"In a sense, foraging in the past was precisely what she'd come to Kansas for. Although re-digging the same hole was irritating and made her weep, she had to do it. What choice did she have? Find distractions, as she did at home?"
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Gone Missing by Barbara Sherrod Trafford Publishing
book review by Corinna Underwood
Marjorie Kander already has her hands full. Not only is she suffering the worst that menopause has to offer, her days are filled with the demands of her needy husband and children and the troubled clients at her psychology practice. The drama gets kicked up several notches when one of her patients commits suicide, her daughter announces her engagement to an alcoholic and she discovers her best friend and business partner is having an affair with her son.
To escape the turmoil and find some space to reassess her life, Marjorie takes a trip to Kansas, leaving only a note saying she needs some time to herself. Her family and best friend are initially stunned that the steadfast Marjorie should do such an impulsive thing. Gradually, they each begin to find reasons in their own actions that may have led to her disappearance. Each of them wavers between empathy for Marjorie and anger at her for leaving them. Meanwhile, for the first time in her life, Marjorie is thinking about herself as she rents a cottage, starts a new treatment plan for her menopause and begins to learn how to trust the inhabitants of a close-knit rural town. Marjorie decides she must examine the past before she can move onto her future, but will this help her to reunite with the family and her best friend?
This is a soul searching story of a woman used to spending her life caring for others, now struggling with the pleasures and guilt of finally having a slice of life of her own. Within the well-developed characters readers will find attributes and flaws that are common to us all. The fragility and complexity of familial relationships are tantalizingly wrought to outline the narrow boundaries of trust, desire and friendship and what happens when these boundaries are transgressed.