Author(s): Maike Wetzel

Fiction

A missing child is a nightmare for any family. But what happens when they come back?

Eleven-year-old Elly is missing. After an extensive police search she is presumed dead, and her family must learn to live with a gaping hole in their lives. Her parents' marriage is torn apart by grief, while her sister Ines swings between jealousy and guilt.

Then, four years later, Elly reappears. Her strange behavior is initially put down to the trauma of what has happened to her, but soon her family is plagued by doubts. Elly's grandmother is sure this is not her granddaughter and her sister tests her with childhood games and memories, but her mother cannot bear the thought of losing her child again, and her father just wants the family back together again.

Is this dark-eyed stranger really the same little girl who went missing? And if not, who is she?

Elly is a gripping tale of grief, longing, and doubt, which takes every parent's greatest fear and lets it play out to an emotionally powerful, memorable climax. It is a literary novel with all the best qualities of a thriller, and a fascinating exploration of how well we can ever truly know one another or ourselves.