The Missing Frame

by Eli Lazar

The Missing Frame
- Gold Medalist at the 2026 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPYs) ( Canada West Fiction)
- Shortlisted for the 2026 Whistler Independent Book Awards — Fiction.

The Missing Frame is an emotional novel exploring grief, almost love, and the chaos of surviving regret. It delves into heavy emotions and the human heart, but it's told with gentleness, insight, and a touch of wit.

252 pages, Paperback

Published February 26, 2026

About the author

I've been telling stories for as long as I can remember, long before I knew being an "author" was even a real job. What began as margin scribbles grew into a lasting love of character-driven fiction and poetry.
I have a dual degree in psychology and human resources, so naturally, I'm drawn to the quiet, complicated spaces we don't always talk about: grief, almost-love, memory, and the ways we rebuild after loss. That particular emotional undercurrent shapes my debut novel, The Missing Frame - shortlisted for the 2026 Whistler Independent Book Awards in Fiction - a reflective story rooted in relationships, growth, and the moments we can't let go of.
When I'm not writing, I'm usually behind a camera, chasing light and honest emotion. I believe in layered stories, meaningful connections, and endings that feel earned.

Reviews

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC REVIEW

“Forgiveness isn't a moral achievement; it's just a choice to stop bleeding for a wound you didn't cause.”
This is a phenomenal book; it grabs your heart and twists and pulls until it finally breaks free, then hands it back to you so you can figure out how to put it back.
Leo, what an amazing character. He said, “Funny how we don't get to know which photo will be our last. Sometimes we're already in the frame, and we don't realize we're saying goodbye.” That was such a powerful statement.
Liz really tries to find her way, but she is lost without Leo until he finds a way to contact her. Liz does what Leo asks, and on that journey, not only does she rediscover herself, but she also discovers something else too. This book is AMAZING. Check it out!!!

Thanks to Book Sirens for sending me an advanced copy to read and review!

[Margo Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Leo's camera bag. Unmistakable. Smelled like fixer fluid and something herbal - probably guilt... She opened the bag slowly, wary it might start narrating her repressed trauma in a British accent. Instead: his camera, four film canisters, a small leather journal, and - of course - a folded note in Leo's familiar scrawly handwriting, all caps like he was yelling from another dimension."

A short novel about grief and healing - but less depressing than that sounds. I really liked the effervescent and engaging narrative voice. There are some wonderful, well-observed lines. The main character, Liz, develops the rolls of film left by her late friend Leo, and it is like he is guiding her through grief from the beyond the grave. The story reminded me a bit of Nanni Moretti's film 'The Son's Room', where photographs also provide notes of grace, and of Galia Admoni and Wendy Allen's joyful poetry chapbook 'I Get Lost Everywhere, You Know This Now'.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy.

[Kristina Pauls (ARC Reviewer) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Missing Frame by Eli Lazar

The Missing Frame is a quiet, thoughtful story that feels more like an experience than a traditional plot-driven novel. It’s poetic, reflective, and very focused on the emotional interior of its main character.

Liz is a photographer navigating grief, memory, and the feeling that her life no longer fits the way it once did. The writing mirrors that emotional state. It’s artistic and layered, sometimes reading almost like a series of carefully composed photographs. The language slows you down in a good way. It asks you to sit with the emotions rather than rush toward resolution.

This isn’t a book built on twists or dramatic reveals. It’s built on small moments, internal shifts, and the quiet process of healing. The themes of loss, friendship, art, and rebuilding feel honest and human. There’s a softness to the way Lazar handles grief that never feels exaggerated or manipulative.

What I appreciated most was how deeply it leans into reflection. It explores how memory shapes identity and how art can become a way of holding onto something that feels lost. The story unfolds gently, and while it moves at a slower pace, it rewards readers who are willing to engage with it on an emotional level.

If you enjoy character-driven literary fiction with poetic prose and emotional depth, this will resonate. It’s a thoughtful debut about finding connection and meaning after loss.

PUBLISH DATE: February 26, 2026
BOOK TITLE: The Missing Frame
AUTHOR: Eli Lazar
PUBLISHER: Friesen Press
FORMAT: ebook
PAGES: 252
I received a complimentary digital ARC [Advanced Readers Copy] of this book via NetGalley. Thank you to the Publisher and the Author for the opportunity to read and review this title prior to publication. As always, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

[eliza · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Missing Frame is a reflective and comforting story told through the lens of a lost photographer seeking to find her way back to clarity after her world has been shaken.

Through well-developed characters, poetic writing, and vivid descriptions, Eli Lazar has crafted a novel that resonates deeply with readers and leaves a lasting impression. Whether you've experienced the same grief as Liz (the book's protagonist), you find yourself relating to the pain that she encounters. The focus of the story is not to teach you how to rid yourself of affliction, but how to trust the blur and learn to love the simple parts of life again.

