Elizabeth is Missing

This week, I’m not far enough into my new book to write about it yet, so I’m going to talk about a book I read recently that I really liked. 

It’s called Elizabeth Is Missing and is by Emma Healey. What’s interesting about this is that this is the author’s debut novel, and if this is her standard already, I am excited to see what else she comes out with in the future as her author skills develop. 

This book is the story of Maud, an elderly lady suffering with dementia or Alzheimer’s. The narrative is told from Maud’s point of view, which gives a startling insight into the mind of someone suffering with this disease and how simple everyday things can cause problems, and how those around can seemingly get angry for no apparent reason. 

The protagonist is a highly unreliable narrator, as she can’t herself remember things half the time, so this clouds our view of the world through her disjointed memories of the present.

In the beginning we are given a clue to the mystery that underpins the story, but what is exciting in this book is how the author told the story through this unreliable narrator and how a mystery is solved through Maud’s own disjointed present memory, which is the disappearance of her friend Elizabeth and her rich details of her early life and the disappearance of her older sister after WWII when she was a girl. 

 I admire the way the author weaved the intricacies of the plot and the mystery and really enjoyed the look inside of someone with such problems as Maud has. 

It is one I would definitely read again, and I don’t do that often.