Elizabeth is Missing - Emma Healey

Blurb

Meet Maud.

Maud is forgetful. She makes a cup of tea and doesn't remember to drink it. She goes to the shops and forgets why she went. Sometimes her home is unrecognizable - or her daughter Helen seems a total stranger.

But there's one thing Maud is sure of: her friend Elizabeth is missing. The note in her pocket tells her so. And no matter who tells her to stop going on about it, to leave it alone, to shut up, Maud will get to the bottom of it.

Because somewhere in Maud's damaged mind lies the answer to an unsolved seventy-year-old mystery. One everyone has forgotten about.

Everyone, except Maud . . .

Review

I loved the premise and the writing is beautiful but I found the story lacking...

The insight into Maud's mind as it is grasped by Alzheimer's is outstanding. The back and forth been now and the past the parallels between her sister missing then and Elizabeth missing now, Maud's confusion even her more lucid moments make the perfect portrayal of what I imagine happens to a person with the disease.

But after a while, the constant confusion is rather samey and the ending is completely predictable. It is certainly a brave, interesting, touching and topical subject to tackle.

I do wonder if I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't read Three Things About Elsie by Joanna Cannon? They are very similar in theme so I knew I would be drawing comparisons from the beginning, I feel like Three Things About Elsie is more gripping and engaging you as a reader experience her whole life, not just the diminished later stages. Making it a story about passing friends, bereavement and aging. Whereas Elizabeth is Missing is a snapshot of the lesser person Alzheimer's is making Maud.

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