Elizabeth is Missing is Emma Healey's first novel and happened to be a book club read. I was quite pleased because I'd already bought the book which meant I would reduce my backlog at the same time! (Of course I recently bought three more books, so that hasn't quite worked!)
Despite the subject matter of this novel, dementia, the book is never depressing. It is haunting and cleverly written as well as witty. Maud might be forgetful but her past she remembers well. Her obsession with finding her missing friend, Elizabeth, draws memories of growing up with her older sister who went missing. The stories run together and as Maud's mental state declines the lines between the two missing people become blurred. What did happen to Elizabeth? What happened to her sister Sukey? And what happens when people don't believe you because you get things mixed up and can't remember what you have already done and said?
The searching for her friend leads Maud into sad situations - the repeated visits to the Police, when each visit to her is like the first, trying to concoct a missing person's advert when the woman at the newspaper office thinks at first she is talking about a missing cat!
It is sad to watch Maud struggling to make sense of life and as she deteriorates she often does not recognise her own daughter and granddaughter. It puts you into her world with all the confusion and fear of not knowing and not understanding what is going on around you. Yet Maud's determination and constant 'dog with a bone' attitude prompts her daughter into an action that brings a resolve to a past mystery.
Despite the subject matter of this novel, dementia, the book is never depressing. It is haunting and cleverly written as well as witty. Maud might be forgetful but her past she remembers well. Her obsession with finding her missing friend, Elizabeth, draws memories of growing up with her older sister who went missing. The stories run together and as Maud's mental state declines the lines between the two missing people become blurred. What did happen to Elizabeth? What happened to her sister Sukey? And what happens when people don't believe you because you get things mixed up and can't remember what you have already done and said?
The searching for her friend leads Maud into sad situations - the repeated visits to the Police, when each visit to her is like the first, trying to concoct a missing person's advert when the woman at the newspaper office thinks at first she is talking about a missing cat!
It is sad to watch Maud struggling to make sense of life and as she deteriorates she often does not recognise her own daughter and granddaughter. It puts you into her world with all the confusion and fear of not knowing and not understanding what is going on around you. Yet Maud's determination and constant 'dog with a bone' attitude prompts her daughter into an action that brings a resolve to a past mystery.
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