[The Missing Frame], by Eli Lazar, FEB2026 LTER
Talk Reviews of Early Reviewers Books
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1LyndaInOregon
This is an absolutely luminous debut novel about loss, grief, and returning to the light. Eli Lazar has crafted a wonderful and honest tale here with perfectly imperfect characters who struggle with loss and live with the reality that “healing isn’t neat” and may arrive as “unexpected land mines disguised as everyday objects.”
The main thrust of the novel follows photographer Liz Ferguson in her journey around and occasionally over the top of those unexpected land mines, courtesy of a detailed emotional roadmap left by Leo, the friend and not-quite-lover she lost too soon. Liz’s path to healing always feels genuine, never mawkish. Yes, there’s sadness here, in her own life and in the lives she touches as she makes her own return to light, but there is also a keen understanding that everyone’s journey, everyone’s timetable, everyone’s particular minefield, is different.
There’s not a false step anywhere in this work, and there are so many lines that rise up off the page and drill themselves right into the reader’s permanent consciousness. Here’s one, as Leo warns Liz about attempting to avoid grief:
This is a must-read. Buy two copies, because you’re going to want to keep one (the one you’ve filled with highlighting) and one to share.
The main thrust of the novel follows photographer Liz Ferguson in her journey around and occasionally over the top of those unexpected land mines, courtesy of a detailed emotional roadmap left by Leo, the friend and not-quite-lover she lost too soon. Liz’s path to healing always feels genuine, never mawkish. Yes, there’s sadness here, in her own life and in the lives she touches as she makes her own return to light, but there is also a keen understanding that everyone’s journey, everyone’s timetable, everyone’s particular minefield, is different.
There’s not a false step anywhere in this work, and there are so many lines that rise up off the page and drill themselves right into the reader’s permanent consciousness. Here’s one, as Leo warns Liz about attempting to avoid grief:
He once told Liz: "Some people build walls. You built a darkroom. Same instinct—just better lighting." She never forgot that. It was the kind of sentence that didn’t ask to be answered. Just ... absorbed. Tucked away in the mental file marked "dammit, that’s good".Yeah. Dammit, that's good.
This is a must-read. Buy two copies, because you’re going to want to keep one (the one you’ve filled with highlighting) and one to share.
