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The Missing Half
“When I was a little girl and children went missing it was just one of those sad things. It never happened to anyone I knew ... It happened over breakfast, or lunch. It happened to parents who were careless”
Alice Winters is not a careless mother. Yet one awful day her two-year-old daughter is taken from her pushchair outside a village shop. Alice’s life becomes every parent’s worst nightmare as she begins questioning everything and everyone she knows, vowing to leave no stone unturned until Grace is found.
Now, ten years later, Alice believes that the publication of her book recollecting the events surrounding Grace’s disappearance will be the final needle in the haystack needed to bring her home.
Who had taken Grace and why? Will Alice ever be ready to accept the truth, no matter how difficult it is to hear?
For fans of Diane Chamberlain, this is a must read.
Alice Winters is not a careless mother. Yet one awful day her two-year-old daughter is taken from her pushchair outside a village shop. Alice’s life becomes every parent’s worst nightmare as she begins questioning everything and everyone she knows, vowing to leave no stone unturned until Grace is found.
Now, ten years later, Alice believes that the publication of her book recollecting the events surrounding Grace’s disappearance will be the final needle in the haystack needed to bring her home.
Who had taken Grace and why? Will Alice ever be ready to accept the truth, no matter how difficult it is to hear?
For fans of Diane Chamberlain, this is a must read.
176 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 2, 2013
29 people are currently reading
302 people want to read
About the author
Brooke Powley
3 books17 followersBrooke is as a mother, hen keeper, teacher, PA, private tutor and dog walker.
In her spare time you’ll usually find her swimming in a lake or riding over a mountain on her bike. She drinks a lot of tea, likes books and loves cake.
She lives in the Lake District with her family.
Her first novel – “The Missing Half” is out now was published in August 2013. Followed by "Letting go of Emma" in February 2014 and "The Other Wife" in October 2014.
In her spare time you’ll usually find her swimming in a lake or riding over a mountain on her bike. She drinks a lot of tea, likes books and loves cake.
She lives in the Lake District with her family.
Her first novel – “The Missing Half” is out now was published in August 2013. Followed by "Letting go of Emma" in February 2014 and "The Other Wife" in October 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
August 21, 2016
It's a very powerful story. It is like reading every parent's nightmare. A moment of poor judgement and lives are forever changed as one of Alice and Jack's twin girls (Grace) is abducted from her pushchair outside a shop in a quiet Cornish village. The story is told through Alice, Edd the private investigator that searches for her long after the police give up as well as other characters that come into play as the story progresses.
It's been ten years since Grace was abducted but Alice refuses to give up on finding her daughter even though she has moved on with her life and married again and had a son with her new partner. She writes a book about her experiences in her search for Grace in the hopes that it will jog someone's memory or lead to her finding out what exactly happened to her.
Along the way some hard lessons are learned on both sides of the equation and it ends on a bittersweet note.
It's been ten years since Grace was abducted but Alice refuses to give up on finding her daughter even though she has moved on with her life and married again and had a son with her new partner. She writes a book about her experiences in her search for Grace in the hopes that it will jog someone's memory or lead to her finding out what exactly happened to her.
Along the way some hard lessons are learned on both sides of the equation and it ends on a bittersweet note.
August 17, 2016
This wasn't a bad story but it was totally eclipsed by mistakes ALL THE WAY THROUGH !! And some very peculiar ones as well which has me wondering if English isn't the author's first language the way she puts words in the wrong order. It almost dropped to 2* when I realised she used to be a teacher and private tutor !! I find that pretty worrying.....
All the way through she used pouring and not poring, I have never, ever seen someone misspell intentions as intensions, which she does twice. Then monies' worth and not moneys' and councillor and not counselor, a horrendous and not an, be and not been.....and this gem-long deep BREADTHS as opposed to breaths !!! For real ? She spells Ormond as Ormand and embankment as embanking and it's Joe Bloggs not Blogs. Then uses ration and not rationalise and griped instead of grappled-they don't even mean the same thing !!
