What if the one thing that kept you together was breaking you apart?
Exploring family and love, grief and guilt, Missing Pieces follows two generations of the Sadler family, who are torn apart by the tragic death of a child. Grieving for her daughter, Linda becomes distanced from her husband, Tom, elder daughter, Esme, and even from her unborn baby. The second half of the book, set twenty-five years later, follows that baby, Bea, as she navigates not only the challenges of her family’s past, but also difficult questions about her own future.
So, it’s a book of two halves. In the first, everything slides off the rails and nothing is airbrushed. The repercussions of Phoebe’s death – and Linda’s anger at the injustice of it – is palpable from her clandestine drinking, to the breakdown of her relationships with the rest of her family. In the second, those old scars are very much present, but the unravelling of the past brings some kind of healing.
Missing Pieces is not a noisy, showy book. The tone suits the subject matter – it’s eloquent and raw, unassuming and unflinching. There is no schmaltz or melodrama – the author remains true to the characters and the threads of their relationships are woven realistically and sensitively throughout the story.
The characters’ attempts to scrabble together the ‘Missing Pieces’ are realistic and human – there is no tying everything neatly with a bow, no attempt to paper over the cracks. This is what makes the book beautiful – melancholy and thoughtful, without being bleak. Devastating and yet hopeful. Intense without being overwhelming. And compelling reading.
I follow Laura Pearson on Twitter and was inspired by her personal story and the challenges she overcame to write her debut, Missing Pieces. I certainly look forward to reading more from Laura.
Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read Missing Pieces in exchange for an honest review. You can purchase your copy here.
Victoria Brown 