The Blurb:

“When two seven-year-old girls go missing, all are under suspicion. Calli Clark is a dreamer. A sweet, gentle girl, Callie suffers from selective mutism, brought on by a tragedy she experienced as a toddler. Her mother Antonia tries her best to help, but is confined by marriage to a violent husband. Petra Gregory is Calli’s best friend, her soul mate and her voice. But neither Petra nor Calli have been heard from since their disappearance was discovered. Now Calli and Petra’s families are bound by the question of what has happened to their children. As support turns to suspicion, it seems the answers lie trapped in the silence of unspoken secrets.”

What I thought:

This book will be appearing in Channel 4′s TV Book Club in July (in the UK) so when I recognised this practically brand new copy in a library sale for just 10p I snapped it up. The book is 400 pages but it is one of those books that I knew wouldn’t take me long to get through and I fancied something a bit lighter after my last few reads.

The story is spread over a sixteen hour period when two 7 year old girls both vanish from their houses on the same night, without a trace. Calli suffers from selective mutism and hasn’t spoken since she was 4 years old, despite councelling and psychological help. Her best friend, Petra, understands Calli and acts as her mouthpiece to other friends and adults alike.

The book is written a chapter at a time by a different narrator: as well as the two girls, there is also Antonia and Ben (Calli’s Mum and brother), Martin (Petra’s Dad) and Sherrif Louis (who was an childhood sweetheart of Antonia’s and is still in love with her).  From the first realisation of a disappearance (at 4.30am) until the conclusion the reader is taken on a journey through the adults attempt to bring the girls home safely.

This may sound like the book is a thriller / mystery type and at times I did wonder if that was what it was trying to be: however if that was its intention then I’m not sure it works. There is a crime committed but it’s pretty obvious “whodunnit” in both the girls cases fairly early on and the great revelation at the end falls a bit flat. The book really centres around Calli’s muteness more than anything and her reasons for being that way. I also suspect that this was meant to be some great revelation too but again, it’s not hard to work out why pretty early on.

I don’t mean to sell the book short as, admitidly, it is a real page-turner. The short chapters that are alternately narrated by a different character means that the book has great forward momentum and I do like that in a book; one where you say “just one more chapter” and then again and again until you’ve read the whole thing before you know it. To summarise, I really liked this book and although I didn’t think there was anything particularly clever or original in it sometimes I don’t need that in a book. As far as debuts go, this is a pretty good attempt. I do think that the book could have done with a tad more spit and polish but it’s more than likely that I will pick up her next book when it’s out too – I think this author may be one to watch in the future.

I would recommend for a holiday read or a quick page-turner between more heavyweight tomes.

  What did other bloggers think?

….suspenseful and often disturbing mystery…. Book-a-rama

….would make a wonderful book club pick…. Peeking Between the Pages

….not your typical plot driven narrative…. Word Lily

….an enjoyable way to spend a couple of days…. Book Addict’s Book Reviews

….I would describe it as a beautiful music piece…. Tea Time With Marce

Did I miss yours?