The Man Who Disappeared

by Clare Morrall

What would you do if, out of the blue, your husband disappeared and you found out he was a suspected criminal?

When reliable, respectable Felix Kendall vanishes, his wife Kate is left reeling. As she and their children cope with the shocking impact on their comfortable lives, Kate realises that, if Felix is guilty, she never truly knew the man she loved. But as she faces the possibility that he might not return, she also discovers strengths she never knew she had.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Literary Fiction, British Literature, Family, Book Club, Crime

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Man Booker Prize shortlisted Clare Morrall shot to fame in a true to life rags-to-riches story when her novel ‘Astonishing Splashes of Colour’ and her tiny, unknown publisher became front page news after the shortlisting. Later novels have featured on TV Book Club, Front Row and Woman’s Hour on Radio Four and Radio Three, along with the sale of film and foreign rights. She has been awarded an honorary Doctorate for Literature by Birmingham University and is a regular judge for the Rubery Book Award.

Based in Birmingham where she continues to teach music, she originally grew up in Devon. Her adult daughters are also novelists. Alex Morrall’s ‘Helen and the Grandbees’ is due for publication in 2020. Heather Morrall writes teenage novels. Clare spends her spare time gardening and on cryptic crosswords and sudoku.

*Portrait painted by award-winning artist Robert Neil, PPRBSA

Reviews

[Aj the Ravenous Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

For these past couple of years, I’m very proud to say that girls have been thriving everywhere. Books, movies, music, name it! Girl on Fire, Gone Girl, The Girl On the Train. Girls, girls, girls!



In fairness to boys, it’s high time I give them attention too and so I decided to pick this book up, The Man Who Disappeared which I joyfully got for free. Well, not exactly free. I got it in exchange of some of my old books. You can see the details here (but only if you want to).^^

Unlike these recent psychological mystery books I’ve read that usually involve flawed, psychotic characters with the vilest intentions, who commit serious crimes because of their lewd ways of reasoning and perceptions, this on the other hand is about a noble man, a loyal husband, a smart accountant, a people person and the perfect father who only ever wanted and dreamed of a happy and comfortable family but who had to disappear on the lives of all the people who depended on him because of one single mistake, an accident in his very distant past that is now presently haunting him, destroying his very own life and of those surrounding him.

With its impeccable writing that is amusing….

”Matt, a short fat child who wears the same clothes every day for a whole week. It’s Friday.”

”One of her front teeth is missing and the two on either side of it have grown towards the hole, twisting slightly in an effort to meet each other.”

…genuine…

” One by one, her family could disappear, simply not turn up one day, and she’ll be left sitting here forever, wondering where they all went.”

…and thought provoking…

”Wealth means that you can pay for emptiness and the understanding that no one will encroach upon your privacy. The yardstick for measuring a person’s affluence is how many square feet of empty space he possesses.”

…unfiltered third person omniscient POV that makes the plot unpredictable and provides a thorough look at the inner workings of each of the characters, efficient plot buildup and sensible themes about family, marriage and friendship, I cannot deny that I was drawn to the book from page one despite the poor GR average rating (which at first was disheartening but courage won in the end. Lol.).

Like most stories under the genre, there are a few plot holes, questionable choices by the characters and quite too many flashbacks but they didn’t really interfere with the general impact of the novel. What’s quite funny is that despite the title, everything still boils down to the girl. The author is a girl after all but you’ll appreciate it when you do read the book. ;)

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining, fairly absorbing read. Morrall's biggest strength is her characterization, her specialty being at least one character who is damaged yet strong. Her characters live outside the pages; they are real.

But all of Morrall's work causes me to pause, as if she's just shy of doing something that could make her great. For example, the ending of Astonishing Splashes of Colour felt too contrived for me to rate the book 5 stars. And though I enjoyed this book for the most part, I felt something holding me back once again from praising it too much, even though the characters here are very well-drawn and the writing is deft, though a tiny bit repetitive at times. Maybe it's the plot that's slightly lacking here, unlike her Natural Flights of the Human Mind. Perhaps my ambivalence is because I can see how good her writing is, so I keep looking for her to put all the elements together to be even better.

