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De verdwijning van de jonge Johnny Hopkins verandert de levens van zijn familie en vrienden voorgoed. Want hoe ga je verder als je nooit precies zult weten wat er is gebeurd? Wanneer stop je, als moeder, met wachten of met hopen? Alle leden van het gezin Hopkins gaan op hun eigen manier met het verlies om, en Johnny blijft onlosmakelijk met ieders leven verbonden. Ook al is hij na jaren nog steeds spoorloos...
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
27 people are currently reading
382 people want to read
About the author
Nicci Gerrard
21 books181 followersHalf of the writing team known as Nicci French . Nicci Gerrard & Sean French also write separately.
Gerard still works as a journalist for the Observer, covering high-profile trials.
Novels include Things We Knew Were True (2003), Solace (2005) and The Moment You Were Gone (2007), The Winter House (2009) and Missing Persons (2011).
Gerard still works as a journalist for the Observer, covering high-profile trials.
Novels include Things We Knew Were True (2003), Solace (2005) and The Moment You Were Gone (2007), The Winter House (2009) and Missing Persons (2011).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
August 2, 2012
I could not put this book down. Extremely well written and I found myself getting very attached to the characters, particularly his Johnny's younger sister. Johnny goes missing, and the whole story focuses on and is told from the point of view of those left behind. It was achingly sad, in parts, and I was worried that it would end unresolved. It was resolved, but I think even if it hadn't been it would still have been one of the best books I have read this year. I particularly loved the subtle addition of Quaker meetings. The character who attended the meetings was asked if he believed in God. He replied: "No, but I do believe in Quaker meetings"!
June 19, 2019
An exquisitely written novel. The subject matter is tough and dealt with very beautifully but I found it hard - there was light in it but I needed a bit more.
June 20, 2012
You can't tell with people - you think you know them and then you discover you don't. We're all mysteries, to each other and to ourselves...'
Isabel Hopkins takes her son Johnny off to start his course at University. She is very sad to leave him, and feels lost when she arrives home having left him there. He is a sensitive, kind and loving son. They keep in touch as he settles in. Then she stops hearing from him, she can't get hold of him on the telephone, and he isn't replying to letters. Johnny's father Felix discovers that the University doesn't know where Johnny is either, and that he hasn't been attending his lectures or submitting his work. Frantic, his parents visit the University, talk to his tutor, his flatmates, but no one can tell them where he is. Then they contact Will and Baxter, friends from school, anyone who may have some idea where Johnny has gone.
The cover copy, or synopsis, for this novel clearly tells us that this is not Johnny's story, although I have heard the author describe the novel as being haunted by Johnny. Instead, it is the story of the impact of his disappearance on Isabel and Felix, his parents, of his sisters, Tamsin, and in particular Mia, and his friends. Everyone who cares about him, and who care about his family. It is a frightening, frustrating situation for them all. The author portrays in depth the struggle to cope with Johnny's disappearance. How can someone they love, who is such a fundamental part of their lives and of the family, just vanish, and no longer be in contact with them. There has been no incident, no upset they can think of that has triggered this; they seemed a loving family, as Mia explains: 'It was like a bad dream, the kind of thing that happens to other people, not to a family like us: middle class, comfortably off, apparently happy.'
The novel offers a detailed portrait of how Johnny's disappearance affects those he was close to, primarily Isabel, Felix and Mia in different ways. Mia is his younger sister and to her, Johnny was something of an idol and a hero, she was close to him and feels his absence deeply. As the story progresses, we learn how her life is weighed down and shaped by her loss, and by her experience of seeing how her parents changed as people due to their anguish.
