2021 Book Review #29: The Year of Fog

 

This novel was by a new-to-me author that I discovered on our town library  shelves.  The cover art and the title intrigued me.

STORY SUMMARY

Abby Mason lives and works in San Francisco.  She is in her early 30s and is a photographer.  She is engaged to Jake, a teacher, and she is soon to be a stepmom to Jake's little girl Emma who is just 6 years old.  Emma hasn't seen her mother since she was about 3 years old.  The mother, Lisbeth, is not a part of their lives and Jake has sole custody.  

One very foggy July afternoon at Ocean Beach, Emma and Abby are walking along when Abby stops for a brief moment to take a picture of a dead seal.  And life changes instantly.  When she looks up, Emma has disappeared. 

It seems she just disappeared in the fog...or the turbulent waters of the Pacific Ocean....or somewhere in the parking lot, or a stranger's van, or the road with many  cars flashing by.  Where is Emma??

The days turn into weeks...and then months....The police begin to lose interest but Abby, Jake,  and a couple of friends keep the command post going. The fliers on the telephone poles and in store windows begin to fade away.  Jake finds solace in his religion (Catholic faith) and in the scientific probability that Emma is never coming home. Abby, on the other hand, walks the city and beaches.  She attempts to recover the past and the little girl that she has lost.   She even goes as far as Costa Rica when some clues turn up.  The truth of Emma's disappearance will stun her  and will unravel with much force. 

MY THOUGHTS

This book is suspenseful,  fast moving throughout most of the book and a picture of family, loss and hope.  It shows us what happens when we make certain choices and when choices are made for us.  It shows us what memory can do to us and for us.  

I loved the character development and the fast pace of this book until it got into the mid-way point where the author went into some detail of the scientific aspects of memory.  I found myself getting a bit bored with that part and felt like the hunt for Emma was getting too unbelievable.  

But...at the same time, I was impressed with Abby's perseverance and determination to pursue what her gut instinct was telling her.......

This is a deeply moving novel and I learned alot about photography and memory although like I said earlier, some of the parts about the nature of memory was a bit too much for me.  Thankfully, those pieces were short. 

The ending is well done although not at all what I predicted.  Which is ok.  

A quote that I really liked is as follows:

".....that each choice leads to some other choice, and another, and another, so that a single, seemingly meaningless decision reverberates through an entire life.  I didn't know it was a moment in time that would help to shape the course of my life, that I would spend the decade and a half after Ramon's death searching for someone who could love me as completely as he did.  Only no do I understand that it was this search that led me to Jake, and therefore to Emma." (pg 351, The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond, c.2007)

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 14 and older.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this an 8.