*****
Meet Maud. Maud spends her days pottering around the now
deserted family home, nipping to the corner shop to restock on tinned peaches
and polos.
Maud’s life has sunk into a repetitive slumber. Each morning her
carer leaves notes on the kitchen cupboard, “no more toast!”, “don’t go out
alone”, but Maud is sure that those notes must be old. There are only a few
slices of bread left – who’s eaten that? – and it’s been ages since she last
bought peaches, the carer must be eating Maud’s food when she’s not looking. She must
remember to tell her daughter, Helen. She thinks Helen visits
every afternoon, but she can’t be sure and when was the last time she saw her
friend Elizabeth? What has happened to Elizabeth?
Elizabeth is Missing is
a beautiful insight into a mind that has deteriorated. Readers struggle to
track Maud’s erratic thought processes as she switches between the present and
her childhood, but Emma Healey’s sensitive portrayal of senility, or, potentially, the onset of Alzheimer’s, encourages readers to patiently join the
dots. The novel has its dark moments when Maud becomes overwhelmed with
paranoia, but what I loved most was its light-heartedness. Emma Healey brings
humour to Maud’s situation and with the help of her granddaughter, Katie, Maud
and her family learn to laugh at her mistakes and her insistence that she wants
to grow marrows.
Inevitably, it is sad to watch Maud’s friends become
strangers and homes become houses, but for all Maud’s struggles Elizabeth is Missing is not a sad book.
Maud’s dry humour and stubborn perseverance has readers rooting for her the
whole way. Emma Healey has succeeded in making old age a time that can be
enlightening as Maud’s journey to find Elizabeth leads her to discover much
more about herself.
This book has plenty of tense moments as Maud wanders alone
through streets she doesn’t recognise. It becomes apparent how incredibly
vulnerable she is in a world she no longer recognises or understands. I may
have raved about The Hen Who Dreamed SheCould Fly but Elizabeth is Missing wins
prize position as my favourite book this year.
This was also the first book I have ever read on a kindle *shock horror*. I have been reluctant
to join the e-reader craze as I will forever love the feel of old pages, crisp
and brittle to the touch and you can’t beat the smell of a brand new book. I am
also working to fulfil my childhood dream of owning a library that looks like
this.
It wasn’t a horrible experience and it certainly didn’t stop
me enjoying the story, but I missed the feel of the cover in my hand, the
different types of text and the set up on the page. I am not a convert and
although I understand the attraction, I am willing to sacrifice carrying a
little extra weight for the love of books.
No comments:
Post a Comment