For Isabel, and for Felix, live is utterly changed, and their marriage is tested to the absolute limits, as they each react and attempt to cope in their own separate ways. Isabel loses weight, can't eat, can't sleep or think straight. She holds on to a blind optimism and denial, buying Christmas presents and keeping Johnny's room ready as if he will walk back in very soon. It's intensely sad reading how she changes and withers as the days pass by, she is desperate, suffering, agonising about the fact that she feels her son must have felt that he couldn't turn to her. She blames herself, not recognising that perhaps Johnny chose to go away, not because of something his parents did or didn't do, but because he needed something different himself. She has the support of close female friends Jenny and Leah doing what they can to help. No matter how severe the strain that Isabel feels under, Felix believes:
'that she was stronger than him, because she could bend and therefore would not break. She was like those sea grasses that would lie flat against the earth in a storm but gradually straighten when the wind died down. She was crushed and broken, but she endured and she would never give up. She had absorbed grief and fear into her body and made it part of her flesh and blood, but he had held it at arms length...'
Felix's way of coping and wanting to feel useful initially is to plunge himself into researching every aspect of Johnny's life in a vain attempt to discover anything that might suggest why he has gone. His study at home, formerly for his academic work, becomes a place dedicated to this research, and he goes beyond Johnny and starts to collate information on other missing people. He becomes 'a lonely detective, embroiled in his investigation. There was masses of information but not a single clue.' Through Felix the author offers us a glimpse of the practical ways and means of trying to find a missing person, but to me the novel is always ultimately about the human story, the emotional turmoil and agony.
I found this a very emotional and insightful book, not a quick read, and due to the nature of the story, very bleak at times, with so much despair, self-destruction, sadness and guilt felt and experienced by these characters. I had to read and digest a little at a time, and then come back to the book. I felt compelled to finish reading and discover the ultimate outcome to the events. I have enjoyed novels written by this author as part of the Nicci French collaboration with Sean French, and this individual work is an interesting contrast to those novels, with a slower pace, more contemplative, examining human emotions in depth.
Isabel Hopkins takes her son Johnny off to start his course at University. She is very sad to leave him, and feels lost when she arrives home having left him there. He is a sensitive, kind and loving son. They keep in touch as he settles in. Then she stops hearing from him, she can't get hold of him on the telephone, and he isn't replying to letters. Johnny's father Felix discovers that the University doesn't know where Johnny is either, and that he hasn't been attending his lectures or submitting his work. Frantic, his parents visit the University, talk to his tutor, his flatmates, but no one can tell them where he is. Then they contact Will and Baxter, friends from school, anyone who may have some idea where Johnny has gone.
The cover copy, or synopsis, for this novel clearly tells us that this is not Johnny's story, although I have heard the author describe the novel as being haunted by Johnny. Instead, it is the story of the impact of his disappearance on Isabel and Felix, his parents, of his sisters, Tamsin, and in particular Mia, and his friends. Everyone who cares about him, and who care about his family. It is a frightening, frustrating situation for them all. The author portrays in depth the struggle to cope with Johnny's disappearance. How can someone they love, who is such a fundamental part of their lives and of the family, just vanish, and no longer be in contact with them. There has been no incident, no upset they can think of that has triggered this; they seemed a loving family, as Mia explains: 'It was like a bad dream, the kind of thing that happens to other people, not to a family like us: middle class, comfortably off, apparently happy.'
The novel offers a detailed portrait of how Johnny's disappearance affects those he was close to, primarily Isabel, Felix and Mia in different ways. Mia is his younger sister and to her, Johnny was something of an idol and a hero, she was close to him and feels his absence deeply. As the story progresses, we learn how her life is weighed down and shaped by her loss, and by her experience of seeing how her parents changed as people due to their anguish.
