Hailed by the Times Literary Supplement as an International Book of
the Year on its publication in Britain, The Missing is a fascinating
literary meditation on missing persons by the acclaimed young Scottish
writer Andrew O'Hagan.
Writing with what one reviewer praised as passion, eloquence, and
honesty, O'Hagan explores one of society' most enduring, yet unexamined,
concerns--missing persons. He writes movingly of his own grandfather,
lost at sea during World War II; of Sandy Davidson, the three-year-old
who disappeared from a construction site near O'Hagan's childhood home;
of James Bulger, the toddler abducted from a mall in Liverpool and
murdered by two ten-year-olds in 1993; and the twelve young women Fred
and Rosemary West murdered and buried in their Gloucester backyard over
a period of nearly thirty years.
In all of these cases, O'Hagan goes out with police and meets with
social workers and families, always looking for the deeper truths so
often left forgotten. What kind of lives did those who have gone missing
lead? What made them disappear? What happens to those left behind?
Merging social history, memoir, and reportage, The Missing is one of
those rare books that bring a neglected corner of human experience into
the public eye, and a memorable debut from an exceptionally perceptive
and talented new writer.
