Novels Now

It’s the last summer before college for 18 year-old Kim Larsen. She and her friends spend their time at the lake and working at their various summer jobs. Being from a small town in Ohio makes them all ready to get on with the big adventure into adulthood but at the same time they are whiling away the last bits of the summer with the freedom of teens.

Everything changes when Kim disappears on her way to work one day and Songs for the Missing is a chronicle of the thoughts and emotions of those who know and love her.

I didn’t have any trouble getting hooked during the first part of this book. I enjoyed learning about Kim, her friends and family and her town quite a bit. Somewhere in the middle though, the story lagged for me and I had to convince myself to pick it up again. I think this is due, in part, to some outside influences in my life and also because this is not a cheerful story. One thing I am sure of is that it had nothing to do with the author’s writing.  The author did a fine job of making the reader experience pain of the characters from their differing perspectives. Though the subject was a sad one and I struggled to get back to this book, I ended up liking it quite a bit. I’m glad I stuck it out to the end. (3.5/5)

July, 2005. It was the summer of her Chevette, of J.P. and letting her hair grow. The last summer, the best summer, the summer they’d dreamed of since eighth grade, the high and pride of being seniors lingering , an extension of their best year. She and Nina and Elise, the Three Amigos. In the fall they were gone, off to college, where she hoped, a long and steady effort, she might become someone else, a private, independent person, someone not from Kingsville at all. -From Songs for the Missing, page 1-

In the summer of her 18th year, Kim Larsen disappears without a trace - leaving behind friends and family who are bewildered and hurting. This is not an unusual story. It is a story we see every day in America - the young women filled with potential disappearing into the darkness of uncertainty. Many are never found. Many are found murdered or raped. It is an old story. Stewart O’Nan, with his refined and elegant prose, takes this story and makes it unforgettable.

Songs for the Missing is about those left behind. It is about relationships and expectations and faith and the very human need to know why and where. The characters in this beautifully written novel include Kim’s mother Fran, her sister Lindsey (only 15 when Kim goes missing), her father Ed, and friends - J.P., Elise and Nina. Each character deals with Kim’s disappearance differently, and as the months rolls into years they each come to terms with it in their own unique way. My heart felt broken by Ed - the father who searches relentlessly for the daughter he could not keep safe and who wishes for her to come to him in his dreams.

One reason he didn’t take the pill was that he longed for a dream of Kim. He didn’t expect her to tell him what had happened, he just wanted to see her again, to be in her presence as if she were alive and none of this had happened. Every night he went to bed hoping she’d come to him. Every morning he was disappointed. -From Songs for the Missing-

This novel touched my heart, especially because of my own involvement with Search and Rescue. O’Nan got it perfectly when he describes the searches, the role of law enforcement and the nearly unbearable hope of the lost one’s family which permeates every search. As the novel unfolds, I found myself immersed in the emotions of the characters, hoping they would find Kim and come to a resolution.

O’Nan has written a tender, sensitive and all too real novel about what happens when a loved one disappears. Highly recommended.

Songs for the Missing
By Stewart O’Nan
Completed May 25, 2008

I cannot imagine one of my sons disappearing into thin air. The panic, the fear, the anger, the questions – it would be all too much to bear. In Songs for the Missing, Stewart O’Nan tackled this topic head on, and after finishing this page-turner (I finished the book in one day), I was left exhausted and heart-broken. Despite the devastating topic, though, I am glad to have read this spellbinding novel.

The story is about the disappearance of Kim Larsen, Kim was pretty, popular and counting the days until she left for college. One afternoon, Kim did not show up for work. It wasn’t until almost dawn when her parents detected that she was missing. They called the police and the search for Kim was on.

Each chapter of Songs for the Missing was written from a different person’s viewpoint. At first, Kim had her voice until she went missing. Then, her father, mother, sister, boyfriend and best friend each “took turns” telling about the search, their hope for a positive outcome and how they tried to cope with the day-to-day aspects of living.

As days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, you saw how each character realized that Kim might not return home. Each character dealt with the grief in different ways. I specifically thought the age-relevance of each character was realistic. The teenagers were equally scared about their fates as the police investigation uncovered drug use; the younger sister dealt with (again) being in her sister’s shadow; the mother worked furiously, advocating for missing persons; and the father struggled emotionally, financially and psychologically but never wanted to show these “weaknesses” to his loved ones.

Their plight was so realistic and heart breaking. Thanks to O’Nan’s superb writing style, you could not help but be drawn to these characters and wonder what happened to Kim. I kept hoping that Kim would be found alive because I wanted these characters to have a “happily ever after” ending. I was so invested in each one of their lives that their grief was my own.

This is my first Stewart O’Nan book, but it certainly won’t be my last. His writing style was gripping and the way he drew his characters reminded me of Jodi Picoult. I highly recommend Songs for the Missing to anyone. I don’t think any reader of literary fiction could be disappointed with this engaging story. ( )