Elizabeth Is Missing -Emma Healey

I picked up this book dirt cheap in a second handbook store because it sounded amazing. I think that more books about dementia and Alzheimer’s need to be written and read to draw more attention to what the condition is like. I knew I would find this hard, I have such a hard time hearing about dementia because I’ve seen two people go through the stages of the horrible disease, but I didn’t expect this book to be quite so hard to read. 

I don’t mean this is a bad way, this book is amazing. I mean this because I found myself crying a fair few times at the situations in this book as Maud became more and more confused and when she didn’t recognise her daughter and granddaughter. Now, to me, that means that Emma Healy is an excellent writer, to envoke that much emotion from her words.

Elizabeth is Missing  follows Maud as she becomes more and more forgetful. However, one thing that Maud does remember is that her friend Elizabeth is missing and that no one else is looking for her. She starts writing out notes for herself to remind her to keep looking for Elizabeth which gets her into all sorts of trouble.

The story is told in a series of flashbacks to Mauds childhood as well as chapters in present time, which I thought was an excellent way to tell the story. You find out about Mauds search for her sister when she disappeared in the flashbacks mirrored against her search for Elizabeth in modern day.

I loved this book, although I only ended up giving it 3 out of 5 stars because I wasn’t so keen on the ending. I’m not one for cliffhangers in standalone novels. I like everything being cleared up and settled by the end of a novel, but that’s personal opinion and I would still recommend Elizabeth is Missing !