She's Not There

by Tamsin Grey

When Jonah and Raff wake up on Monday, their mother Lucy isn’t there.


Although Jonah is only nine, he is the big brother, and knows enough about the world to keep her absence a secret. If anyone found out she’d left them alone, it could be disastrous for him and Raff; and she'll be back, he’s nearly sure.


With growing unease, he puzzles over the clues she’s left behind. Who sent her the flowers? Why are all her shoes still in the house? Why is her phone buried in a plant pot?


And who, in their diverse south London community, might know more about her than he does?
For fans of My Name is Leon and The Trouble with Goats and Sheep, Tamsin Grey’s outstanding debut is tender, funny and unsettling.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult, Ebooks

464 pages, Paperback

First published April 18, 2018

Reviews

[Repix Pix · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un arranque buenísimo.
Desarrollo lento y espeso.
Muchas páginas de relleno y sin sentido para llegar a lo importante.

Una pena.

[Sally Boocock · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heartrending yet beautiful tale of two young brothers who wake up one morning to find their mother has disappeared. The story tells of their life over the course of a week. There are many laugh out loud moments especially with Raff who is the 4 year old. I totally fell in love with them both. Jonah the 9 year old always trying to do the right thing and tries so hard to figure out where his mum has gone. We find out as piece by piece he puts it all together. A totally entrancing book for anyone who loved Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine or The trouble with goats and sheep. An absolutely stunning debut novel. I will certainly be recommending this to my customers. Well done Tamsin Grey.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book incredibly moving. The author, through the eyes of 9 year old "world on his shoulders' - Jonah, describes feelings and memories in ways that captures a child's authenticity and that resonate deeply such as 'the creature' in Jonah's stomach and 'angry Saturday'.

I was drawn to the theme of in-deliberate neglect pitted against parental affection (highlighted without judgement). To what extent Jonah internalises neglectful behaviour contrasts with his ability to be emotionally connected to his little brother Raff and indeed to his mother whose reasons for her own inability to be consistently present is revealed in glimpses of her backstory.

The story reminds me of the Cement Garden where the parentless children also 'lie low' to avoid being taken into care and deals with adult issues through a child narrator.

The plot is a page turning thriller and the writing captivating because of the pitch perfect and poignant metaphors and the en pointe dialogue. I can't wait to read more by this author and will certainly be choosing it for my book club.

[Tony Laurance · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully engaging and original account of two boys' response to their mothers disappearance. The story, told from the perspective of the older, nine year old boy is astoundingly authentic and, by turns, searing and hilarious. Both boys are beautifully and convincingly drawn, displaying innocence alongside maturity and resourcefulness. By contrast, the two adults at the centre of the story are deeply flawed but somehow redeemed by the boys' capacity for forgiveness and love. The story is set in a south London community which takes on a character of it own through a cast of characters including the local school teacher, a 'raggedy man', the green shop man and the knocking shop owner and through prose which masterfully evinces the spirit of the place - the tumble down house next door, the littered streets, the vehicles sweltering in the heat, the cumulus nimbus - and which at times is almost mystical. The ending is somewhat harrowing but the outcome, told through the prologue, is nonetheless hopeful.

[Andy Weston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I briefly scanned some early reviews of this debut novel and put it off, assuming wrongly, that it was one of those psychological thrillers about London designed (I say cynically) for commuters on the Undergound.
In fact it’s a difficult novel to categorise into a genre, and that makes it interesting for starters. Much fiction asks the reader to suspend disbelief, and additionally elements of the plot here do seem overly contrived, but it certainly holds attention, and though very sad, it is and easy and rewarding read.
9 year old Jonah and 6 year old Raff wake up one morning and their mother, their single parent, is gone. Though not narrated by Jonah, Grey’s writing is from his perspective and in doing so she succeeds in providing the greatest interest in the story, how children deal with such change in their lives, and ultimately, how resilient they are.

