Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey

Maud's friend Elizabeth is missing, and that's the only thing she knows for sure. Everything else is a bit muddled, that's all. In Emma Healey's debut novel Elizabeth Is Missing, Maud doggedly searches for her friend Elizabeth as she battles with dementia. Compounding the problem, Maud's memories of her sister Sukey who disappeared when she was a girl intertwine with her need to search for Elizabeth, which makes finding the truth that much harder.

Healey's debut is a haunting depiction of a character with dementia, as the reader is drawn inexorably into Maud's downward spiral as her disease worsens. Though Maud doesn't remember what happened a few pages ago, the reader remembers, and it is truly heart-wrenching when she doesn't recognize her own daughter. The historical touches from the post-WWII era and the twin mysteries add layers of realism and suspense, but the true star of the novel is Maud's dementia. For a debut author to create such a convincing, sympathetic portrayal of a dementia patient while intertwining two different, intricate mysteries is an impressive literary achievement.

Shannon Wood, Adult Services Librarian