Here's one of those sentences with the words in the wrong order-"...and for morning tea at a cosy little that cafe we frequented together...." and another-"....various people had me answer over again and over". This one misses a word altogether-"We took Anna from and brought her"...and another written strangely-"A fellow prisoner of my father's managed to finish him off"and then "All good and well, isn't it"......I have never come across a book written like this. Toward the end we're given "It's better for people to think that that, isn't it" and "I wasn't really sure how would to react"
Matthew was as he's written all the way through till she altered it to Mathew once.....just careless. There were missing apostrophes and fullstops, they used instead of the, needless capital letters used a great deal, for example in Officer/Stepfather/Newspapers/Authorities and then uses it one minute in Shell Cottage and then drops the one in cottage...nothing is very consistent. She calls someone early evening in America and supposedly woke them when their times are behind ours-I find that pretty sloppy.
She mentioned Ethan at one point and we'd not yet been introduced to him so that was more than a little baffling. We're rushed over Alan's story altogether near the end which was a great pity and we never learn where Chloe has been for years !!!
I certainly won't read another by her. I'm shocked nobody noticed any of these obvious mistakes and advised the author. The story itself was good and I'd certainly not have ploughed through this lot to the end if it wasn't but as a whole presentation it really lacks.
All the way through she used pouring and not poring, I have never, ever seen someone misspell intentions as intensions, which she does twice. Then monies' worth and not moneys' and councillor and not counselor, a horrendous and not an, be and not been.....and this gem-long deep BREADTHS as opposed to breaths !!! For real ? She spells Ormond as Ormand and embankment as embanking and it's Joe Bloggs not Blogs. Then uses ration and not rationalise and griped instead of grappled-they don't even mean the same thing !!
Here's one of those sentences with the words in the wrong order-"...and for morning tea at a cosy little that cafe we frequented together...." and another-"....various people had me answer over again and over". This one misses a word altogether-"We took Anna from and brought her"...and another written strangely-"A fellow prisoner of my father's managed to finish him off"and then "All good and well, isn't it"......I have never come across a book written like this. Toward the end we're given "It's better for people to think that that, isn't it" and "I wasn't really sure how would to react"
Matthew was as he's written all the way through till she altered it to Mathew once.....just careless. There were missing apostrophes and fullstops, they used instead of the, needless capital letters used a great deal, for example in Officer/Stepfather/Newspapers/Authorities and then uses it one minute in Shell Cottage and then drops the one in cottage...nothing is very consistent. She calls someone early evening in America and supposedly woke them when their times are behind ours-I find that pretty sloppy.
She mentioned Ethan at one point and we'd not yet been introduced to him so that was more than a little baffling. We're rushed over Alan's story altogether near the end which was a great pity and we never learn where Chloe has been for years !!!
I certainly won't read another by her. I'm shocked nobody noticed any of these obvious mistakes and advised the author. The story itself was good and I'd certainly not have ploughed through this lot to the end if it wasn't but as a whole presentation it really lacks.
August 18, 2013
A father makes a snap decision to leave his sleeping child in her pushchair outside their local shop and so changes the course of not just one family’s future.
The Private Investigator hired by the family has his own reasons for persevering with the case and his dogged determination persists over 10 years as the family try to come to terms with their daughter’s absence.
I especially liked that each of the main characters narrated their own part in the story, this helped me make a stronger connection with them giving this very believable plot so much more depth and detail.
It was only after I finished that I learned that this was the author’s debut novel and that I did find unbelievable as her work was both polished and original.
The Private Investigator hired by the family has his own reasons for persevering with the case and his dogged determination persists over 10 years as the family try to come to terms with their daughter’s absence.
I especially liked that each of the main characters narrated their own part in the story, this helped me make a stronger connection with them giving this very believable plot so much more depth and detail.
