Thursday, August 8, 2013

Review: Songs for the Missing

Songs for the Missing
By Stewart O'Nan
Read by Emily Janice Card
8 CDs, 10 hours

Songs for the Missing

Kim spends her last summer before college working at a local store and going to the lake with her friends. One day, she leaves her friends to get ready for work, but never makes it for her shift. She seems to have vanished into thin air. What happened to Kim? Songs for the Missing follows Kim's parents Fran and Ed, her sister Lindsay, her best friends Nina and Elyse, and boyfriend J.P., as they fight for answers, blame themselves and others, and struggle to find a way to keep living without the girl they love. 

Stewart O'Nan writes quiet and beautiful stories. Songs for the Missing is less about what happened to Kim and more about the effect her disappearance has on her friends and family. We think we can imagine the anguish of a family when a child goes missing, but O'Nan looks at the moments that the public doesn't see. Kim's father Ed is spurred to action and spends days driving up and down highways and heading up teams of local citizens, searching for some trace of his daughter. His wife Fran draws upon the composure she learned as a nurse and becomes the family spokesperson. Her life shrinks to updating their website and organizing community events. And Lindsay is left behind yet again - trying to live up to a perfect older sister is nothing compared to a sister whose fate is unknown.

This book does not just look at the days immediately following her disappearance. We follow these characters for years. How does the father feel when he goes to pick up the recovered car? How does the best friend leave town and go to college? Can the sister who was left behind ever escape the shadow of her parents' fear? 

The narration for this audiobook was great. Emily Janice Card reads the book perfectly. She gives distinctive voices to each character and the differences help us identify the characters without falling into familiar pitfalls of narration. The teenagers sound like teenagers without being annoying and she reads as Ed, the father, without resorting to a deep male voice. Card manages to exhibit empathy for the characters while still maintaining the distance of a narrator.

Stewart O'Nan is a master at writing the quiet moments of life. Instead of a flashy mystery, we are treated to a reflective look at fear and grief. While finding out what happened to Kim may keep you turning pages, the real reason to pick up this book is the author's deep understanding of loss. This book is not about the flashy moment when a clue is discovered or a case is solved. Instead, this is about the days after and the painful monotony of having to continue living without answers and without someone you love. 

6 comments:

  1. I've read (and enjoyed) The Good Wife, Snow Angels, The Night Country, Songs for the Missing, Wish You Were Here, and Last Night at the Lobster. I'm just listing these because some people have never heard of this author; he seems to fly just under the radar, unfortunately. He does tend to write quiet, character-based stories, but he does it so well! Thanks for sharing this!

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    1. I'm just starting to read through O'Nan's books, but I really admired the two I have read so far. It's good to know he has so many more great books for me to read! :)

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  2. Why does this sound so familiar to me? Have I already read it? Gah, my memory is the worst, I swear. Whether I've read it or not it sounds like a great book. Great review too, as usual :)

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    1. I totally relate. Reason #1 that I started a blog - my terrible, no good, very bad memory.

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  3. The author is new to me as well. Making a note of this one.

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    1. He writes really lovely, insightful stories. I'm looking forward to reading more of his books.

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