Camberley Library Morning Reading Group. The book is an accurate, and often depressing, portrayal of dementia AND THUS WE WOULD ADVISE CAUTION BEFORE READING/RECOMMENDING/GIFTING IT. However we feel the book should be essential reading for all professional carers, and those who are dismissive of sufferers. It is a crime novel reminiscent of Mike Haddon’s ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’ (but less endearing). Only 275 pages long, it is a small, page-turning, masterpiece. The unreliable narrator is Maud, an 82-year-old with dementia. She is trying to make sense of both her childhood and the present day, in order to solve two mysteries. As the story unfolds, her condition deteriorates and as such it is deliberately misleading. How much does Maud know? Was she involved? Should her ramblings be taken seriously? The novel has flaws including unrealistic events and romanticism of the protagonist, but as with most fiction you have to suspend belief so we overlooked these

"Mum, you don't live here, anymore." At times, “Elizabeth is Missing” is almost an unbearable read, to the extent that the plot, which is so often the source of tension in fiction, in this novel offers some relief from the sheer going-on of daily life and the almost unremitting mental deterioration of Maud Horsham, the main character and narrator. Maud, in her early eighties, has what looks like mid-stage Alzheimer’s Disease and is increasingly troubled by – as she sees it – the disappearance of her friend, Elizabeth, a disappearance that is very closely associated for Maud with the disappearance when she was a girl in post-Second World War England of Suki, her older sister. While not rivaling an Agatha Christie narrator who turns out to be the murderer, Maud’s account of her search for Elizabeth is frequently but not always unreliable. She makes notes but these are a painful parody of a detective’s notes because they add to her confusion and make even sharper the contrast with Mau

This book generated a lot of discussion not least because many of our group are older. We found it interesting and felt sadness at the heroine's circumstances. We liked the way the author kept her family at a distance while she had memory problems, as an example of the isolation people with dementia etc suffer from. The murder element of the story became exciting as the story developed. The author's technique was clever as she drew you into the isolation of her own private world.

Recommended. An interesting view of how Alzheimer's affects short term memory and family relationships. Funny and sad at the same time.

I was so frustrated with this book and struggled understand all the rave reviews. I know I should respect other people's religion but Ian's unshakeable faith to the point where he puts religious meetings before his own family, the mental bullying to make zippy accompany her mum to the mortuary when she clearly didn't want to, of Al to go and clean the church, he made me so cross and irritated. This wasn't for me, with respect and apologies to everyone who loved it only a two star.