The Year She Disappeared: A Novel

by Ann Harleman

Nan and her four-year-old granddaughter Jane are taking their first airplane trip together, flying from Seattle to the East Coast. But this is no ordinary excursion. Nan is abducting Jane. Nan's own daughter, Alex, believes Jane's father has been sexually abusing her, and she's asked Nan to take her away, to hide her. But when she and Jane arrive in Providence, Rhode Island, things begin to go wrong. The old friend whom Nan expected to stay with has vanished. Her son-in-law is on her trail. And Alex disappears. "I'm too old for this!" Nan thinks, in furious, self-pitying despair. She wasn't a good wife; she wasn't a good mother. Now she's stranded in a strange city, without friends or money or even her own identity, in sole charge of a very unhappy little girl. When her new life offers new friends, new work, and even a new lover, she must decide whom to trust. The Year She Disappeared explores the possibility—and the price—of late blooming love. Will the trials Nan faces during her year on the lam break her? Or will she discover who she really is?

Genres: Fiction

307 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 2008

About the author

Ann Harleman is the author of two story collections, THOREAU'S LAUNDRY, and HAPPINESS (which won the Iowa Short Fiction Award); and two novels, THE YEAR SHE DISAPPEARED, and BITTER LAKE. Among her awards are Guggenheim and Rockefeller fellowships, the Berlin Prize in Literature, the PEN Syndicated Fiction Award, and the O. Henry Award.

Ann was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in linguistics from Princeton University, and she has lived and worked behind the Iron Curtain and (much more happily) in Italy.

After two decades teaching fiction writing at the Rhode Island School of Design, Ann is currently on the faculty of Brown University. She makes her home within sight of San Francisco Bay.

Reviews

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, I will admit that I did skip pages - where the descriptive passages of the past weren't necessary or relevant to the story.

But I had started this a long time ago, and got only a few pages in before giving up on it.

This time, I've stuck with it, and I'm glad I did.

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book but the situations in it were just too fantastic [emphasis on fantasy:] to believe, and the author left too many loose ends of the plot unresolved. The ending was just plain silly and completely unbelievable. This book got 4.5 stars from Amazon reviewers - this is the biggest mystery of the entire book.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the story-line to be interesting and lively. I was not a big fan of Ann's writing style. I'm not totally dissing the book but I had a challenging time trying to be consumed by the story. I'm not one to write a review to tell the premise of the story. One can read the synopsis here on Goodreads or from the book itself. I just like noting how I felt about the writing, the characters and the story. While this one didn't send me over the edge it was a story worth reading to the end.

[grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Held my attention and was pretty enjoyable. Ending was pretty unrealistic and the fact that it's never revealed whether or not she was abused really pisses me off but whatever

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book jacket caught my attention and I was really looking forward to reading it... but I was really disappointed in the book.

Alex is worried that her husband Gabe is abusing her daughter.

Alex asks her mother "nan" to take her daughter and hide away. Nan is basically a fugitive on the run; she has to abandon her life and identity and she is only in contact with her daughter through ads in the personal section of the paper.

Things do not go as planned and the storyline gets very farfetched.
I found myself skipping paragraphs and pages, that seemed to have irrelevent info.

Will Nan get caught? Was Gabe really abusing his daughter. The book doesn't even answer some of the main questions.

[Darci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again, I so wish for a 3.5 star button... This book was really hard to put down... sometimes. And the end, although lovely, was a bit contrived. I had one of those "Oh, come on, like THAT would ever work" moments, but when I just went with the story, it was really a nice ending. I liked that Gabriel got stuck in his pursuit of his daughter although I didn't like that the allegations were never pursued. On the other hand, it was one of those things no child should ever go through. In the end, a great read, an interesting story, but quite obviously a story.

[Mary Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A grandmother in Seattle kidnaps her 4-year-old granddaughter after the child's mother reveals that the girl is being molested by her father. Nana takes Jane to Providence, Rhode Island, where her best friend lives, only to find the woman dead. Now what?? This is a very interesting book, only a little implausible in parts, with great characters. I never was sure whether or not the kid was really molested. Her mom turned out to be a complete kook!

[Carey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted this book to be so much more than it was...A grandmother is asked to flee with her granddaughter as the mother suspects she is being abused by the father it sounded so exciting and daring...it was a lot of feeling sorry for oneself and whining. The characters were quite flawed, almost to the point you wanted to slap them and say "Quit being so selfish!" I didn't enjoy this authors writing style. It seemed to ramble and I found myself skimming the book. Bummer.

[Evalyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of the book, a grandmother being asked by her daughter to kidnap her grand-daughter to keep her safe, offered an original story but the grandmother (the main character)fell into bizarre, off-beat activities that were not believable in a mature, supposedly classy, woman.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot was more about Nan, the grandmother. It was much better than I thought it would be. In the beginning you think it will be about the granddaughter's trauma but it was about her grandmother dealing with the past and coming to be accepting of who she has become.

[Carol Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

What this book has going for it:
1. The main character is a 60-year-old grandmother.
2. She grows and gains strength throughout.
3. No cliches.
4. A strong story, very well written.
5. Intelligent but not self-consciously so.

[Sandi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Grandma Nan's tales of her adventures from the day her daughter begged her to run away with her abused granddaughter, till her time served in prison for "kidnapping". The story could have been so much more. The author's excessive use of parenthesis drove me crazy! Ha...

[Dottie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed her first novel Bitter Lake - not far enough into this one to make a judgment.

[Caralee · Rating 5 out of 5]

wonderful , it should have sequal

[Tyra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book hard to put down but I also found the premise a little preposterous. It would be a good book club book since there is definetly alot of topics to discuss!

[Little Bee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing and unbelievable.