Poor plot. A girl goes missing. And that’s that. Wonderful depiction of village life, but too many people to remember. But I seriously cannot understand why it received glowing reviews and a Costa award. Seemed a bit Emperors New Clothes. In one section I found 18 sentences running beginning with the word ‘she’, only for the 19th to be ‘he’. I also found two sentences that seemed to repeat itself. ( )

Mesmerizing. His writing is thoughtful and contained, the repetition creates a contemplative rhythm. There's a great subtlety in the exploration of small town community and trauma and change. As I sometimes do, unfairly perhaps because I don't know him at all, I thought to myself, Kiarostami would have liked this book. It's not for everyone, certainly not those who were lead to expect a mystery with a conclusion. ( )

2.5 actually. some really really intriguing phrasing, I like the tie in to the periodic / annual traditions of the village, both formal/recognized and not. but had trouble sticking through it to the end. honestly can't even remember how it does end. ( )

I appreciate the way the reader is teased into thinking that something about the missing girl will be discovered multiple times in the book. However, I am not a fan of multiple page paragraphs without the use of quotation marks for dialogue. ( )

A thirteen-year-old girl goes missing while on holiday in a rural English village. The book then follows numerous townspeople as life goes on over the next thirteen years. This book was not my cup of tea. Starting with the positives, the writing was, at times, lovely, especially in the descriptions of the flora and fauna of the area. Telling the story of a village by tracing the lives of its residents over time was an innovative concept. On the downside, it has very little plot or character development, is extremely repetitive, and is written in what I’ll call a semi-stream-of-consciousness structure. The paragraphs are very long, contain many unrelated thoughts, and there is no delineation of dialogue. I think the “protagonist” is either the village itself or the missing girl. Either way, the protagonist does not have much voice. It was a clever concept, but it did not result in an enjoyable reading experience for me. I believe the point of this book is that life goes on in the face of tragedy, and there are many glowing reviews of this book, so it comes down to a matter of personal taste. If you like experimental, intellectual, or subtle literature, you may enjoy it. If you prefer storyline, character depth, resolution, and traditional structure, I’d stay away. ( )