For Isabel, and for Felix, live is utterly changed, and their marriage is tested to the absolute limits, as they each react and attempt to cope in their own separate ways. Isabel loses weight, can't eat, can't sleep or think straight. She holds on to a blind optimism and denial, buying Christmas presents and keeping Johnny's room ready as if he will walk back in very soon. It's intensely sad reading how she changes and withers as the days pass by, she is desperate, suffering, agonising about the fact that she feels her son must have felt that he couldn't turn to her. She blames herself, not recognising that perhaps Johnny chose to go away, not because of something his parents did or didn't do, but because he needed something different himself. She has the support of close female friends Jenny and Leah doing what they can to help. No matter how severe the strain that Isabel feels under, Felix believes:
'that she was stronger than him, because she could bend and therefore would not break. She was like those sea grasses that would lie flat against the earth in a storm but gradually straighten when the wind died down. She was crushed and broken, but she endured and she would never give up. She had absorbed grief and fear into her body and made it part of her flesh and blood, but he had held it at arms length...'
Felix's way of coping and wanting to feel useful initially is to plunge himself into researching every aspect of Johnny's life in a vain attempt to discover anything that might suggest why he has gone. His study at home, formerly for his academic work, becomes a place dedicated to this research, and he goes beyond Johnny and starts to collate information on other missing people. He becomes 'a lonely detective, embroiled in his investigation. There was masses of information but not a single clue.' Through Felix the author offers us a glimpse of the practical ways and means of trying to find a missing person, but to me the novel is always ultimately about the human story, the emotional turmoil and agony.
I found this a very emotional and insightful book, not a quick read, and due to the nature of the story, very bleak at times, with so much despair, self-destruction, sadness and guilt felt and experienced by these characters. I had to read and digest a little at a time, and then come back to the book. I felt compelled to finish reading and discover the ultimate outcome to the events. I have enjoyed novels written by this author as part of the Nicci French collaboration with Sean French, and this individual work is an interesting contrast to those novels, with a slower pace, more contemplative, examining human emotions in depth.
June 30, 2012
Nicci Gerrard's last book, The Winter House, was one of the most amazing stories I have ever read in my life. And I have read quite a few books by now. So 'Missing Persons' had big and powerful footsteps to step into but it almost pulls it off. Almost only because I didn't really expect? approve? like? the ending. There is something off about the last couple of chapters but I can't exactly put my finger on. Until then it was a brilliantly written rollercoaster ride. Strong language and emotions, strong characters, believable characters and most of all a believable scenario. I loved the wide time frame she uses to tell her story, I loved that a couple of things were left unsaid, left unsolved, left alone. Life is like that. Life doesn't always provide the answers and leave you with a happy, neat ending. I loved Johnny even though he was missing most of the book. It's a rare skill to make your reader love someone who isn't actually there so applause for Nicci Gerrard.
July 23, 2019
This is a beautifully written book which makes you think. It’s stayed with me since I’ve finished, which is always the sign of a good book.
The writing is honest and open, and it deals with a few sensitive issues .
Could this happen to any of us? Could any of us respond as the characters in the book do? I believe so.
The writing is honest and open, and it deals with a few sensitive issues .
Could this happen to any of us? Could any of us respond as the characters in the book do? I believe so.
April 30, 2014
Love Nicci French. Nicci Gerrard not so much. The characters didn't inspire much empathy and I found it hard to continue reading at times. Some of the narrative was tedious, especially the endless descriptions of food. I ended up feeling annoyed with myself for wasting precious time reading this.
March 16, 2024
How can a book about a teenager who disappeared be this dull???
March 9, 2021
Dit boek is een van de eerste die ik toevoegde aan mijn to-read op het moment dat ik startte met Goodreads. Na al die jaren (zo'n 8), stond deze er alleen nog steeds op, maar vorige week besloot ik me er eindelijk aan te wagen.
Johnny verdwijnt. Onverwachts. Niemand heeft een spoor van hem gezien. Waar is hij heen? En wat doet het met je familie als je plotseling verdwijnt?
Ik vond dat idee van een verdwijning onwijs interessant klinken. Ik was heel nieuwsgierig wat deze familie ging doen en of hij uiteindelijk wel weer gevonden wordt en wat er dan precies gebeurd is.
