Welcome Back!
I just finished a book that Jack gave me for Christmas called
The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld.
From Goodreads:
“Where are you, Madison Culver? Flying with the angels, a silver speck on a wing? Are you dreaming, buried under snow? Or—is it possible—you are still alive?”
Three years ago, Madison Culver disappeared when her family was choosing a Christmas tree in Oregon’s Skookum National Forest. She would be eight-years-old now—if she has survived. Desperate to find their beloved daughter, certain someone took her, the Culvers turn to Naomi, a private investigator with an uncanny talent for locating the lost and missing. Known to the police and a select group of parents as “the Child Finder,” Naomi is their last hope.
Naomi’s methodical search takes her deep into the icy, mysterious forest in the Pacific Northwest, and into her own fragmented past. She understands children like Madison because once upon a time, she was a lost girl, too.
As Naomi relentlessly pursues and slowly uncovers the truth behind Madison’s disappearance, shards of a dark dream pierce the defenses that have protected her, reminding her of a terrible loss she feels but cannot remember. If she finds Madison, will Naomi ultimately unlock the secrets of her own life?
Told in the alternating voices of Naomi and a deeply imaginative child, The Child Finder is a breathtaking, exquisitely rendered literary page-turner about redemption, the line between reality and memories and dreams, and the human capacity to survive.
Me:
I had a hard time with this book for two reasons: First, I had a hard time with Madison’s abductor, Mr. B., and what he would do to her. (It is not graphic, but Madison shares things that make you realize what Mr. B. has done to her.) Also the repetition of Naomi being lost from herself was brought up over and over and over again. We got it.
Anyway, Madison, the little girl, is very imaginative, creates almost an alternative personality,The Snow Child, in order to survive and make sense to what is happening to her. It’s amazing what people can do to survive a horrible situation. I do not like Mr. B. He makes me sick. But, the author is such an amazing writer, that at times I actually felt bad for Mr. B. If a writer can make me feel for the “bad” person in a book, then that’s a well written book.
It’s a good story, disturbing at times, but it did keep my interest and I would recommend it to others. I think in the end, I would give this book 4 stars out of 5. (3.5 due to the disturbing things Mr. B does to Madison.)
