April 29, 2009

Review: The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond



On a foggy afternoon at the beach Abby Mason takes her eyes off Emma, her fiancé Jake’s daughter, for mere seconds and by the time she turns around again Emma is gone.

Filled with guilt Abby does all that she can to help the authorities find Emma including flyering the neighborhood, operating FindEmma.com and even going so far as to have herself hypnotized. Jake on the other hand is easily swayed by the police department’s theory that Emma must have wandered to far into the water and got pulled under. After relentless searching and numerous TV and radio appearances fail to turn up any evidence that Emma is still alive Jake begins to lose hope. As each day passes Abby’s resolve gets stronger as Jake’s despair tears them further and further apart.

This book reminded me so much of What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman. It’s part mystery and part drama filled with full descriptions, flashbacks and long narrations about the effects of time on memory.

Thinking about the guilt that Abby must have felt is almost unconceivable. I know this is fiction but incidents like this really happen. Just recently Haleigh Cummings, missing from her Florida home, was with her father’s fiancé when she was taken. Richmond captures the heart-wrenching feelings so well that I was hanging on every word. I recommend this one for all fiction lovers.

8 comments :

Unknown said...

I have had this on my shelf since its first publication and I have no clue why it's not read. Thanks for the review, it'll finally motivate me to read it.

Mishel (P.S. I Love Books) said...

This sounds really good. I'm so curious as to what happened to Emma. I'll have to pick this up.

bermudaonion said...

I've read good things about Michelle Richmond's work and would really like to read one of her books. This one sounds great!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a great book but you would have to been in the right kind of mood to read it, sounds too sad. On a happier note, there is an award for you at Merry Weather-stop by when you have the chance to pick it up. And congratulations :D

Bingo said...

Great review! Also, can you come by my blog, please Monie, as I have an award for you. Thanks!

Vi (pronounced Vy) said...

off topic, i'm hosting a community virtual book sale & giveaway on my site may 4 - 15! i'd love for you to join in!

we both participated in the bookroom reviews giveaway!

Here's the info. Please pass it on to other book lovers!

http://www.shebecameabutterfly.net/?p=3123

Melissa said...

I read this one last year and really enjoyed it. I thought the story was great, but it was a little slow for me in the middle.

Ladytink_534 said...

Nope. Not reading this! Sounds so heartbreaking :(