[Jacintha Muhamdiramge · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real page turner! She (mum) is not there, but where is she? What happened while her two boys slept? A heart rending tale of the ingenuity, innocence and courage of two young boys struggling to manage on their own rather than hand the problem over to adults, the social services, and granny.

[Caff Growleyknee · Rating 5 out of 5]

She's Not There is disconcerting, troubling and tense whilst being moving and funny. It is convincingly told by Tamsin Grey through children's voices and children's perspectives, especially Jonah, Lucy's older child.

The story is told simultaneously through Jonah's memories and reflections a few years after he woke up to find his beloved mother is not there; and also onwards from that Monday morning when 9 year old Jonah, and later younger brother, Raff wake up to find they're on their own. Their plight moves out of the frying pan and into the fire, but out of devotion and loyalty to their missing mother they endeavour to keep her absence a secret.

Jonah is a thoughtful, dreamy boy, he looks for clues - wine glasses, a missing mobile phone and flowers, to tries and figure it out. As a reader, I was devoted to him, musing and attempting to understand adult worlds, his feelings came through so strongly that when he had butterflies, I had butterflies, when his heart was racing, I too was breathless. I was so involved in the moment by moment events that I didn't see Grey’s clever reveal coming at all.

I am looking forward to reading this book again and all the other books by this remarkable author.

[Faith Strange]

DNF on page 168

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's so many thrillers around nowadays. When this opened, I thought it was going to be more of the same. However, unlike most of this genre, it's actually driven by realistic and engaging characters. Yes, there's tension, but it takes a back seat to an exploration of the two brothers' relationships, resulting in a well written and moving story. Very much looking forward to her next one!

[GalicianFee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cuando compré este libro,del cuál no había escuchado hablar nunca, me dejé llevar por su sinopsis esperando encontrar un thriller psicólogico ameno y divertido.
Pues bien, no, este no es el caso de sinopsis que lleva a engaño, ya que el libro es fiel a ella pero tengo que decir que no me esperaba lo que he leído.
Tengo que decir también que soy una persona que "desconfía" bastante de los comentarios, opiniones que suelen aparecer en la portada /contraportada de los libros. En el caso de este:
🔖 "Una novela maravillosa, artística y adictiva" Ian McEwan
🔖 "Brillante y emocionante (y muy adictiva)" Kit de Waal
🔖 "Hipnóticamente buena" Lisa Jewell

¿Pues bien? 100% Acertados 👌

Me he encontrado con un libro buenísimo, diferente, fresco, profundo y muy original.

Tras la desaparición de su madre, Jonah y su hermano pequeño Raff deciden no decir nada por miedo a ser enviados a un orfanato o con su abuela la "Yaya mala". En el transcurso de los acontecimientos y de el día a día de los pequeños, iremos dilucidando que le ha podido ocurrir a Lucy.
La autora sabe mantener la intriga hasta el final en un libro en el que junto con ese factor también encontramos otros temas como el racismo, la individualidad, las (falsas) apariencias, la indiferencia... Y un mundo complejo visto desde los ojos de dos niños.

Me he encariñado con Jonah sobremanera, ese pequeño gran hombre, que a sus sólo 9 años ha tenido que hacerse cargo de su hermano pequeño y llevar un gran peso sobre sus hombros.

Me han encantado los personajes, todos con su muy acertada relevancia, bien definidos y con los que es imposible no empatizar.

Este libro es mucho más que un thriller, es un libro tierno, duro, triste, real, lleno de inocencia y profundas reflexiones... Es un libro con el que he reído y he llorado porque es imposible no sentir una vez estamos inmersos en la historia.

Me ha parecido brillante y 100% recomendable.

[Tom Browning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smashing!

[Jenny Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jonah, aged nine and his younger brother Raff live with their mother, Lucy but wake up one morning to find that she has disappeared. Their stepfather is in prison so they are completely alone. Scared to tell anyone what has happened in case they are sent to stay with their “wicked” Grandmother, Jonah makes the decision to try and convince the outside world that everything is normal, while trying to piece together exactly what has happened to his Mum.

