Liz Currently Loves….Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey.

Coming June 5th From Penguin.

Thank you for the advanced copy via Netgalley.

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, because Elizabeth is missing..

I seem to have done something without realising it at the time and that is to read a few books all in a row that use memory as a tool to tell a story. I recently re-read the magnificent “Before I go to Sleep” by S J Watson and just after that Emma Chapman’s “How to be a Good Wife”. Both very different books, looking at memory in very different ways and both utterly compelling.

Now here we have “Elizabeth is Missing” where again, how our memory works is at the heart of the story and again with another twist and completely and utterly compelling. Maud suffers from dementia, she is forgetful, has to write herself notes to keep up with her own life and often stumbles in her quest to do the simplest things. Watched over by carers and by her daughter, despite her ups and downs, she keeps insisting that Elizabeth is missing. This is extremely frustrating to those around her but even more, one would imagine, to Maud as she keeps losing the threads of her discoveries, but always ends up at the same place. No matter what anyone else says – Elizabeth IS missing. So is she?

There are two sides to this novel  – the mystery element – where is Elizabeth and is she actually missing and the more emotional raw side when it comes to issues of age and memory loss . Told entirely by Maud we see how her mind works – or doesnt – and it is both sad and yet extraordinarily addictive reading. As she flits from one thought to another a picture emerges – of her life growing up, things that affected her, and how much more clearly she remembers her past in comparison to her present. As she writes more and more little notes about the things she needs to remember, then forgets what the note meant in the first place, its heartbreaking and fascinating all at the same time. Beautifully done with a realistic touch and cleverly written so that you can feel not only Maud’s frustration but that of those around her, this really is the most amazing read.

Memory is a strange thing. Never stranger than when it isnt working as it should. And as a basis for a heartbreaking, emotional rollercoaster of a reading experience it is brilliant. And used to stunning effect here in what I am sure will be one of the debut’s of the year.

Highly Recommended.

Happy Reading Folks!