It was only after I finished that I learned that this was the author’s debut novel and that I did find unbelievable as her work was both polished and original.
November 9, 2013
Bought this from Amazon and read it in 1 day. I really enjoyed it and considering it is Brooke Powley's first book, she should be very proud of herself! I would have given it 5 stars but there were some spelling/grammar mistakes in it, maybe time to invest in a new proof reader! Other that than I was impressed and have passed it onto my Mum to read, I'm sure she too will love it.
August 20, 2013
"The Missing Half" by Brooke Powley is a powerful literary gem that deals with the tragic issue of child abduction.
At age 2 one of two twins is abducted in Cornwall and for ten years her mother campaigns and fights for publicity and police action to find her missing daughter, never giving up.
The book is written in several narratives, adding multiple dimensions to the search and the story. It would be difficult to give away too much without spoiling the experience of the book.
At the beginning of the book it is mainly the mother, Alice, who writes to her missing daughter and tells her exactly how the tragedy occurs and what happens immediately afterwards.
The account is moving, honest and includes a lot of statistical and basic information on child abduction. We learn about the ordeal and the many psychological aspects of the unique situation.
Later on different narratives bring in more perspectives and add extra dimensions to the story and the book reads like a psychological thriller, although I would say for the majority it reads like great literary fiction.
This book is an excellent but somewhat emotional experience, often very sad and melancholic, so keep the tissues handy, but definitely worth the time. It is thought provoking and an amazing literary debut.
At age 2 one of two twins is abducted in Cornwall and for ten years her mother campaigns and fights for publicity and police action to find her missing daughter, never giving up.
The book is written in several narratives, adding multiple dimensions to the search and the story. It would be difficult to give away too much without spoiling the experience of the book.
At the beginning of the book it is mainly the mother, Alice, who writes to her missing daughter and tells her exactly how the tragedy occurs and what happens immediately afterwards.
The account is moving, honest and includes a lot of statistical and basic information on child abduction. We learn about the ordeal and the many psychological aspects of the unique situation.
Later on different narratives bring in more perspectives and add extra dimensions to the story and the book reads like a psychological thriller, although I would say for the majority it reads like great literary fiction.
This book is an excellent but somewhat emotional experience, often very sad and melancholic, so keep the tissues handy, but definitely worth the time. It is thought provoking and an amazing literary debut.
April 6, 2018
I'd intended to save this one until I went on holiday. But decided with my Kindle to hand that I'd read a few pages before we went away. I hadn't anticipated being hooked from the first page. the following night and a few tears later, I read the final page. The story begins through the eyes of Alice telling her missing daughter the story of her life both before and after her disappearance and how the search developed over the 10 years. As the story develops we read how the search continues at the 10th anniversary of Grace's disappearance and how the lives of those involved have changed.
To learn of Edd's motivations for doing the role he does helped to explain why he was so determined to travel as far as he did and do everything he was able to find Grace. To read about everyone's motivations for their actions from their own point of view helped to make a connection with each of the characters and to understand WHY everyone did what they did.
I was completely hooked from start to finish and I was eagerly turning the pages to find out how the story would end.
To learn of Edd's motivations for doing the role he does helped to explain why he was so determined to travel as far as he did and do everything he was able to find Grace. To read about everyone's motivations for their actions from their own point of view helped to make a connection with each of the characters and to understand WHY everyone did what they did.
I was completely hooked from start to finish and I was eagerly turning the pages to find out how the story would end.
April 2, 2014
I won this book from a goodreads giveaway and honestly I was all set to really dislike it. The first half I found reasonably boring but as I got further in I began to be really intrigued into Alice and Grace's story. In the end I really enjoyed the book as you really weren't expecting what happened. I would recommend this book but would also have to say to persevere the first few chapters which I found quite tedious and a little confusing. Either way It was a good book and I am looking forward to more from the author.