There is a lot to like about this book. Whilst not a unique plot, this is a well-conceived book. The author has a real talent for descriptive passages which evoke the sights, smells and sounds of the tableau she is portraying for the reader. Sometimes I wished they hadn’t been quite so graphic as the description of Jonah and Raff’s house after Lucy left will remain with me for quite a long time and I wish it would go away. The neighbours are an eclectic bunch of weird and wonderful eccentrics who are well developed, if not always entirely plausible – I only wish mine were that interesting! The behavior of Jonah and Raff, both individually and when interacting with each other, rang true and was often sweet and funny, at other times heartbreaking. I didn’t see the twist in the tale coming at all – well done Tamsin.

I did however find that the book was a little slow and repetitive in places which made it drag – hence the three star rating (I should add that there were other places where it was quite a page turner). It was not always a comfortable read either, partly to do with the graphic descriptions alluded to above, but I suppose there is no reason why a good book has to be comfortable.

This is Tamsin’s debut novel and it is definitely worth a read. I’m not sure if I would recommend this particular novel to the faint-hearted but I would certainly read more of her books if I came across them.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

(A summary of my book club’s thoughts.) She’s Not There stems from the primal fear of the mother disappearing. One morning in July 2013, nine-year-old Jonah wakes up to find the front door of the house open and his mum gone. It takes just one week for the household to descend into chaos as Jonah tries to adjust to his new role as a carer for his foul-mouthed little brother, six-year-old Raff. The boys have a sixth sense about the need to keep their circumstances a secret from neighbours, family members and their school, while dramatic irony explores what readers know but they do not (e.g. a pregnancy test taken in for show and tell!). In this vivid London community, the children are the stars and the grown-ups, only sketchily drawn, continually fail them. We observe a series of reversals as the characters we’ve assumed to be ‘good’ or responsible turn out to be negligent, and vice versa.

It is daring of Tamsin Grey to look at such a situation of neglect and to refrain from passing judgement on the mother’s behaviour – even though we as readers might be tempted to do so in spite of Lucy’s mental health struggles. Her recreation of a childhood perspective is convincing overall, but we weren’t always sure that the way the children spoke or the level of knowledge they had about sex was fitting. Although the book felt overlong, dragging in the middle, the boys’ plight is gripping, and the question of how good people can do bad things lingers. Many aspects of the ending felt unrealistic or disappointing, but we found it clever how Grey has set readers up to believe certain things through false foreshadowing but then twists it around at the last minute.

Two similar reads I can recommend if you particularly liked this novel are The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon (children fancy themselves amateur detectives after a disappearance in their neighbourhood) and Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman (set on a similarly rough London estate).

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book club read and I was slightly put off at the start with the few crass bits in it, I thought they were rather inappropriate. But I got over them and thankfully the story started to develop and there wasn’t anymore crassness.
Two young boys Jonah and Raffy wake up one morning to find their mum missing and they are afraid that Bad Granny will take them away again, so they decide to keep it a secret from everyone. All the people in their lives don’t seem to notice or be that worried about their appearance or behaviour, asking neighbours for food and wandering about the streets at all hours. The street they live on appears to be rather rundown and the majority that live around them are on the poorer/wilder scale.
I forgot sometimes that it’s being narrated from a nine year old and it’s only as the story developed further that certain things made more sense when I remembered this fact.

It’s a really good read and I got into it pretty quickly and was eager to keep reading and find out how it ended and what would become of their mum. I didn’t really like how it all ended though, just didn’t seem fair.

[Miriam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, and most of all the vivid, adorable and completely real two small boys. The tension gradually ratchets up throughout the book, as their mother's disappearance becomes more mysterious, and glimpses of clues are found from scraps of conversation and memory; but this is balanced with beautiful, comical scenes between the brothers. Jonah, the nine year old narrator, is utterly believable as an anxious, loving child, protective of his vulnerable family and desperate to look after them, but also still a child, fun-loving, stroppy, sometimes adoring of his brother, sometimes infuriated by him - and grossed out by bins...
The south London community is as much a character as the boys, and the parks, houses, animals as much a feature of their lives as the shop-owners and squatters. The twists and turns of the plot are shocking and heart-rending, making it totally un-put-down-able, but in the end, the love that persists despite of all life's messy complexities left me feeling uplifted as well as moved.

[Melanie Greene · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't a fan of the book, and maybe because the storyline is so sad. Two young boys wake up to find their mother missing. They pretend to others that she is home because they are afraid of being taken away and living with their "Bad Grandma". For a few days and most of the book they think she will return. They find her shoes, phone and other personal items they don't think she'd leave without. Their father is in prison but is due to be released any day (they don't know that at first). The reason for him being in prison has to do with the mothers extra marital affairs. They run out of food, toilet paper and things are pretty rough, you feel very sad for these boys. Their family friends are irritated at the mom being so lazy, usually hungover etc. and not being attentive to the boys, they come over to ask for breakfast and get turned away (which was weird for me that anyone would turn away a child careless mom or not). You do find out where the mom is in the end and are surprised by the people that know. I was mad that they didn't help the boys sooner.

[Diane Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was beautifully written, from a child’s perspective - parts of it from Jonah as a 9yr old and parts of it as a 15yr old. What I loved is the authenticity of his voice - something which I’ve realised is hard for an author to achieve and sustain throughout a whole novel. The simple, non-judgemental, yet provocative and compelling way he conveys the world around him…the neglect he has lived through, his interpretations of the adult behaviours he sees around him (from family members to teachers, neighbours to business owners, squatters to pets/animals), his struggles with trust, and with figuring out who is good, who is bad, or do good and bad even really exist. His logic is often skewed, and his loyalties misguided, but that is what is so endearing and believable about the things he says and does. This author has captured the essence of ‘Jonah’ perfectly….and his little brother is just a delight as a character as well.

[susan p poole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Except she is.

At first I thought the style of this book wasn't for me, I got distracted from it once or twice before starting again, I had not read a description about it before I started, I should have.
Two little boys who find themselves abandoned by circumstances beyond their comprehension, how they dealt with it day by day was to me amazing, is a nine year old really so clear in his head about what the outcome of telling a secret would mean to him in order to protect his younger sibling and himself.
It's quite heart breaking to know their pain, I yelled at the pages, 'tell Alison'
There's a lot of love, sadness, heartbreak, mystery and even humour in this book, beautifully put together, intricately described. I hate to give away too much because I don't wish to spoil it for anyone. Go by the stars and read it.m

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of two little boys who wake up one morning to find their mother has disappeared.
Little Jonah is only 9 years old and immediately assumes the role of protector, doing his best to look after his little brother Raff, 4 years old. While trying to find out where his mother is, Jonah keeps the fact she is missing a secret as he does not want them sent to Granny or the social services to get involved.
As the day's progress, the children and the house fall into a state of neglect as Jonah struggles to manage. His thoughts and feelings are captured in such a way that the reader is there with the two boys and wants to protect them. Jonah's simplistic view and language are wonderfully described as are the scenes set out before the reader. I would recommend this book.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the poignant story of 9-year-old Jonah, who wakes up one morning to find himself responsible for the wellbeing of his hyperactive, precocious younger brother Raff, since overnight their mother has disappeared without a trace. With no adult support, Jonah spends a week hiding her absence from everyone, afraid of being separated from Raff. It's an unsustainable situation, and ultimately there is a major crisis that brings it all to a head.
The writing was warm and sympathetic. Jonah and Raff were heartbreakingly brave kids who just wanted to be together and find their mom.
I loved the story. I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5 only because I thought it was too long at 450 pages.