[Sam Pryce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kept me interested till the end. I read it on holiday in Turkey and went for a swim between chapters

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed most of this story but it’s taken me an age to read. I’ve not read much over Christmas and New Year but I still feel this book was probably overlong. It felt drawn out at times.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the TV Book Club's Summer Reads selection and one which I was pleased to see. I have read two of Morrall's previous novels, " Astonishing Splashes of Colour" and "The Language of Others", both of which examined characters on the periphery of society, one with synaesthesia and one with Asperger Syndrome. I enjoy the quirkiness of her novels, their introspectiveness and total lack of showiness.

In "The Man who Disappeared", Felix Kendall is the one on the outside looking in, standing on the pavement gazing longingly at real life portraits of family life in lit front rooms, a family life he yearns for having been orphaned at an early age. He's as unreadable as the sphinx which perhaps explains why his wife Kate and his children remained blissfully unaware of his involvement in a money laundering scheme - the discovery of which leads to Felix disappearing without a trace, his family left to pick up the pieces.

This isn't an in your face, action thriller, quite the opposite - man vanishes, wife has to struggle on with all the usual humdrum chores of life. In this tightly knit narrative, we see the after effects of Felix's disappearance, especially those which impinge on his family not just in material but also in emotional terms. How well do you ever know someone? There aren't any great exaggerations/dramatic scenes at play here - it's all focussed on people like Kate who discovers she never really knew the man she worshipped and how unsettling that must be in every respect.

"Was he ever the man she'd thought he was? It now seems as if he was little more than a model of Action Man, designed to bend and adapt to all circumstances...He was a blank space, inviting creativity, a man for all seasons."

Forced to downsize home, school, friends, everything from their previous life the family are put through the mill. Yet, in the midst of this zooming in on the family left behind, there are some telling insights into Felix too and why he felt compelled to disappear. Whilst he doesn't win us over entirely, he doesn't emerge as the arch-villain of the piece either - a testament, I feel to the depth and skill of Morrall's characterisation. It's a sad, sad situation (sorry, Elton..) to which there is no easy remedy and sorry doesn't go anywhere near.

The ending of the novel doesn't leave us feeling unrealistically upbeat but perhaps more resigned to the fact that life isn't plain sailing for any of us as Kate realises later on,

"Nobody saunters through life on a clear, straight road with no red lights, roundabouts or traffic jams."

This is a quiet, understated novel with many hidden layers - just like the people in our lives...

[Babs · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read Astonishing Splashes of Colour by Clare Morrall a number of years ago when it first came out. I remember enjoying the book immensely, so was really pleased when I saw a friend had bought me a copy of this book, which I hadn't come across before.

The premise sounds great. Successful family man, Felix Kendall, seems to have everything. Until he disappears and leaves his wife Kate - previously a "stay at home mum" - to pick up the pieces of their lives and their children's lives. The luxury home disappears, as do the private schooling and fancy cars, and Kate is left to try and reconstruct a life for herself while wondering what happened to the man she thought she knew.

I was expecting a page-turning thriller from the synopsis, wondering what Felix had done and willing the story to unravel at a fast, twisting pace. Instead what you get is a plod-along family saga. It's a good read, but it's just not the read I was expecting. Instead Felix and his misdemeanours almost get pushed to one side as the story focuses on Kate and the children, and how they pull their lives back together again.

The first third to half of the book is good, but then it starts to tail off, and drags along a bit. Almost like the story had to be eked out to fill the requisite number of pages before the end. The conclusion is weak and ultimately unsatisfying.

It's an OK read, but it could have been so much better with just a few tweaks.


This review was originally posted on Babs' Bookshelf

[Jayne Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Man who Disappeared is about a man who....erm....disappeared. it's a book that does exactly what it says on the tin. Provided you can cope with the idea of international fraud being committed in Budleigh Salterton (quite a feat but I managed it), this is a fantastic read. Smoothly and confidently written, full of characters you can believe in, and with a storyline that's simple but gripping. The blurb on the back wisely takes the line 'What if this happened to you...?' and throughout the book there is the nagging sensation that this is something that could happen to a 'normal' family. I liked the way the author controlled her past and present plot-lines and changed perspective from character to character. She has, in pariticular, a keen appreciation of the idiosyncracies of 9 year old boys. Quite simply one of the best books I have read this year.

[Kate Creed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed The Man Who Disappeared immensely.The characters are totally believable and the narrative moves at a pace, keeping you transfixed to it.I don't think it is a heavy going book but a thought provoking journey into how fragile our comforts actually are.
I did wonder how the ending would present its self because the anger, hurt and transformation of four lives are too sharp and focused to be melted away with a short "I am sorry" or forgiveness crud.So the final scene where words melt into the wind and both Felix and Kate could be hearing what they want to believe is sort of plausible.I think it could have been a stronger finish but enjoy it I did!

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really a crime novel

I find this novel really difficult to classify. The blurb makes it sound like a crime/thriller but once I had finished reading it, ’The Man Who Disappeared’ seemed neither. It came across as a “half-baked” thriller that lost its purpose towards the end.

The plot seems to focus on human nature and how it change as a result of someone disappearing, in this case, Felix Kendall. I was expecting Kate, his wife, to investigate the circumstances of the crime, but this instead is about how she and her family adapt, with frequent flashbacks to the past.

I found the structure of the narrative quite frustrating. Typically there is a break in the text when the time frame shifts but writer has chosen to be far more subtle. The tense shifts from present to past simply with a change in paragraph and whilst this is quite slick, I found myself re-reading sections to track this change and to get a proper grasp of what was happening. This did take away my enjoyment of the story because I think the writer could have used the typical structure to shift back in time – “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” springs to mind.

This is an average plot with an unusual focus for a novel that initially seems to be crime fiction. Whilst the changes that the characters undergo are quite interesting, I think there is room for more development in the story

[Dorottya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really debated with myself whether to give it a 4 or a 5 / I wish there was a half-star or 10-star system, because that way I would have given it a 4,5 or a 9. I loved it for the most part. It was really well put together, realistic, authentic from a psychological point of view. It mapped the feelings of each character concerned, but it was not rushed or superficial in any plotlines. It dealt really accurately with the thoughts, concerns and worries of a grown woman and her kids of various ages as well. What I did not like were some things in the ending. I did not like the character of Crispin, so I did not like how the Millie plot ended... not necessarily personality-wise, but writing-wise. It was just too cliche for my taste. I know guys like him exist, but this kind of "cool alcoholic teen guy" persona has been overused in literature, and it became boring for me. It may not be really realistic, but I would have rather seen the Millie plot in another ending, with the same feelings and consequences for Millie... like if Crispin was a paranoiac person with anger management problems or something else like that. That would have been less obvious and overdone. On the other hand, I think the Rory plot was perfect... it was less cliche.

[The Bookish Wombat · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ordinary family man disappears leaving his wife and children to pick up the pieces. The police say he's wanted for money laundering, but this seems at odds with everyone's impressions of him.

The book deals with the aftermath of Felix's disappearance and considers some of the reasons he may have gone, but it isn't a crime novel or a thriller. One of the blurb comments on the back of the paperback edition says, "Down at the core, beneath its several layers, The Man Who Disappeard is a well-crafter suspense story", but that seems to be both damning with faint praise and completely missing the point.

The author considers Felix's family and the impact on them of his disappearance, rather than concentrating on the mechanics of what he did and why he did it. It's therefore more of a psychological study than a thriller and is done very well.