I had the honour of being a beta reader while this story was still scribbled notes in a well-loved notebook, waiting for a new chapter after devouring the last one. Seeing the characters and narrative grow from start to finish only strengthened my connection to them. (And yes, I did have to hold back tears and laughter at certain parts.)

This story is for everyone, young and old alike. Regardless of your backstory, your present, or your future, Eli Lazar's "The Missing Frame" will mend a part of your soul that you hadn't realized needed repair.

[Casi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Missing Frame is an unforgettable read that stays with you long after you turn the last page. From beginning to end, the story is deeply emotional, beautifully written, and incredibly captivating. Every chapter pulls you in further, building suspense while exploring powerful feelings that feel raw and real.

The emotions and the depth of feeling throughout this book are so thoughtfully captured and authentically represented through the characters. The way the story portrays complex inner journeys and the many layers of human emotion is both moving and beautifully done. It allows readers to reflect, connect, and truly feel alongside the characters.

A powerful, heartfelt, and memorable read that resonates deeply, one I would warmly and sincerely recommend.❤️

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley.

This story had me gripped from beginning to end. Liz is mourning the loss of her friend, Leo, and has stopped participating in life because of it, including giving up her beloved photography. A bag appears at her door and she knows instantly that it's Leo's. In it, she finds a roadmap from Leo into taking back herself. What follows is a beautiful examination of grief, love and life. It's written in a way I consider reminiscent of Ernest Hemingway in the directness of the words. I felt what Liz felt as she goes along her journey. All in all, this was a beautiful read and I look forward to see what else comes from this author.

[Maria Szekely · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story rooted in emotion rather than plot. Grief arriving disguised as a camera bag is not just a hook, it is symbolic framing. The film rolls, like fragments of memory, become a language that invites readers to move slowly, feel deeply, and sit inside absence. A quiet psychological realism runs through the narrative, making the story both credible and memorable.

[READER VIEWS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eli Lazar’s The Missing Frame is an emotionally sincere and psychologically moving piece of contemporary women’s fiction that looks deep into the process of grief. Beginning with the death of photographer Liz Ferguson’s closest friend, therapist Leo, the novel quickly establishes that this is not a tale about death itself but about the difficult process of learning how to live in its aftermath. Through photography, memory, and human connection, Lazar constructs a gently optimistic and hopeful narrative that argues healing is less about leaving loss behind than learning to carry it differently.

The novel opens with an intriguing mystery. Months after Leo’s death, Liz unexpectedly receives his old camera bag containing a journal and several undeveloped rolls of film, one conspicuously missing from the numbered sequence. Rather than serving as a conventional mystery, however, the photographs become a carefully designed emotional roadmap. From beyond the grave, Leo is actually engaging in one final therapeutic exercise, guiding Liz through memories, photographs, and encounters with former clients whose lives he helped rebuild after devastating personal tragedies.

As Liz develops each roll of film, flashbacks reveal the deep friendship that grew between the compassionate therapist and the talented photographer, while hinting at romantic feelings neither fully acknowledged before Leo’s terminal illness claimed his life. Their relationship avoids melodrama by focusing on genuine emotional intimacy instead of grand declarations, making Leo’s absence feel authentic throughout the novel.

The book really shines in the middle sections, with Liz seeking out the people photographed by Leo during moments when laughter had finally returned after profound grief. Each meeting becomes a self-contained meditation on a different form of loss, including bereavement, addiction, guilt, illness, and suicide. Together, these stories reinforce the novel’s central conviction that grief never completely disappears but slowly becomes something people can live beside rather than beneath.

Photography functions as the novel’s principal metaphor. Every image preserves only a fragment of reality, just as memory captures incomplete versions of the people we love. Blurred photographs, imperfect exposures, and even missing frames become recurring symbols for the uncertainty and incompleteness of life itself. Leo’s repeated advice to “trust the blur” ultimately grows into the book’s philosophical center, encouraging acceptance of ambiguity instead of demanding perfect closure.

Later in the book, we are introduced to Dorian, a paramedic grieving the loss of his partner Rhia and their unborn child. Their relationship develops patiently, built upon shared vulnerability instead of dramatic attraction. One of the novel’s greatest strengths lies in refusing the familiar romance trope that new love erases old love. Instead, Lazar presents affection as expansive rather than competitive, allowing both characters to honor their past while cautiously embracing their future.

While Dorian and Liz are visiting one of Leo’s patients, an Alzheimer’s patient named Patty, they come up with the idea of establishing a novel and unconventional community grief center. Together, they begin working toward their vision of creating a place where people can paint, photograph, dance, and create without the pressure to “move on.”

Although readers seeking fast-paced plotting or major narrative surprises may find the novel understated, The Missing Frame succeeds because it remains consistently focused on emotional authenticity rather than external drama. Its strength lies not in plot twists but in its compassionate understanding of mourning, forgiveness, and the courage required to begin again. At its heart, The Missing Frame argues that grief is not an illness to overcome but a lifelong companion that gradually changes shape. Rather than presenting healing as forgetting the dead or “moving on,” the novel suggests that recovery means learning to carry loss while remaining open to joy.

