Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Songs for the Missing - Stewart O'Nan


Rating: 4 Tell a Friend over a Derby pie (ääää)
Pages:
Challenges: Pub Challenge

Synopsis (from BN)
An enthralling portrait of one family in the aftermath of a daughter’s disappearance
“It was the summer of her Chevette, of J.P. and letting her hair grow.” It was also the summer when, without warning, popular high school student Kim Larsen disappeared from her small Midwestern town. Her loving parents, her introverted sister, her friends and boyfriend, must now do everything they can to find her. As desperate search parties give way to pleading television appearances, and private investigations yield to personal revelations, we see one town’s intimate struggle to maintain hope, and finally, to live with the unknown.
Stewart O’Nan’s new novel begins with the suspense and pacing of a thriller and soon deepens into an affecting family drama of loss. On the heels of his critically acclaimed and nationally bestselling Last Night at the Lobster, Songs for the Missing is an honest, heartfelt account of one family’s attempt to find their child. With a soulful empathy for these ordinary heroes, O’Nan draws us into the world of this small Midwestern town and allows us to feel a part of this family.

Review
I really liked this book and think it would be a really good book for a reading group because there are some questions left unanswered that it would be great to discuss. I think different people who read it will catch different clues. Being a parent this is also a difficult book with the central plot being that a teen ager goes missing. But I thought it was realistic and interesting how guilt plaques people and how difficult the search is.

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