Photo: Instagram @itsjesslouise

This is not a novel, but it also doesn't quite fit into the classic mystery framing... It is, in fact, a moving and intriguing account that combines the best of both worlds.

Maud is an octogenarian woman who’s convinced that her friend has disappeared, but no one seems to believe her. At the age of 80, Maud watches as her memories fade, and tries, at all costs, to unravel the mystery of her friend's disappearance. But how do you unravel a mystery If you don't have the ability to memorize?

Throughout Maud's house there are little papers–or reminders–that help her fight her gradual, but inevitable, loss of lucidity. No matter how hard she tries, Maud can't figure out the plot of her friend's disappearance.

And so, in an amalgam of memories, with constant flashbacks and flash-forwards, we're driven by memories (or what is left of them), and we're devastated by the melancholy, nostalgia, and sadness of a life that we can't unravel.

Although this is an easy read, in the sense that we can seamlessly read at one go, wrapped in the sweet melancholy that comes with old age, Elizabeth is Missing is a moving and touching story. A way of reminding us of the importance of caring for the elderly. Mysteriously and intriguingly, with ups and downs, we are being dragged by Emma Healey on an extraordinary roller coaster of feelings.

Photo: Instagram @theheartofbookclubbing

To read this book is to gain greater awareness of the perishable nature of both life and mental health, a book that shakes us and moves us, a story about loving and love itself, in its essence.

With the arrival of October and the colder days, nothing better than to grab this haunting romance and let it be our company on a lazy afternoon on the couch, with a blanket, a warm tea, and plenty of time to reflect!

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