Easy read with some tension
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As a night time reader it was easy. However one thread of the plot was scary and was not conducive to sleep. Missing mother allows two friends of hers the opportunity to explore their anxieties about her disappearance. Both have supported their friend while she brings up her daughter. Now they have to examine their lives to see if they have the staying power to raise the girl if the mum doesn't return. The plot allows for two scenarios for why the mum hasn't returned. Interesting.
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Take it or leave it
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I have just finished reading this and I am left feeling "is that it?"
The protagonist, Anna, has disappeared off to Italy without telling anyone where or why (leaving her 6 year old daughter at home - nice). The story then alternates between the one written by her best friend Estella who has had to drop everything to look after the daughter, and Anna (who just to confuse matters more, has two seperate stories going on simultaniously - one where she is kidnapped and another where she is onvolved in a fling with a married man -and we never know which is the real story). Confused? So was I!
I never felt like I knew any of the characters well enough, which led me to not really care very much about any of them. Certainly the kidnapper was very one dimensional and I never understood what his motives were at all, not even at the end.
It did only take me 2 days to read this book and it did have its page-turning moments but having finished it I really am left thinking "who cares?".
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Confusing
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Although I will have to admit to not fully understanding therefore being confused by this story, it did not spoil my enjoyment of the novel.
The story is divided into three sections. Anna has not returned home as expected from a trip to Italy and her daughter Lily is being cared for by friends including Estella the narrator. The suspense is intensified by Estella's description of the household's reaction to Anna's disappearance. It was the other two scenarios that I found confusing, was she with her lover as planned or was she the victim of kidnap. This will certainly keep you guessing.
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Dunant Maps New Boundaries For The Psychological Thriller!,
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Ms. Dunant delivers two different versions of the plot. What happens to Anna Franklin? She is thirty-nine, very attractive, "pretty was always too tame a word," a single mother and journalist, who goes for a short vacation to Italy, leaving her six-year-old daughter with friends in London. When she does not return, her friends are justifiably alarmed, but knowing Anna's reliability they invent rational reasons for her continued absence - until it becomes apparent that she may never return. The two different accounts of Anna's adventures are cleverly interwoven with the narrative of what occurs at home with the daughter and friends who wait, as we wait, to discover just what is going on. The author also takes us on a journey into Anna's past to further develop her character. This chilling novel promises answers but never really delivers. Ms. Dunant's writing is taut and suspenseful. She is a three time finalist for the Golden Dagger Award. This is a novel you won't be able to put down - an engrossing read!
JANA
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A story that takes you right to the edge.,
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Dunant is a real pro, subtly using every trick in the book to create a psychological novel of intense suspense, a novel that succeeds beautifully in keeping the reader involved, on edge, and dying to find out, first, what is happening to Anna, and second, what is real. The main character, Anna, resembles many other single women about to turn forty, and she is a woman with whom most readers will empathize, even if they find her domestic history to be a bit unusual. As she yearns for love and excitement, reveals her vulnerabilities, and shares her fears, all of which play their part in the mystery that develops during her one week vacation in Italy, Dunant ratchets up the suspense--we can imagine and share Anna's plight because she reflects our own insecurities. The fact that she does not return to her loved ones on time, and is considered missing, coincides with our own worst fears, while the fact that neither we nor Anna are sure about what is real and what is fantasy parallels the neurotic daydreams and nightmares everyone shares. Dunant tantalizes the reader by presenting two parallel explanations for what happens on Anna's vacation. As Anna tells us about her past relationships and the birth of her daughter Lily, now six years old, along with two other, very different relationships which may or may not be occurring in Italy while she is "missing," Dunant provides just enough information to allow the reader to jump to conclusions, often incorrect, about what's going on. At the same time, she increases the suspense by having Anna's friend Estella describe the chilling effects of Anna's absence on Lily and the rest of the household back in England. As the novel races to its conclusion, most readers will probably race along, too, unwilling to take a break till it's finished and the outcome known. It is only after the fact, when we "recollect in tranquility," that the true sense of Dunant's achievement can be appreciated--she has manipulated us like marionettes, and we have loved every minute of it. Mary Whipple
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