Helaas vond ik de uitwerking van het boek niet zo fijn. De eerste hoofdstukken gingen nog wel. Dit was wel interessant, waardoor ik ook vlot door de hoofdstukken heen ging. Maar na de echte verdwijning, kabbelde het een beetje. Het voelde heel langdradig. Er gebeurt vrijwel niks. Geen grote aanwijzingen of onverwachte gebeurtenissen. Je leest en komt dus vooruit in het boek, maar voor mijn gevoel kom je niet verder in het verhaal. Je blijft stilstaan op dezelfde plek. Ik vermoed dat dit ook zeker zo zal zijn voor mensen die in deze situatie zitten, maar ik geloof niet dat er bewust voor gekozen is om zo te schrijven.
Zowel zijn moeder als vader vond ik totaal geen leuke karakters. Enkel zusje Mia vond ik leuk om te volgen. Ik was dan ook blij dat zij op den duur ook een stem kreeg, hierdoor heb ik nog wel kunnen genieten van de laatste 20%. Het einde voelt niet echt bevredigend en eigenlijk zit ik nog steeds met een hoop vraagtekens. Ik vraag me af of Nicci Gerrard gewoon niet zo succesvol is in schrijven in haar eentje of dat dit gewoon geen succesnummer is. Ik heb nog 2 boeken van haar staan, dus de tijd zal het leren.
Johnny verdwijnt. Onverwachts. Niemand heeft een spoor van hem gezien. Waar is hij heen? En wat doet het met je familie als je plotseling verdwijnt?
Ik vond dat idee van een verdwijning onwijs interessant klinken. Ik was heel nieuwsgierig wat deze familie ging doen en of hij uiteindelijk wel weer gevonden wordt en wat er dan precies gebeurd is.
Helaas vond ik de uitwerking van het boek niet zo fijn. De eerste hoofdstukken gingen nog wel. Dit was wel interessant, waardoor ik ook vlot door de hoofdstukken heen ging. Maar na de echte verdwijning, kabbelde het een beetje. Het voelde heel langdradig. Er gebeurt vrijwel niks. Geen grote aanwijzingen of onverwachte gebeurtenissen. Je leest en komt dus vooruit in het boek, maar voor mijn gevoel kom je niet verder in het verhaal. Je blijft stilstaan op dezelfde plek. Ik vermoed dat dit ook zeker zo zal zijn voor mensen die in deze situatie zitten, maar ik geloof niet dat er bewust voor gekozen is om zo te schrijven.
Zowel zijn moeder als vader vond ik totaal geen leuke karakters. Enkel zusje Mia vond ik leuk om te volgen. Ik was dan ook blij dat zij op den duur ook een stem kreeg, hierdoor heb ik nog wel kunnen genieten van de laatste 20%. Het einde voelt niet echt bevredigend en eigenlijk zit ik nog steeds met een hoop vraagtekens. Ik vraag me af of Nicci Gerrard gewoon niet zo succesvol is in schrijven in haar eentje of dat dit gewoon geen succesnummer is. Ik heb nog 2 boeken van haar staan, dus de tijd zal het leren.
June 14, 2017
'Missing persons' is de originele titel van deze roman vol emoties. Een 'missing person' is niet iemand die zomaar gewoon verdwenen is maar iemand die dag in dag uit gemist wordt. Met steeds nog een sprankeltje hoop hem ooit terug te zien. En hem, eens die hoop veranderd is in vertrouwen, pas echt te kunnen loslaten...
Het blijft moeilijk te aanvaarden dat een jongen uit zo'n liefdevol gezin geen andere uitweg ziet dan alles en iedereen te ontvluchten. Spijtig genoeg is de Johnny uit dit boek lang niet de enige.
Het blijft moeilijk te aanvaarden dat een jongen uit zo'n liefdevol gezin geen andere uitweg ziet dan alles en iedereen te ontvluchten. Spijtig genoeg is de Johnny uit dit boek lang niet de enige.
