I’m really enjoying these reviews of other 2021 debuts, and If I Disappear by Eliza Jane Brazier certainly lived up to my hopes of finding some great new authors.
WOW.
Do you ever start reading a book and feel like the words are somehow imprinting themselves on you? This is one of those.
I read a hell of a lot, it’s always been my thing. I’m talking a hundred books a year, maybe more (I can easily read a book a day on holiday, two if they’re easy going) so I don’t remember many of them, because there literally is not room in my brain for that many plots. This one however, will stay with me.
Sera Fleece is a lost person. She doesn’t know who or what she is meant to be. Her only comfort is a podcast about other people who have gone missing. She feels connected to the podcaster, like they understand her. Like they know who she is. So when that podcaster herself disappears, Sera goes looking for her.
This book is so atmospheric, set in end of no-where America, on a desolate ranch in the mountains. The writing is starkly beautiful, and dark. The characters are pitiless and raw. I loved it. I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time. Kudos, Eliza…
