To be honest, I had to be pulled, kicking and screaming, into reading THE YEAR OF FOG by Michelle Richmond. I had started it over a year ago and simply could not get beyond the first chapter. It was choosen as this month’s discussion book for our library book group and I was told to give it another try.
Walking hand in hand with her soon to be step-daughter,Emma, Abby Mason has just begun to feel that she might actually be a good mother to the little girl. Letting go of Emma’s hand and turning to look at a dead seal puppy, Abby turns back to the child to find that she has disappeared in the fog. We learn how life can change in an instant
Told in the first person, Abby takes us through the year following Emma’s disappearance. She becomes obsessed with hunting for Emma and researching all that she can find on memory. These searches take her everywhere in the San Francisco area. Some areas are dangerous, but for the most part people seem to care. During the search she learns how many children go missing and how many are never found. Time can be very important.
The fact that Abby is a professional photographer with an eye for detail adds an overtone to the story. At times she makes the comparison between memory and photographs that have been over or under-developed, or even double exposed.
The characters in the book, besides Abby, are mostly casually drawn. As in a fog some appear more clearly than others or they are there and then fade back into the fog. The fog is almost a character in itself. This is one of the reason that San Francisco was a good setting for the story.
I have to admit, that once I got into Abby’s life, I was mesmerized. Richmond tells an honest story. We read of loss, grief, redemption, and if not a neat happy ending, always love and hope.
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