Elizabeth Is Missing

By: Emma Healey

Narrated by: Davina Porter

Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

In this darkly riveting debut novel - a sophisticated psychological mystery that is also a heartbreakingly honest meditation on memory, identity, and aging - an elderly woman descending into dementia embarks on a desperate quest to find the best friend she believes has disappeared, and her search for the truth will go back decades and have shattering consequences.

Maud, an aging grandmother, is slowly losing her memory - and her grip on everyday life. Yet she refuses to forget her best friend, Elizabeth, whom she is convinced is missing and in terrible danger.

But no one will listen to Maud - not her frustrated daughter, Helen, not her caretakers, not the police, and especially not Elizabeth’s mercurial son, Peter. Armed with handwritten notes she leaves for herself and an overwhelming feeling that Elizabeth needs her help, Maud resolves to discover the truth and save her beloved friend.

This singular obsession forms a cornerstone of Maud’s rapidly dissolving present. But the clues she discovers seem only to lead her deeper into her past, to another unsolved disappearance: her sister, Sukey, who vanished shortly after World War II.

As vivid memories of a tragedy that occurred more 50 years ago come flooding back, Maud discovers new momentum in her search for her friend. Could the mystery of Sukey’s disappearance hold the key to finding Elizabeth?

©2014 Emma Healey (P)2014 HarperCollinsPublishers

Excellent

This book isn't what I expected at all. That is fault actually. It was suggested to me by a friend, I didn't read the summary. However, I thought the story was great. a true look inside of a mind that is confusing itself. I found it thrilling, sad, happy. and funny everything in a good story. It's one of my favorites that I have read in a while.

Lovely story

I enjoyed this story so much. it chronicles the struggle of a lady losing her memory. The connections she makes with her past and a murder mystery make the story doubly enjoyable. The reader is excellent.

Poignant mystery novel

Emma Healey has written a very unusual novel that is also a mystery story. Maud is an aging woman, whom we quickly realize is losing her memory (and to a slight degree, her identity). However, there are bits and pieces of memory that are intact--one being that she is seeking her friend Elizabeth. To attempt to keep herself focused, she writes endless notes, and when people (like her daughter) do notice she is not recalling things accurately, is quick to try to justify to herself, and cover up to others, for her lapses. As she is seeking Elizabeth, things begin to unroll in a unexpected way, and she starts to get in touch with memories of the disappearance of her sister Sukey, at the end of WWII.

This book is a clever way to have a protagonist who is solving mysteries--perhaps the most unique approach I've seen in a long while. But what is far more moving about the book is Healey's ability to convey the frightening and confusing experience of aging, lacking the ability to keep things in mind, desperate to get the attention of others who often don't believe her because of the confused way she presents her thoughts.

If you like mysteries, this is quite good. But if you are looking for a very compelling, emotionally gripping novel, this is excellent. Many people face a future like Maud's as part of aging, and boldly bringing this experience to the pages of this book was courageous, and evokes quite a sense of compassion for any of us who do or might someday struggle with these issues. Highly recommend.

I really wanted to like this book

I debated whether to purchase this book, and decided I really wanted to give it a try. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get through half. It was just too difficult to follow through the memory loss and it was depressing to me as I get older to think about experiencing the same challenges.

Brilliant

Loved the clever way Emma wove the two mysteries of the young and old Maud together. The mystery made it a page turner. Her narrative of Maud's muddled thinking was insightful. All in all highly recommend this.

Writing Style Hampers Flow

The author makes a decision to illustrate her main character's dementia by having a thought or event in the present trigger an event and narration of things that happened 70 years in the past. It takes the reader a while to catch on, especially if you're primarily listening to this book in the car. You often find yourself lost. For all that work, the mystery "payoff" at the end isn't all that worth it. Still, the main character of Maud is pretty delightful as brought to life by Davina Porter, justifying an overall 3-star rating.

Compelling

This is a beautifully written book. It is written from the point of view of a woman dealing with dementia. The author subtly shows the progression of the disease. I was fully immersed in this story. The performance was remarkable. I could tell from the narrator's tone, which character was speaking. There was even a distinction between the main character and her younger self.
I highly recommend this book.

Insightful and disturbing

What did you love best about Elizabeth Is Missing?

I love anything that Davina Porter reads. I do believe that I would be enthralled listening to her read a menu.

Which scene was your favorite?

Can't give that away, you need to listen for yourself.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Of course it would have to be, "Elizabeth is missing".

Any additional comments?

I could not help thinking about the fact that I too am getting older and hoping to God I never have to go through Alzheimer's or dementia. It left me feeling uncomfortable all through the story, but gave me a possible insight in to what a person with those diseases goes through; sort of like listening to a record with a skip in it and the same part keeps repeating over and over..."Elizabeth is missing...Elizabeth is missing...Elizabeth is missing" Emma Healey did a wonderful job of fleshing out the characters, and Davina Porter does such a wonderful job of acting the characters, so much so that it feels as if I were sitting with her having a chat. This was a wonderfully written and read story.

Surprisingly engaging character

Elizabeth is missing is the first book I've read that takes a reader into the failing mind of an older character with dementia/Alzheimers. Her confusion and struggles to deal with a problem while constrained by her mental deficit is fascinating. Not for everyone but really well done.

I see myself

I see myself in Maude. The forgetfulness, words don't make it to my mouth from my brain. Great reading.