October 10, 2014
I have to be honest & say I struggled with this at first. I found it a difficult subject, knowing so many high profile cases, which the book gave reference to without naming names.
It gets off to a slow start, but plods along enough to keep you interested. Then mid way through, it's pace suddenly steps up a few gears, & become really gripping, & the pace is much faster. Aside from the tough subject, this is a well written, & good book.
It gets off to a slow start, but plods along enough to keep you interested. Then mid way through, it's pace suddenly steps up a few gears, & become really gripping, & the pace is much faster. Aside from the tough subject, this is a well written, & good book.
February 6, 2014
Although I found the main ending of the book a little predictable as I read it, it is a well written book that makes you feel the events really happened.
I liked the style it was written which not only made the characters easy to follow but also made it a page turner in that you wanted to see how things turned out for all involved.
I liked the style it was written which not only made the characters easy to follow but also made it a page turner in that you wanted to see how things turned out for all involved.
February 27, 2018
This book was not written for the likes of me. It's about a toddler who was taken from her pushchair outside a shop and what happened afterwards. Mostly, the book is written from the point of view of Alice, the mother, so the emotional power is clearly a huge element in the novel's impact. As an older guy, I have to admit that the opening chapters were almost too much for me - I am not used to having my emotions pushed so much by a book. Not only the mother who felt guilty about going to work that day, but the father who left her outside the shop and whose guilt was overpowering, we are almost manipulated into feeling for them.
However, later in the tale, we get to hear from other people involved and personally, I preferred the second half of the book where we move on from the claustrophobic atmosphere of the immediate family and understand what happened to Grace, the "missing half". Here, Brooke Powley moves to a more plot oriented story and we get to hear about the perpetrators of the kidnapping.
There are some errors [surely they speak German in Austria, not Austrian!] and I wanted to know more about Hope, the twin sister of Grace, who is the only character we don't hear from [strange!] However, one cannot criticise the page turning power of the story and it deserves to be popular.
However, later in the tale, we get to hear from other people involved and personally, I preferred the second half of the book where we move on from the claustrophobic atmosphere of the immediate family and understand what happened to Grace, the "missing half". Here, Brooke Powley moves to a more plot oriented story and we get to hear about the perpetrators of the kidnapping.
There are some errors [surely they speak German in Austria, not Austrian!] and I wanted to know more about Hope, the twin sister of Grace, who is the only character we don't hear from [strange!] However, one cannot criticise the page turning power of the story and it deserves to be popular.
September 14, 2017
A slow starter, gathered more momentum at about half way through. An interesting concept.
April 19, 2018
Very good.
One of the most touching tales that I have read with regards to missing children. Maybe a wee bit twee at the end, but still well worth a read.
One of the most touching tales that I have read with regards to missing children. Maybe a wee bit twee at the end, but still well worth a read.
August 14, 2013
Brooke Powley's début novel, "The Missing Half," tells the story of how a whole family's life turns upside down following the disappearance of two-year-old Grace from outside a shop in their seaside town. The first part of the story is told from the point of view of Grace's mother Alice as she speaks to her missing daughter. However it is about half way through the book when we find out what actually happened to Grace on that fateful day that the story gets really exciting and I was hurriedly turning the pages, wanting to find out what was going to happen next.
Without wanting to give anything away, I especially loved the ending as I felt the story really came full circle and the pay-offs for all the characters were inspired. I would recommend this book to fans of Diane Chamberlain and look forward to reading more of Brooke's books in the future.
Without wanting to give anything away, I especially loved the ending as I felt the story really came full circle and the pay-offs for all the characters were inspired. I would recommend this book to fans of Diane Chamberlain and look forward to reading more of Brooke's books in the future.
