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When Things Go Missing
Hardcover
Publisher: Sea Stone Press
Published: Sep 22 2025
Pages: 352
Weight: 1.22
Height: 0.94 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
When Things Go Missing is catnip for book club readers. Brasket is a gorgeous writer who explores complex family dynamics in a raw yet sympathetic way. Dianne Emley, Los Angeles Times bestselling author
What happens when the one person holding a family together mysteriously disappears? How well do we really know anyone, especially those we love the most?
One day Fran heads toward the grocery store and keeps going till she reaches the tip of South America, leaving an empty hole in the lives of her family: Kay, a cranky archaeology student who adores her mother but distrusts men in general, her father and brother in particular. Cal, a heroin addict living at home, left with a father he fears and no means of support; and Walter, a devoted husband but distant father, who tracks his wife's journey across the continent with pushpins on a map.
Adding to the mystery of the mother's disappearance are the gifts she sends her family: The elated messages she leaves on Kay's phone, but never when she's there to pick up. The strange photographs she sends Cal, who studies them like hieroglyphs he must decipher to save her and himself. The credit card bills she leaves Walter, allowing him to continue caring for her, until he undertakes his own journey northward. How they fill the missing pieces in their lives to make their family whole again creates the heart of this novel.
When Things Go Missing is a masterful exploration of loss, loyalty, and knotty, dysfunctional families, told through the viewpoints of Kay, Cal, and Walter. It reveals the subtle and dramatic ways addiction affects the bonds that hold a family together. This heartfelt meditation on family is wrapped up in a propulsive page-turner that you cannot help getting swept up in.
Deborah Brasket exquisitely captures minute moments of human interaction and emotion. Amid the chaos is welcome humor and recognizable nuances of family life. Dana Isaacson, Career Authors
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