Book Review of 'Elizabeth Is Missing.'

I kept trying to ignore this book as I walked past it on the shelf of my local bookshop. But the urgency of the title stayed in my mind for days. I kept repeating to myself 'Elizabeth is Missing, Elizabeth is missing', until I finally had to find out where Elizabeth had went. Crime fiction and mystery drama are my least favourite forms of fiction but I found myself captivated by the mysteries which surrounded ninety year old Maud. In the prologue, Maud discovers a compact mirror buried in her garden which introduces two unsolved mysteries which are woven together in the novel.

In the opening chapters, Maud appears to be an ordinary old woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease. She has to write herself notes to jug her memory although she can't remember writing them. She forgets how well supplied her cupboards are with tinned peaches and has to write down not to 'buy any more tinned peaches.' But there's one note which keeps telling her that her friend Elizabeth has disappeared. Maud has no idea where Elizabeth is and she helplessly sets out to find her. She can't remember the last time she saw Elizabeth or the clues which might help her solve the mystery. The narrative flits between present and past tense. Set just after the Second World War, Maud's memories take her back to the mysterious and somewhat shady disappearance of her sister, Sukey. Maud's memory is now as clear as crystal as she remembers all the events which surrounded Sukie's disappearance. She gives the reader clues as to what happened to Sukie but it's up to us to solve the crime.

The novel has some wonderfully vivacious and loveable characters: from the gibberish mad woman to Doug the lodger, who thinks he's in American movies, It is a very easy read, a page turner and what Jonathan Coe called 'one of those mythical beasts' as it very difficult to put the book down. The story is told in a very quirky way as Maud is rather eccentric; she collects fingernails and old earrings, anything which might help her find Sukie. Not often do we read a narrative written from the view point of a ninety year old senile women and so the story is deeply touching and at times very sad. What is most striking about the book is the fragmentation and degeneration of the human mind and I experienced Maud's anguish and frustration at not being able to remember. The book gave me chills when I realised that I too might end up like Maud.

The only draw back for me as a reader is that the ending is rather rushed and becomes somewhat predictable and unbelievable. But this did not stop me loving the novel and I praise Emma Healey for her skill, sensitivity and originality. As a English Literature student we are often discouraged from reading popular mass literature and taught to shy away from literary trends but 'Elizabeth is Missing' is the perfect example of why some books are best selling novels - they are so bloody brilliant!