April 1, 2014
A poignant and timely story that depicts the destruction of a family when a child is abducted. Told from different characters' perspectives, The Missing Half is a sadly familiar tale reminiscent of recent media stories, but one that gives an in depth insight into the effects on people associated with a missing person and how the drive to discover the truth can have devastating repercussions. Brooke Powley manages to sensitively describe every emotion and reaction of the characters when their ultimate fear is realised with the loss of a child. Sometimes painful to read but like Alice, the reader is driven to find out what has happened to Grace. Unputdownable!
January 21, 2017
5** Wow! What a stunning book- one that grabs you and you can’t put down. A twin goes missing when left for 3 minutes outside the local shop however this isn’t the usual “child goes missing story”. It is much more, so much more. It is more about families and hope and trauma and tragedy that leads some to act completely out of character because something happened to affect them. Characters spring out of the pages and grab you. You empathise and then change your mind. Which side should sympathy lie with and whose child is she really? “When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, you have to show life you have a thousand reasons to smile”. A very interesting read.
November 29, 2016
This book was good. not bad, not great, but good. The reason I've given it three stars is because of the absolute lack of any kind of research into American language, or culture, for huge parts of this book. It just seems like utter laziness to me and it really threw me out of the book more than a few times. No excuse for this in this day and age, next time maybe have an American read it over for you first.
January 25, 2017
Found the first half of this book not much different to a list of events. Not much feeling or emotion given the subject. The second half picked up but some of it was unbelievable. Overall I enjoyed the book, the ending was what I would have wanted. Think it would have been better if the first half of the book was alternated between chapters with the last half, it would have held my interest more.
August 5, 2014
this started out as a book to the missing daughter and then changed into chapters by various main characters. I enjoyed it but found it stretched credibility at times and there were several point I found difficult not to question. it is a good debut novel although quite short and if you suspended belief could enjoy.
November 18, 2014
Wow this was a great book, I couldn't put it down - it's only because I had to work & sleep that it took me a few days to read!
Very well written on a subject few fiction books cover - and in the first person from lots of different characters.
Really engrossing - with the exception of a slightly far fetched moment towards the end I'd highly recommend this book.
Very well written on a subject few fiction books cover - and in the first person from lots of different characters.
Really engrossing - with the exception of a slightly far fetched moment towards the end I'd highly recommend this book.
December 6, 2014
A beautifully written book with so much emotion. I couldn't put it down but sometimes I was too emotional that I had to. Definitely one which you need to be in the correct frame of mind to read. My only reason for a 4 star review was there were a couple of times when talking about real life incidents the facts were wrong and that bugged me.
September 26, 2014
A little gem of a book that I picked up cheaply on kindle. I really identified with Alice and her never give up attitude looking for her missing daughter. The author really got over the raw emotions and desperation. And dealt with the fact that there are no real happy endings
April 23, 2016
I read this on my Kindle in short bursts but if I had the time I would have read it straight through.
It was interesting to read the story from so many voices allowing you an opportunity to see events from all sides.
A feel good read and I would be interested to read other books by this author.
It was interesting to read the story from so many voices allowing you an opportunity to see events from all sides.
A feel good read and I would be interested to read other books by this author.
November 22, 2016
This was a very difficult and heart wrenching book to read. I was routing for the mother, and felt incredibly sad for the daughter as well. I couldn't put this book down and I was pleased to see the unusual ending. I thought it was well worth the read.
January 4, 2014
Although the plot was quite exciting, I found this book poorly written. The characters had very little depth to them and the ending seemed unlikely. Overall, it was an irritating read.
February 6, 2014
I had to keep reminding myself this was a story.. Couldn't put it down!
March 8, 2014
A real page turner - found it hard to put down
March 5, 2014
A very well written book, dealing with the heartache of an abducted child & the lives it tears apart. Thought provoking read.
April 28, 2014
I read this book really fast because it was so good. A real page turner.
January 15, 2015
I enjoyed this book. story kept me wanting to find out what happened
September 11, 2014
really really enjoyed this book. 5 stars is not enough
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews