The Vanishing of Margaret Small: An uplifting and page-turning mystery

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The difference between the sympathetic and the intolerant is never more obvious than in the chapters set in Margaret’s past, where she is a long term resident of St Mary’s, a home for people with physical and learning disabilities that sought less to help prepare the residents for their place in society, as to hide them away. There is no attempt to make Margaret’s life better, to help her with her literacy challenges. Taken there as a very young girl, St Mary’s is all that she knows, her friends there her only family.

This was a lovely book, I thoroughly enjoyed it, although it was quite sad, but ultimately uplifting. You may need tissues, especially towards the end. I know I did. Alexander throws the reader a little surprise before a most satisfactory resolution to Margaret’s story. He gives his characters wise words and insightful observations. “Don’t judge yourself the way others judged you in the past.” Funny, moving and uplifting, this is an outstanding debut novel. Told in two timelines, this story is an intensely emotional journey with top-notch characterizations. It's impossible not to love Margaret, as she's definitely the one who holds this story together. She may be a bit slow but she has an inner beauty that's impossible to resist.

Imagine also my surprise when I discovered that this is a debut work. It is far more complex and nuanced than many of the established works I have read. Aldington is MARVELLOUS! Her voices and her emotions are spot on. The personality she creates with her voice not just for Margaret but for all the characters she voices is so good that you feel; like you are hearing a multi-cast performance.

Thank you to Bonnier UK Audio, Embla Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.But someone is sending her notes with cash, signed with “C x”: she believes it’s Cilla but, except for the one read to her by the young man in Sainsbury’s, she has no idea what they say, and she’s reluctant to ask Wayne, because he will probably think she’s lost it. She likes the life she has now, her routine and the people in her life, and the last thing she wants is to be put away again.