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serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The Missing Word was inspired by a real life missing children case in Switzerland. Twin six year old girls went to spend the weekend with their father. A few days later he took his life in Italy while the girls have never been seen again. In this novel the author imagines the mother’s perspective as she attempts to find out what happened to her children and cope with her loss. This book evoked sympathy for the mother, shock and anger at the lack of a meaningful police investigation, curiosity as to where the girls could be, and reflection as to why many languages lack a word akin to orphan or widow for a parent whose child has died. I enjoyed the style and structure especially the epistolary elements like letters and lists.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping and Grief
Moderate: Child death
frombethanysbookshelf's review
5.0
"It's incredible how much pain we can inflict, convinced we're acting for the best."
On Sunday, Irinas' estranged husband left in their car without warning and took their daughters with them, their teddies lef forgotten and still on the beds.
On Thursday, he killed himself.
Those fateful five days contain the one answer Irina has been looking for ever since - where are her daughters? They haven't been seen since that car left their family home, and Irina has been left searching for something she can't even name.
"Nobody belongs to anyone, I believe. Anyone, if they wish, can belong to everybody."
There is a word for a wife without a husband, for a child without a mother, but there is one word missing - that is so painful that language may not be able to describe it - a Mother without a child.
This is not just a journey of unexplained and unresolved loss, but of the meanings of grief and recovery. Told through her inner most thoughts, lists, letters and memories, she doesn't tell us a story exactly but shows us a snapshot of her innermost thoughts and musings during a time of endless uncertainty and turmoil.
The short, concise chapters make this easy to fly through the pages, with deeply personal and emotive prose that still manages to create poetic, beauty imagery in so few pages. With an urgent, desperate pace throughout - we feel every horrifying and dreadful moment along with Irina as she struggles to move on with her identity stripped from her, her heart shattered and maybe worst of all - the endless unknown.
Atmospheric, deeply riveting and emotive - this hauntingly beautiful story will stay with me for some time.
lizzillia's review
4.0
This book was sent to me by Netgalley in return for an honest review.
This book is a translation from the original Italian and is based upon a heart-breaking true story of Irina whose ex-husband disappeared with their 6 year old twin daughters. Days after taking them, he took his own life and there was no sign of the girls and Irina is still searching.
The book takes the form of letters and meditations from Irina and we see how she has dealt with the loss of her daughters. How closely the author has stuck to the original writings is not known, but the Irina in the book is not some hysterical woman, she is rational and clear in her thoughts and in the demands she makes of those who she believes failed her when the girls first disappeared. She is a woman wronged, not only by her ex-husband but also by the authorities that should have been investigating the adduction. Instead, because she was an Italian woman in Switzerland, she was treated almost with disdain. It is to these people that she clearly sets out the wrongs that they have done her and her requests.
In her writings, she describes how she lives with her grief, how she keeps her daughters alive in her thoughts and it is powerful and so heart-breaking because this is a true story and Irina is still searching for her daughters.
The title of the book is also relevant because as Irina writes, there is no word for a parent who has lost a child. There are words for those who lose husbands, wives; words for children who lose parents but not for parents who lose a child and this sense of being invisible is also explored.
A book that stays with you and makes you pray that Irina does find resolution. Thank you Netgalley and Europa Edition for allowing me to read this.
This book is a translation from the original Italian and is based upon a heart-breaking true story of Irina whose ex-husband disappeared with their 6 year old twin daughters. Days after taking them, he took his own life and there was no sign of the girls and Irina is still searching.
The book takes the form of letters and meditations from Irina and we see how she has dealt with the loss of her daughters. How closely the author has stuck to the original writings is not known, but the Irina in the book is not some hysterical woman, she is rational and clear in her thoughts and in the demands she makes of those who she believes failed her when the girls first disappeared. She is a woman wronged, not only by her ex-husband but also by the authorities that should have been investigating the adduction. Instead, because she was an Italian woman in Switzerland, she was treated almost with disdain. It is to these people that she clearly sets out the wrongs that they have done her and her requests.
In her writings, she describes how she lives with her grief, how she keeps her daughters alive in her thoughts and it is powerful and so heart-breaking because this is a true story and Irina is still searching for her daughters.
The title of the book is also relevant because as Irina writes, there is no word for a parent who has lost a child. There are words for those who lose husbands, wives; words for children who lose parents but not for parents who lose a child and this sense of being invisible is also explored.
A book that stays with you and makes you pray that Irina does find resolution. Thank you Netgalley and Europa Edition for allowing me to read this.
terrimpin's review
1.0
I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
While I appreciate the subject matter of this book, it just wasn't the book for me.
The writing style was unnatural and confusing. It took me until halfway through the book to realize that the same person was narrating each chapter, and quite often there was no explanation regarding who the narrator was addressing, new names just appeared out of nowhere.
Along with that, the narrator would mention the persons name in every other sentence, which was grating and ruined the flow. (This is noticeable right off the bat with "Nonna").
Honestly I found myself skimming this book because, while it is brief, there is no resolution in any way, even emotionally. I wanted to get to the end to see what the resolution was but I found myself disappointed. Honestly the entire book felt like the first chapter of a mystery novel.
This isn't something I would recommend.
While I appreciate the subject matter of this book, it just wasn't the book for me.
The writing style was unnatural and confusing. It took me until halfway through the book to realize that the same person was narrating each chapter, and quite often there was no explanation regarding who the narrator was addressing, new names just appeared out of nowhere.
Along with that, the narrator would mention the persons name in every other sentence, which was grating and ruined the flow. (This is noticeable right off the bat with "Nonna").
Honestly I found myself skimming this book because, while it is brief, there is no resolution in any way, even emotionally. I wanted to get to the end to see what the resolution was but I found myself disappointed. Honestly the entire book felt like the first chapter of a mystery novel.
This isn't something I would recommend.
radgirl_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
2.75