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The interwoven daily lives of friends, family, neighbours, shopkeepers, local tramp, school teachers and the Mum with ‘needs’ as seen through the eyes of her 9 year old son Jonah & his younger brother Raff. And how they struggled when she disappeared overnight, how Jonah and Raff tried to carry on, the description of their house, the rotting bin full of maggots, the wasps & flies, the piles of filthy clothes waiting to be washed, the dead flies and hair floating in cold greasy bathwater that they couldn’t touch to pull the plug out, the ants taking over the kitchen...and Violet the fox ...
Jonah and his way of talking to his Mum in his head, trying to find a clue to where she had gone and why... why had she left them alone...

[Jane Gillespie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. It is in turn heart-breaking, uplifting, funny and tragic as it follows Jonah and Raff's experiences from the day they wake to find their mother isn't home. The protagonist is Jonah and I felt he and his little brother were completely real; I could well imagine them both behaving in the ways the author depicted. While there were many threads to unravel, I never felt it was unbelievable and even though I guessed part of what had happened before it was actually revealed, that didn't detract from the suspense. I look forward to many more books from this first-time author.

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is clever but depressing, and I didn't really feel much for any of the characters. The main character is described in the blurb as 'the big brother' and he has no other personality than that. The adults are all pathetic, and only the younger brother is entertaining.

It starts out with allusions to the past that are confusing because you don't know what happened; then you get an idea of the setting and the characters; then by the middle of the book I was getting bored. When I got toward the end of the book it just seemed to go on and on - lots of random thoughts - LOTS of random thoughts - and a very lacklustre final page.

[Lynne Clement]

A beloved friend who left this plane for other places had a treasure just like Raff. This book gave me goosebumps. Not just initially but throughout, Raff is the incredible child I’d known long ago, when he was six. Every hop and kick and xxxxxxx wide-eyed and wired bwap shwoosh got it! He could beat those xxx machines like a little ninja miracle. Plush toys were breeding in his room.

He’s about to get married now. If the storyline weren’t so gutwrenchingly and exquisitely tuned to human emotions, She’s Not There would be his gift from me.

Tamsin Grey has a powerful ability to create humans. Well, beings. Her characters will live with me for life.

[I Read, Therefore I Blog · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tamsin Grey’s debut novel is a coming-of-age story framed around a thin mystery but while there are times when the boys and their dialogue is pitch perfect and Grey captures the selfish preoccupation of the adults around them, Lucy comes across as an awful person (mental illness notwithstanding), Grey sometimes makes Jonah precocious for his years and the story is saddled with a soap opera finish that I didn’t believe in.

[Carole Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good read, main characters are two young brothers, the elder boy very protective of his young brother, but both very young, discover mother isn’t home when the get up, they try to find her by piecing together clues, also they decide to not tell anyone she’s missing, the adult characters are very well portrayed, some very unexpected twists!

[Madeleine · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be perfectly honest it took me a really long time to get into this book. I think it would’ve been a lot better with at least half of it cut out. But the main plot and all the little bits it drew into the main plot made me want to keep reading it, and the last quarter of the book did have me tenterhooks but the first 3 quarters I did struggle a bit to get through.

[Lisa Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took me a couple of stabs to get into, but was an easy enough read after that. I liked it more as it went along and I felt the characters were well drawn. The ending wasn't completely as I expected and perhaps I would have preferred the version in my head, or perhaps not ..... but at least it was not entirely predictable from my point of view.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

An genuine couldn’t put it down book. I just had to get to the end to find out what happened in this sad but funny story.
Extremely well realised portrait of life in a scatty family and and a London primary school. A triumph of a first book.

[Debra Johnson oliver]

I think the book moved a little slow for me. Wasn’t sure I would be able to finish but then my mother’s heart was touched and I wanted to protect and take care of the boys. Even the ending left me with a broken heart for all that they went through.