The industry buzz that preceded this release was more than justified. To say that the main protagonist is unusual, is an understatement. Maud is an 80-year-old woman on the fringes of dementia. Her memory is fallible, but she is convinced of one thing. She has a friend called Elizabeth, and Elizabeth has disappeared. In a wonderful counterpoint to the main story, we are taken back to Maud’s teenage years, just after WWII, and there is another mystery – also a disappearance. With unerring skill, Emma Healey will lead you from one storyline to the other and there is a bittersweet resonance between the feisty younger Maud and her much-impaired present day self. Here is our full review.