In the end, The Missing Frame proves to be a warm, heartfelt debut that treats grief with uncommon patience and empathy. Through its memorable photographic imagery and emotionally intelligent characters, Eli Lazar reminds readers that healing rarely comes all at once. Instead, like a photograph slowly emerging in a darkroom, it develops frame by frame, blur by blur, until life gradually comes back into focus.

[LyndaIn Oregon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely luminous debut novel about loss, grief, and returning to the light. Eli Lazar has crafted a wonderful and honest tale here with perfectly imperfect characters who struggle with loss and live with the reality that “healing isn’t neat” and may arrive as “unexpected land mines disguised as everyday objects.”

The main thrust of the novel follows photographer Liz Ferguson in her journey around and occasionally over the top of those unexpected land mines, courtesy of a detailed emotional roadmap left by Leo, the friend and not-quite-lover she lost too soon. Liz’s path to healing always feels genuine, never mawkish. Yes, there’s sadness here, in her own life and in the lives she touches as she makes her own return to light, but there is also a keen understanding that everyone’s journey, everyone’s timetable, everyone’s particular minefield, is different.

There’s not a false step anywhere in this work, and there are so many lines that rise up off the page and drill themselves right into the reader’s permanent consciousness. Here’s one, as Leo warns Liz about attempting to avoid grief: "He once told Liz: 'Some people build walls. You built a darkroom. Same instinct—just better lighting.' She never forgot that. It was the kind of sentence that didn’t ask to be answered. Just ... absorbed. Tucked away in the mental file marked 'dammit, that’s good'."

Yeah. Dammit, that's good.

This is a must-read. Buy two copies, because you’re going to want to keep one (the one you’ve filled with highlighting) and one to share.

[Sneha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Missing Frame is basically soft sadness wrapped in a camera lens and yeah, it hurts. You go in thinking it’s a simple grief story, and then, you’re emotionally invested, slightly broken, and staring into the void with Liz.

The whole “camera bag full of memories” thing? Yeah, that’s not just a plot device, that’s emotional warfare. Every roll of film feels like Leo reaching out from the past like, “hey, don’t forget me,” and I was NOT okay. It’s intimate, raw, and honestly feels a little too real at times.

What I loved is that this book doesn’t try to fix grief in 50 pages like some toxic positivity guru. Liz is messy, lost, and trying her best, and that’s exactly why it works. Healing here isn’t pretty, it’s slow, awkward, and full of moments where you just sit there like yeah, life really be like that.

Lines that stood with me:

“YOU ONCE SAID THE CAMERA SAVES THINGS WE’RE NOT BRAVE ENOUGH TO CARRY.
TIME TO CARRY THEM.
START WITH THE LAUGHTER. TRUST THE BLUR.”

Also, the writing?? So soft, so poetic, but not in an “I’m trying too hard” way. The whole photography metaphor, light, blur, focus, it just hits differently. Watching Liz “develop” the film while processing her emotions? Lowkey genius.

It’s a quiet read, but don’t let that fool you, it lingers. This is the kind of book that will randomly pop into your head at 2am and make you emotional for no reason. Cute.

[Riley Loftus · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Missing Frame is a testament to relearning life after loss. Poetic, poignant, and beautifully descriptive, the book pulls you in from the first page. Though it's a short read, it is one full of thought and reflection. Where it lacks plot or focus, it makes up for with it's evocative and artful composition. The expression of grief hits close to home, and accurately explores everything that comes with losing those you love. The book shines in it's emphasis of living in the moment, no matter how quiet, messy, or brutally honest that moment may seem.

Thanks to Victory Editing and NetGalley for an ARC of this book!

[Alexandra Lazar · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Missing Frame”by Eli Lazar is a deeply engaging and emotional read that kept me hooked from beginning to end. Every page flows effortlessly into the next, making it almost impossible to put the book down.
What struck me the most was the intensity of the emotions it evokes. I found myself completely immersed in the story: moved, touched, and at times overwhelmed. It made me cry, smile, and reflect.
It truly feels like an emotional rollercoaster, in the best possible way.
The Missing Frame is more than just a story;
it leaves a lasting impression long after you’ve finished it.

[Cris Geo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this story. I read the beta version, but the final polish in this published edition makes the story truly shine. It’s rare for a second read to be even more impactful than the first, but this one was.
Eli Lazar has a gift for creating a cinematic mood that feels incredibly vivid. The tone is effervescent and light on the surface, but don't let that fool you; the story is gripping and definitely doesn’t let you off easy. It’s a perfect blend of style and substance. Highly recommend!

[Ioana Groza · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most memorable books I've read in a while. In spite of such a somber theme, the writing is uplifting and inspirational. Liz's story stayed with me long after I finished reading the book.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book lingers in my mind and encourages thoughtful reflection.