I really enjoyed it while I was reading it and found all the characters realistic and well-drawn. Now that I've finished it I don't think it's left any great impression on me, but it's still worth a read.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good page turner of a read, only the second novel by this author I have read. I can't say it has the power of 'Astonishing Splashes of Colour' but it was diverting well executed plot.
When Kate's husband disappears, she has to face the truth about his financial mismanagement and even criminality. Her whole life alters, her bank accounts are frozen, she has to allow the house to be repossessed, and move into a council flat. Her children's lives are turned upside down too. The story is told from several points of view, Kate's, her two youngest children Rory and Millie's, and Felix's too. Kate has many things to come to terms with, and she wonders about the man she has lived with so long, and whether she ever really knew him. There are no great surprises in the plot and things end in just about the way I expected them to, but it was a good read overall, although it doesn't make me want to rush out and read more Clare Morrall, which I had thought I would want to.

[Nick Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given this for my book group, one of my choices for the group's reading list this year (on the strength of having enjoyed 'Astonishing Splashes of Colour' a few years ago), I had high hopes for this, in terms of my own and others enjoyment.

I wasn't disappointed. Particularly in contrast to the previous book I read, which was a large number of characters involved in a complex mystery across a five or six decade period, this book did a lot better by merely concentrating on one remarkable thing happening to a few normal people, and how they dealt with it. It was a genuine and believable tale, interesting perspectives of various characters on the central events - a husband gets involved in fraudulent business and disappears, leaving his wife and kids - and some very relatable aspects.

The ending was a bit cheesy and I found less to relate to than the previous book of hers I read (set in the West Midlands near where I was then living), but I did enjoy it a lot.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felix Kendall longs for a family, as a boy he lost his own. From the first page where Felix stands in a dark street watching a family illuminated in their dining room, curtains open, you know Felix must be the 'man who disappeared' but you don't know why. The characters are believable and the pages turn quickly as we follow the stories of Felix, his wife Kate, son Rory and daughter Millie as they come to terms with what has happened. I expected this to be a slow indulgent read, lyrical, beautifully written, which it is, but I raced through it in the way I am accustomed to do with thrillers. Clare Morrall is one of my favourite authors, I've been a fan since her first book Astonishing Splashes of Colour was shortlisted for the Booker.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-revie...

[Helen Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable and engrossing read, I like the author's style of writing. Returning from a trip to Canada , a woman discovers that her husband is accused of criminal activity regarding money laundering and he has disappeared. The story continues with the wife and children dealing with the fallout and trying to build a new life. There are aspects of the story that I found hard to believe, for instance the extent of the media interest in the crime. Also there are smaller storylines which could have been better integrated to the whole story and have had more significance, instead they just ran their course with no end consequences.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morrall did a nice job with the plot; I kept imagining what I might've felt in the various people's places. There were a few spots where I thought, "If he'd just explain, it might all smooth out," but overall it seemed realistic and interesting. The only glitches were an odd section towards the end where the recording seemed to be jumping back and forth--not a narrative device, but a cut-and-paste where one didn't belong, and then a weird use of dance metaphor that was supposed to tie up the ending. Otherwise, an interesting story. Good work all around, except that I hope Audible checks on the technical side of the recording on this one!

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably 2 1/2. It was certainly readable but ultimately a bit disappointing because it promised suspense but delivered just a rather ho hum story about a family coping with betrayal. There was an overarching air of English middle class smugness about the whole thing that had me faintly irritated as well.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great read. An insight into the life of a woman whose husband disappears overnight as the police are after him for major embezzlement. An easy read that I enjoyed. It became really interesting towards the end as the wife has to grapple with the reappearance of her husband soon after she started putting the pieces of her life back together again.

[Iheke Ndukwe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a frightfully clever book but you can't help thinking that more could have been done with it. Also, the book feels heavily weighted towards a female audience. That said, it was a good story well told and well worth reading.

[Nh Clune · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the Chivers audio. Terrific plot kept me listening in the car. Ordering everything I can get by this English author! (Five Twix bars)

[Sharon Bidwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to rate this one. My feelings fluctuated so much. Oddly it's written in a tense seldom used but I had no problem with that or the writing itself. I did have some issues with the characters and their choices, but more than that, at times I had issues with what the characters took offence at and what they did not. The problem is we all have our own experiences and beliefs, and only through research can a writer put over an opinion that may not be theirs. In other words, I was judging the characters' reactions by how I would react, and how I would feel, so I don't wish to mark the book down based on what I would do in a given situation. I'm not a reader who believes a writer is necessarily wrong just because I think some points of the story should have gone a different way. I found this a decent read but not a keeper. I took too long to read this because it didn't grip me. Maybe the problem is that the blurb makes it sound as if one should expect more of a mystery.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another cracking character-driven novel from Claire Morrall. I read The Last Of The Greenwoods two years ago and went to hear the author speak at a local book festival. What I find most interesting about her writing style is the quirky characters, following them through their difficulties and out the other side. As readers we are let in on their little secrets and allowed to understand their foibles and obsessions. Unlike many authors she has “drawn“ the children very well too. I don’t always approve of their actions or behaviours, but I feel driven to stick with them to the bitter end.
No spoilers here, so it would be tricky to discuss the plot in any detail without giving too much away. What I will say is that I found the ending similarly open to Greenwoods. I was left feeling some hope but that several outcomes were possible. Normally I would find that kind of ending unsatisfactory, but for some reason it feels right here.

[Mary Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kate returns from a trip to Canada to find her husband missing. When it becomes apparent that he is wanted for money laundering crimes, she finds herself isolated with two young children, friendless and stripped of her middle-class comforts. But worst of all, is the fear that her happy marriage of more than twenty years with her successful Accountant husband has been fake.
The Man Who Disappeared is an interesting study of relationships. Kate cannot come to with terms with how either the committing of the crimes or self-preservation from the consequences is more important than your family.
Clare Morrall’s open style makes the reading of this book a pleasure, and while the development of the story is stronger than the ending, understandable perhaps, this is a book I would recommend.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Millie loves Latin. The rhythm of the words, the way you can chant them out loud or in your head. Amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant. I love, you love, he loves, we love, you love, they love. Everybody loves, apparently. They did amare months ago, of course - it's prepositions today, the accusative case - but amare remains Millie's favourite'.

'They're both wired for communication that is not communication, the capacity to extract pleasure from the sounds of their own voices'.

'He sounded vaguely patronising, as if her uniform placed Kate in a different social category from himself. I haven't always done this, she wanted to say. I have a degree. I'm doing a master's. But her desire to impress him seemed to be a surrender to his inbuilt prejudices, so she said nothing '.

[Sandy Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm finding it difficult to write a review on this one as I'm really torn. The writing style is comfortable to read, accessible and engaging. You want to continue reading to find out what happens to the Kendall family once dad Felix disappears leaving Kate his wife and his children to cope. Therein lies the issue as although an interesting concept the story doesn't really go anywhere and I found the ending very disappointing, however I will read more from this author

[Ingrid Self · Rating 3 out of 5]

having read a previous book by this author, I was eager to try another. She draws her people extremely well, one feels as though they are acquaintances, if not friends. But this is not a comfortable read; it's hard work. I found it difficult to have sympathy for some of the characters, which eased as I progressed. It's almost as though the lesser characters have more sympathy than the main. It's not a totally satisfactory ending, although there is growth really, with all of them.

[Alan Pilkington · Rating 2 out of 5]

Felix disappears before the police can arrest him but that leaves his family in limbo, bank accounts frozen, mortgage and school fees unpaid. Wife Kate must find inner strength as new breadwinner and family rock.

The premise is interesting but the development is fairly dull with the dramatic tension dependent on the will he / won't he return question.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was probably the slowest non-suspenseful book I have read. I kept looking for a glimpse of suspense until the final page. Nope. I had my hopes up by the feedback on the covers, promising suspense.
Anyway, even if I didn't have my hopes up, for me, this book was so slow and nothing remotely interesting happened.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm, I got to the end and felt dissatisfied somehow. The ending felt rushed in comparison to the overall book I thought. Mostly the book was a fairly good read though so i can't bring myself to rate it lower.

[Hel Cruse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of those books, I started so I had to finish.

Just so that I could feel the conclusion

It was an awful situation to be in; and I think the book conveyed the frustration and then isolation of the parties