Missing: A Memoir

Two months after a life-altering fight with her mother, who had cut off virtually all contact, debut author Harrison is shaken when her mother suddenly goes missing. Harrison presents a gripping and raw account of the unfolding events that took place five years ago when the author was a 20-year-old sophomore at Brown. Harrison struggles to make sense of what could have happened to the woman who had once been her best friendand who held the family together after divorce. For 40 days, the author and her two brothers exhaust and distract themselves with police reports, endless fliers posted around dozens of towns near their mother's Massachusetts home, and chasing down false sightings. Finally, after nearly six weeks, her mother's body is found, and the siblings reconcile themselves to the reality of how their mother died. Harrison falls apart, trying to "self-destruct unnoticed" with pills, alcohol, and a halfhearted suicide attempt with a razor. A year after her mother's death, with few answers, she finds some relief attending a bereavement group. The writing is solid, but the narrative might have benefited from a little more time and distance (Harrison recently graduated from Columbia's M.F.A. program). (Aug.)