I've struggled and struggled with this until I almost feel like pulling my hair out. I was so reluctant to DNF my second book of the year, like the first I read, but looking at the reviews a lot of people did the same thing i.e. kept reading in order to find out what happened and apparently it was a huge letdown. I'm going to trust this and set it down now, before I really do some damage to my kindle. 

This is the second book from Emma Healey, author of Elizabeth is Missing, a book I loved. Whistle in the Dark is very different. It's about how the protagonists daughter, Lana, went missing for a few days. No-one knows where she went or why. I would have given up on it by now as the protagonist is insanely dull, but I can't bear the thought of having to DNF my second book of the year, like my first. It's also largely to do with the fact I'm very intrigued to find out where Lana was during those few days. It better be good!

Elizabeth is missing was an emotional story about an elderly lady who is living with dementia.

I liked the story as I found it extremely effective at highlighting how difficult the illness is on family members; I found the character of Helen so real in this story and I am sure there are daughters and sisters and family out there reading this book and can identity with the character of Helen as she tries to look after and understand the world in which her mother finds herself struck in. Interestingly... we don't get the story from Helen's prospective and yet I sympathised so much with her character and I think the reason for this was that I became Helen and Maud became my mother while reading the novel


I found the author's use of language very effective throughout the book and her descriptions of situations very real. Maud is such a convincing character in this novel and I could have rated it 5 stars alone for how well Maud's voice stands out in this story.
I did however find many holes in the plot and the book became rather repetitive half ways through. I didn't find it a compelling psychological thriller as it was described but I did find it and emotional and interesting read and it really did highlight how difficult life is for families living with Alzheimer's or any form of memory loss.

I enjoyed this book, it really got 'under my skin'. Emma Healey paints a very convincing picture of a woman sliding progressively into dementia and I felt as if I was sliding with her!

Maud is 82 and managing to live in her own home, with the help of visits from her daughter, Helen and a carer who comes in every morning. In between those times she struggles to organise her life using reminders written on a multitude of pieces of paper. She goes to the corner shop and can't remember what she went for, returning with yet more tins of peaches. She leaves cups of tea around the house un-drunk. She eats endless pieces of toast.
But what bothers her most is that her close friend Elizabeth is not in her house and seems to have totally disappeared. She is sure Elizabeth's surly son has something to do with his mother's disappearance. In spite of all Maud's problems, she manages to visit Elizabeth's house for frequent checks and has the wherewithal to report her disappearance to the police.

Then there is the other mystery that plays in the back of her mind, the disappearance of her beautiful sister back in the 1940s. Small clues nag at her memory, but she can't seem to piece them together.
While the question of Elizabeth's disappearance highlights Maud's immediate problems, the mystery from the past provides some light relief to the narrative and gives us some insight into the younger Maud.

I thought this was a very cleverly executed book. It even began to get me to question my own sanity! My only complaint was the endless pieces of paper; I wanted to buy Maud a notebook to keep everything in chronological order so she'd know that she'd already attended her doctor's appointment or bought enough tins of peaches.

We are given a fascinating insight into what must be going on in the mind of a person with progressive dementia and I came away with considerably improved understanding of their suffering.
Highly recommended.

Whilst it's quite unique to write a book from the point of view of a senile lady with severe memory loss problems (Alzheimers, not specified, though) it is utterly imperative to write it in a way that isn't utterly boring, slow and, well, like the narrator has Alzheimers. It is obviously repetitive and full of inner monologue so droll I went and looked up spoilers because I couldn't bring myself to read the rest of it.

I appreciate what the author tried to do, but she failed miserably. In my humble opinion, of course. Obligatory apology for having an opinion, of course.