About the Author

Jacquelyn Mitchard is a journalist and author of two non-fiction books, including Mother Less Child: The Love Story of a Family. She lives in Wisconsin with her five children and is currently working on her next novel.

Reviews

‘So well observed and perceptive it’s hard to shy away from… masterfully paced… A story of one family’s slow tumble back into light.’
Los Angeles Times

'So well observed and perceptive it's hard to shy away from... masterfully paced... A story of one family's slow tumble back into light.'
Los Angeles Times

By her own admission, Beth Cappadora is a rather haphazard mother and wife. Still, her family is reasonably happy and her career as a photographer relatively satisfying. In a few short minutes in a crowded hotel lobby, Beth's world changes forever. Her two-year-old son, Ben, left in the care of older brother Vincent, disappears. Despite the efforts of police and friends, the search for Ben fails, and Beth retreats into grief. Emotionally abandoning her other children and her husband, she spends the next nine years in self-absorbed brooding, unmoved by either the increasing delinquency of Vincent or her husband's demands for change. Ben's miraculous return results more in shock than joy and initially drives the family further apart. First novelist Mitchard unstintingly explores the minutiae of grief, creating realistic characters and no easy solutions. With film rights already sold and an extensive advertising budget, libraries can expect demand. For all popular collections.‘Jan Blodgett, Davidson Coll., N.C.