Elizabeth is Missing

Maud Horsham is the most unreliable narrator ever. It's not that she means to mislead; she isn't malicious or deceitful. She's sliding, rapidly, into dementia and has trouble remembering details. Her life has become a series of Why-did-I-come-into-this-room? moments. She writes countless notes for herself (she calls them her paper memory) but still she often forgets what she set out to do or where she was going and is confused by any change in her surroundings. The one thing she does remember, or at least most of the time, is that her friend Elizabeth is missing. No one else seems concerned—not her daughter, nor the NHS carers who come to assist her, not even the police when she reports her friend missing (for the fourth time in a show more fortnight as the desk sergeant informs her). She has trouble remembering when she last ate and sometimes can't think of the right word for everyday objects but she is sure of one thing: Elizabeth is in trouble. Perhaps robbers left her tied up in the basement or her awful son has done something to her. She has to find her friend and help her. She also remembers when her big sister went missing shortly after the war but that was a long time ago and right now she needs to find Elizabeth.

This is a remarkable debut novel. Maud is not the two dimensional character she could so easily have been in lesser hands. Healey portrays her sympathetically and brings the reader into Maud's diminishing world. In only three hundred pages she clearly shows Maud's deterioration as her disorientation grows and her moments of clarity become less frequent. Healey obviously understands the frustration and embarrassment of those losing their memory (as well as their place in society) and the fatigue of those who must offer repeated explanations that will be almost instantly forgotten. This is a poignant story of memory, families, love, and loss. show less

Astonishing original debut novel. Written from the point of view of an 80-year-old with Alzheimer's. Maud is worried, she can't find her fellow charity-shop volunteer, Elizabeth. And she also reflects on the mystery of her sister, missing since the days of rationing.

So we get two fascinating mysteries, and the uncomfortable perspective of someone whose mind is disintegrating. And, no, I didn't pass the doctor's memory test either.

Told with humour and compassion, and I loved the oh-so realistic detail: the hoarding of tins of peach slices, and the anxiety, confusion and revisiting of places, the DO NOT MAKE ToAST signs , the patient, exasperated daughter ...

Full of admiration for the young author's leap of the imagination to so show more convincingly step into the shoes of an imagined character of her grandmother's generation. show less

A great debut novel where the story is being told from the perspective of Maud, a woman in her 80's living with dementia.

We follow Maud as she presents her scattered thoughts and post it note reminders in her quest to find her friend Elizabeth. She is convinced Elizabeth is missing, she is doing everything she can do (and remember to do) to find Elizabeth, including persuading those around her that she is indeed missing.

Maud's daughter, Helen, is portrayed as the family member trying to help mum but clearly showing the stress and anxiety which can go hand in hand when supporting a loved one with dementia. As someone who has had a close family member diagnosed with the condition, I certainly found parrallels with Maud's behaviour and show more the close family reactions to it.

Elizabeth is Missing isn't a depressing story though. It could easily have been and yes, there are some sad and bitter sweet moments. However, in using Maud as the narrator of the story, we are presented with a character full of humour, strength and tenacity (much to her families angst) especially in trying to complete her self assigned mission of finding Elizabeth. Maud is certainly not presented as a 'victim' here and quite rightly so.

A well crafted tale which presents an alternative perspective on dementia and a different take on the detective story genre. show less

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.A page turning mystery and a piercingly honest portrait of love and memory that takes us from post - war Britain to the present day. Summary BPL

Debut novel? You wouldn't know it. A 30 year old writer capturing the muddled mind of an 80-something English granny and making you fall in love with her? Incredible but true! Even that Ms Healey chose an elderly woman with dementia as the main character of her first novel is impressive, risky and to be commended. I hope ELIZABETH IS MISSING wins a prize....in fact, I think some important public woman show more like Meryl Streep or Hillary Rodham Clinton or Julie Andrews should sponsor a book award honoring fiction about women over 50 (that marginal group it’s okay to caricature or ignore).

I hope the above paragraph doesn't deter readers under 50. The story’s timeline moves forwards and backwards, giving equal pages to Maud’s present and her post-war young adulthood. Either era would make an engaging story on its own. The bombed out houses, the severe rationing and concomitant black market activity, the thousands of soldiers moving back home, the overcrowded feel of city living during those deprived years, Ms Healey brings to life in a crisp, unnostalgic way. No rose-coloured glasses fond view of that great time in our lives, World War II.

Nor is Maud’s dementia cute, funny, adorable; she wets herself, wanders dangerously around town, makes angry phone calls in the middle of the night, drives everyone around her crazy asking the same questions (how to plant marrows) and making the same declaration (Elizabeth is missing). Why would anyone want to read Maud’s story? Because she never complains. She sees people’s reactions, knows she has done something wrong (but not what that is) and takes another tack. Resourceful, driven, unyielding, Maud persists until she finds out what happened to Elizabeth. There’s a twist here that leads to a spoiler so I can’t say more except to praise Ms Healey’s objective depiction of dementia to the point of including it almost as a character in itself.

