Maud is a fighter, she knows something's not right and she's not going to give up until she's found her friend. Expertly written, insightful and suspenseful. An absolutely stunning book.' Read full review >
- Sue Broom - 'Emma Healey has a lovely writing style, gentle and whimsical, and I particularly enjoyed the inner voice she has given to Maud, at every stage in her life.' Read full review >
- Julie Bickerdyke - 'What a wonderful, funny, moving book...Emma Healey has incredible talent and this is a stunning debut novel...I cannot recommend this book and author highly enough.' Read full review >
- Ruth Carson - 'Elizabeth is Missing is a great debut novel by Emma Healey about an elderly woman, Maud, and her family struggling with the effects of dementia.' Read full review >
- Samantha Chan - 'It's not often that you come across a completely unique book. This is definitely one of them...I was extremely impressed when I saw that this is the author's debut novel.' Read full review >
- Katherine Barber - 'An intriguing mystery story following Maud, an elderly lady suffering from Alzheimer's.' Read full review >
- Carol Attridge - 'A great book that keeps you guessing with a story line running in two eras! With great insights in to the world of dementia!' Read full review >
- Suzanne - 'An unusual tale that can be funny, sad and very thought provoking, I have really enjoyed it.' Read full review >
Synopsis
Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey
Elizabeth is Missing, Emma Healey's debut novel, introduces a mystery, an unsolved crime and one of the most unforgettable characters since Mark Haddon's Christopher. Meet Maud ...'Elizabeth is missing', reads the note in Maud's pocket in her own handwriting. Lately, Maud's been getting forgetful. She keeps buying peach slices when she has a cupboard full, forgets to drink the cups of tea she's made and writes notes to remind herself of things. But Maud is determined to discover what has happened to her friend, Elizabeth, and what it has to do with the unsolved disappearance of her sister Sukey, years back, just after the war.
Reviews
The novel is both a gripping detective yarn and a haunting depiction of mental illness, but also more poignant and blackly comic than you might expect from that description... perhaps Healey's greatest achievement is the flawless voice she creates for Maud. - The Observer
About the Author
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Book Info
Publication date
5th June 2014Author
Emma HealeyMore books by Emma Healey
Author 'Like for Like'
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Author's Website
emmahealey.co.uk/Author's Facebook Latest
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Publisher
Viking an imprint of Penguin Books LtdFormat
Hardback
Categories
Literary FictionAll Shortlists and WinnersFamily DramaReading GroupseBook Favourites
ISBN
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