November 30, 2020
Bravo!!! – Once again Nicci Gerrard has written a compelling story.
I was immediately drawn into Hopkin’s family life.
The novel is beautifully written. Nicci Gerrard always crafts her tale with a wonderful and evocative use of language, She is also a master of characterisation, from the gradual disintegration of Johnny's father, Felix to the sleazy Fergel.
I know the book was out in 2012 but this was the BEST NOVEL I have read in 2020!!!
I was immediately drawn into Hopkin’s family life.
The novel is beautifully written. Nicci Gerrard always crafts her tale with a wonderful and evocative use of language, She is also a master of characterisation, from the gradual disintegration of Johnny's father, Felix to the sleazy Fergel.
I know the book was out in 2012 but this was the BEST NOVEL I have read in 2020!!!
January 10, 2025
Had me in tears. Wonderful book
January 31, 2015
Rarely does a book make me cry, but this one did. A haunting, bleak but ultimately hopeful look at how a beloved son's disappearance tears a family apart and changes everyone in it - how our happiness and contentment can rest on such fragile foundations, and how truly awful it must be to lose someone you love in such a shocking, seemingly meaningless way.
June 19, 2012
Laborious -and in my opinion at least not worth the effort.
September 13, 2023
Johnny Hopkins goes off to university and disappears. His family and friends embark on a frantic search for him.
The book concentrates on the effects of Johnny's disappearance on his friends and especially on his family, which is rather unusual in such books.
Many novels feature missing persons as part of their plot, but most concentrate on the search for them, or on the missing persons themselves. The reaction of their friends and family usually form part of the story and are not the central element of the plot.
There have also been quite a lot of TV series on missing persons, where the reactions of friends and families of the missing have been central, but these have usually been documentary, or re-enacted documentary rather than fiction. I don't know whether it's the influence of such TV series, but I think I prefer such themes not to be fictional, but rather to be based on real people and real events. You can make up a story about why someone would want to disappear, or why some villains would want to make someone disappear (Shatter by Michael Robotham is a good example of that genre), but making up a story about how people react somehow doesn't strike me as being as interesting as the real thing.
I realise that this is a personal preference, perhaps also driven by my interest in family history, which is a search for missing persons over several generations. So this is not about this particular book, which I thought was interesting and well written; it's rather about my own personal preferences.
One example is Re: Beaglehole, a court case that established the South African law of missing persons. Absalom Beaglehole went missing in England, but his brother died in South Africa, and their sisters in England wanted the missing Absalom declared dead so that they could claim his share of their brother's inheritance (in this instance, real life diverges quite widely from the fictional story). If you're interested, you can read about what happened in the Beaglehole case here: Deceased Estates, Probate Records and Missing Persons
But, my personal preferences aside, the characters in Missing Persons are believable, and its worth a read.
The book concentrates on the effects of Johnny's disappearance on his friends and especially on his family, which is rather unusual in such books.
Many novels feature missing persons as part of their plot, but most concentrate on the search for them, or on the missing persons themselves. The reaction of their friends and family usually form part of the story and are not the central element of the plot.
There have also been quite a lot of TV series on missing persons, where the reactions of friends and families of the missing have been central, but these have usually been documentary, or re-enacted documentary rather than fiction. I don't know whether it's the influence of such TV series, but I think I prefer such themes not to be fictional, but rather to be based on real people and real events. You can make up a story about why someone would want to disappear, or why some villains would want to make someone disappear (Shatter by Michael Robotham is a good example of that genre), but making up a story about how people react somehow doesn't strike me as being as interesting as the real thing.
I realise that this is a personal preference, perhaps also driven by my interest in family history, which is a search for missing persons over several generations. So this is not about this particular book, which I thought was interesting and well written; it's rather about my own personal preferences.
