The Disappearance - Hardcover

Efrem Sigel

3.23

84 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1579621805 ISBN 13: 9781579621803

Publisher: Permanent Press, 2009

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When Joshua and Nathalie Sandler's only child, 14-year-old Daniel, disappears one flawless summer day in a tiny hamlet in western Massachusetts, their world changes in an instant. Over the next year, Joshua neglects everything else to search ceaselessly for their son, while Nathalie, a beautiful and gifted cellist, withdraws into herself, unable to play even a note of music. Sigel's novel immerses us in the Sandlers' world. We see the various townspeople who might be involved in this disappearance and its aftermath: the mean-spirited president of the Board of Selectmen, neighbors who either come forward to help or who hide evidence, a deeply human police chief, half a dozen troubled teenagers, and a dark-haired, passionate young woman with secrets of her own, who is drawn to Joshua and his plight.With lyrical prose and suspense that builds inexorably toward a resolution, Sigel portrays the anguish of parents, who, despite their crushing burden of uncertainty and grief, must continue to live their lives. While the mystery of Dan's appearance deepens, Joshua and Nathalie struggle to find a new meaning to their existence and to discover, finally, whether a marriage that has come apart piece by piece can ever be made whole again.

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About the Author:

EFREM SIGEL is the author of The Kermanshah Transfer, a novel, as well as five books of nonfiction and 19 short stories, a number of which have won prizes or earned Pushcart nominations.

From Publishers Weekly:

Starred Review. Sigel's powerful and elegantly crafted second novel (after The Kermanshah Transfer) explores the impact of the disappearance of a boy shortly before his 14th birthday on his parents. Daniel Sandler is adored by Joshua and Nathalie, an upper middle-class couple who summer in a small rural Massachusetts community. One day, the Sandlers return to their summer home from a mundane errand to find Daniel gone. As the hours pass with no clues to Daniel's whereabouts, their despair and anxiety escalate geometrically, and hopes that their child will return unscathed evaporate. Despite the dogged efforts of local law enforcement, weeks and then months pass without progress in the investigation. The uncertainty takes its toll on Joshua and Nathalie, both as individuals and as a couple. The mystery's resolution is secondary to Sigel's subtle and probing look at the consequences of a tragedy. (Feb.)
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