Helen and Katy, Maud’s daughter and grand-daughter respectively, are the calibre of people I would want caring for me if I had dementia (in the event I couldn't afford a trip to Switzerland...).Katy’s joking manner with her grandmother is both kind and effective. Helen’s love and patience is not the product of guilt or self-interest; I think she is simply the kind of daughter a woman like Maud would raise.

ELIZABETH IS MISSING would make a beautiful, gripping film. As a novel, it’s a beautiful, humane read. I have high expectations for Ms Healey's next book!

8 out of 10 Highly recommended to all! show less

“I know what she’s thinking, that I’ve lost my marbles, that Elizabeth is perfectly well at home and I just don’t remember having seen her recently. But it’s not true. I forget things – I know that – but I’m not mad. Not yet. And I’m sick of being treated as if I am. I’m tired of the sympathetic smiles and the little pats people give you when you get thing confused, and I’m bloody fed up with everyone deferring to Helen rather than listening to what I have to say. (18)

Maud, an aging mother and grandmother, is struggling with dementia and losing her grip on everyday life. Convinced her best friend, Elizabeth, is missing and needs her help, she arms herself with handwritten notes she leaves for herself. But these show more are, of course, are easily made unreliable by her duplicitous mind: “I’m staring at a paper full of scribbles, meaningless scribbles. Except I have a feeling that some of them might be words and I just can’t read them.” (225) Sadly, but most certainly, no one else will listen to Maud: not her daughter, Helen, not her care workers, and not Elizabeth’s son, Peter. Adding only to the confusion of Elizabeth’s disappearance, the clues Maud does manage to hold onto lead her deep into her past, into another unsolved disappearance: that of Sukey, her only sister, who vanished shortly after World War II.

Elizabeth is Missing is an impressive debut novel: well-written, and a memorable, eerie portrayal of the cunning of the demented mind. Admittedly, I was less interested in the mysteries of Elizabeth and Sukey than I was in the development of Maud, but these too are unquestionably well done. And Maud herself is beautifully well-drawn, convincing, and achingly relatable. Highly recommended.

“God, I am sick of explaining myself all the time.” (196) show less

“I feel rather drab and shy for a few minutes,. But then I remember that I am old and nobody is looking at me.”

Maud is old. No one looks at her unless she is doing something foolish. And no one takes her seriously. Her mind is increasingly befuddled, her memories untrustworthy. Still, she knows that her friend Elizabeth is missing, and she is determined to find her. When she remembers, anyway, that she is missing.

While this book is classified as a mystery, there are actually two mysteries, and I found those to be the least compelling aspects of the book. There are no great surprises. To me, that didn't matter.

This book, in my eyes, is a beautiful and heartbreaking character study. Maud is a character I won't forget. Her increasingly show more poor memory and increasing befuddlement, her inability to find the right words, strike a too-believable and very sympathetic tone. Her irrational behavior is explained through her thoughts, but she can't explain to the people around her. Granddaughter Katy is a gem.

Just as interesting a character is Helen, Maud's daughter and chief caregiver. She tries so hard to be endlessly patient, and yet that is an impossible task. She loves her mother but the frustration of dealing with her is overwhelming. Her brother, Maud's son, visits once a year and does none of the work, and is resented, understandably, by Helen.

The emotions in this novel ring so true, and I really feel for the characters as though they are people I know personally. The story is never maudlin but is very touching.

This is a debut novel by the author, and I can't wait to see what she writes next.

I was given an advance reader's copy of the book for review, and the quote may have changed in the published edition. show less

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey was a wonderful read that I will be thinking about for a long time. Although it is offered as a mystery, it is indeed a study of dementia, with the reader being given an inside look at how the mind and memory disintegrate, and how it affects both the sufferer and the family. Maud is in her eighties and her memories tend to blend together as does her present and her past. She is convinced that her friend Elizabeth is missing and as she tries to take steps to discover what happened, she is constantly thrown back into the past when her sister Sukey also went missing.

The author is to be applauded for weaving such a strong story, peopled with excellent supporting characters such as Maud’s daughter, Helen show more and her granddaughter, Katie, as well as the personalities from the past. I literally couldn’t put the book down, was I reading about two murders, one murder or no murders? Were Maud’s shattered memories to be believed, and how heartbreaking it was to read about everyone involved having to watch as Maud’s world became increasingly fragmented.

Elizabeth Is Missing is a riveting and creative read that probably appeals to me more at my age of 70 than it might have at 35 or 40. As I age I live in fear of either myself or my husband contracting this disease that is so excellently yet terrifyingly shown in this book. The author captures Maud’s anxiety, confusion and anger as she descends into dementia, but there are also moments of tenderness and humor. I have a strong feeling that Elizabeth Is Missing will be one of my top reads for 2022. show less