One example is Re: Beaglehole, a court case that established the South African law of missing persons. Absalom Beaglehole went missing in England, but his brother died in South Africa, and their sisters in England wanted the missing Absalom declared dead so that they could claim his share of their brother's inheritance (in this instance, real life diverges quite widely from the fictional story). If you're interested, you can read about what happened in the Beaglehole case here: Deceased Estates, Probate Records and Missing Persons
But, my personal preferences aside, the characters in Missing Persons are believable, and its worth a read.
September 13, 2017
de vrouwelijke helft van Nicci French heeft helemaal haar eigen schrijfstijl en genre. helemaal anders maar even vlot! heerlijk!
Even deze boek aan de kant gelegd toen zoonlief naar Japan vertrok: hij moest ook maar eens plots verdwenen zijn ... Maar gelukkig: hij kwam heelhuids en vol enthousiasme terug en het boek kon dus verder uitgelezen worden
"Isabel dacht: als er honderden, duizenden mensen door de straten dolen, zijn er dan ook honderden, duizenden mensen zoals ik, die naar hen, op zoek zijn? Schimmen en schimmenjagers .
Even deze boek aan de kant gelegd toen zoonlief naar Japan vertrok: hij moest ook maar eens plots verdwenen zijn ... Maar gelukkig: hij kwam heelhuids en vol enthousiasme terug en het boek kon dus verder uitgelezen worden
"Isabel dacht: als er honderden, duizenden mensen door de straten dolen, zijn er dan ook honderden, duizenden mensen zoals ik, die naar hen, op zoek zijn? Schimmen en schimmenjagers .
June 5, 2024
I really don’t know why I persevered with this book. It was so very tedious, dull and repetitive. It’s a book full of misery and I didn’t really empathise with anyone other than Mia either. I know it would be a nightmare situation if your teenager went missing but this book just endlessly wallowed in the misery and negativity
Not my cup of tea at all
Not my cup of tea at all
Read
March 13, 2020After listening to a few CD's of this novel I am wondering how many people contributed to writing this rubbish?
Could not get into it - it took so long to discuss any event or subject, but without an explanation of what was happening.
Don't bother.
Could not get into it - it took so long to discuss any event or subject, but without an explanation of what was happening.
Don't bother.
January 3, 2023
The story of how individuals within a family coped and failed to cope with a student son disappearing from university over the seven years that followed his disappearance. Well written and,at times, emotionally draining.
March 14, 2018
Indrukwekkend verhaal, maar op sommige momenten te langdradig 3,75☆
October 21, 2018
Helaas vond ik hier niks aan. Had hoge verwachtingen omdat ik Nicci French zo goed vindt, maar Nicci zonder French is duidelijk niet hetzelfde.
October 27, 2018
Took ages for me to finish. Found it just dragged on and didn't really have much a story line
October 23, 2019
Very sad 😥
April 22, 2020
I just didn't find the characters particularly likeable, this isn't a book I'd recommend to others.
May 2, 2020
I really liked this book, but it wouldn’t have hurt to have had more on Felix’ view.
October 21, 2021
Prachtig geschreven, de pijn om een vermiste geliefde invoelbaar en zelfs voorstelbaar gemaakt. Zo erg dat ik het boek af en toe weg moest leggen.
July 17, 2022
A bit slow in places and nearly gave it a 4 star rating, but it redeemed itself midway through to the end.
Read
August 21, 2022Hemels. Elke ouder moet dit lezen. Tot tranen toe bewogen.
February 3, 2024
Found this gripping. Couldn’t put it down. Very thought provoking.
I liked the way she told told the story from different viewpoints.
I liked the way she told told the story from different viewpoints.
August 13, 2024
Good read. Sad but also uplifting. We should be kinder to the homeless
January 24, 2025
Erg mooi boek. Naast alle gevoelens van de familie en vrienden van de verdwenen Johnny, vond ik het ook "fijn" en interessant om zijn kant van het verhaal te lezen.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews