Missing

"Cornelia Spelman's gentle, lyrical prose belies the haunting nature of her story, a searing, honest search for the lost pieces of her family's story. Missing is a book that both comforts and astounds. It's memoir writing at its absolute finest." â"Alex Kotlowitz

"A long, intimate journey; the very honest accounting of the way old pain works its way through the generations. One of the fascinations of the whole story comes from the vicarious satisfaction of seeing someone who actually does discover every bit of what is still discoverable, and then who dares to speculate with candor about how it all fits together, not to mention how it's affected her." â"Rosellen Brown

The book is spellbinding. I'm in awe of the research and subsequent detailing that goes into it. It's a moving tribute to that richness William Maxwell talks about in human experience. The American Experience is another strong subject-the losses incurred by our peripatetic lives. I sense the necessity behind the story being told-not just the author wanting to know better her own mother and understand her, but cutting the tethers of the self and soaring into the reader's interest in universal questions. I really couldn't stop reading it, and I'll keep it with me for a long time to come.-Carol Frost

I have spent every spare minute of the last few days reading the lovely pages of Missing. I felt utterly privileged to read about this family in such fascinating detail. One reason that one wants to read a memoir is to be in the company of the narrator and I think Cornelia Maude Spelman does a wonderful job of guiding us through the story, of making us to want to board the night train and go on that journey. I admire the honesty with which she allows herself to be a character in the story and the delicacy with which she treats the other members of her family. A beautiful and enlightening book. â"Margot Livesey