well written with an original theme, Four members of a family experienced the loss of a young child. For one it had devastating consequences. However it was difficult to empathise with any single character, as we the reader did not have the opportunity to understand the feelings, only the outcomes

This is a brilliant debut novel. Once I started it I found if difficult to put down. In 1984 the Sadler family have the perfect life. Two lovely daughters, Phoebe and Esme, and Linda finds out she is expecting a third child. During her pregnancy events happen that leads to the tragic death of Phoebe, Linda cannot recover from her death and becomes totally withdrawn from her family. Her third daughter Bea is born early and has to stay in hospital. Linda returns home but cannot connect with the family or with Bea. Phoeb is never talked about and their lives are shattered.
Fast forward to 2011 and Bea is pregnant and is desperate to know all about Phoebe. Esme finds the only way to tell her is through writing letters about Phoebe’s life. Then the family’s secret is revealed. This book explores grief, bereavement, secrets and family relationships with sensitivity and all the characters have unique qualities. This is a book that will stay with you long after you have finished reading it. A highly recommended read. I can’t wait for Laura’s next book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Agora publishers for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

It is generally accepted that everyone will experience pain and loss in their lifetime. What sets individuals apart is their reaction to these fundamental and universal experiences. Laura Pearson offers the reactions of the Sadler family to a dramatic and disastrous tragedy in Missing Pieces. Each member of the family is impacted by the death of the youngest member.
Their reactions to the tragedy colors their interactions with each other and the outside world. Ms Pearson allows her characters to grow. Eventually they face the fact that reactions are not stoic, they change, they develop and they evolve. Tragedy’s deathly grip can be faced.
Ms. Pearson writes with depth and compassion in this story of loss and rebuilding.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley. This did not effect my review of this book. #netgalley #missingpieces

This book is an absolute beauty. It's deep and emotional and incredibly touching. The characters are full of depth an intrigue making for a really interesting read. I really enjoyed reading this and i'd definitely recommend it.

As a mother, this book was quite difficult to read. First, because it involves the death of a child, and second because I found myself detesting the mother in the story. Not that I couldn't understand or empathize with the depression and anxiety that is the result of the death of a child, I absolutely can, and the thought makes my heart sink. I found the mother to be, well, I found her generally unlikable She is having a baby and drinking alcohol, and I just could not wrap my mind around the fact that the husband was seemingly neglectful and unaware. The neglected and faulty "other" daughter, the one left in the wake of this mess seemed much older than she was perceived to be, even in the beginning of the book. I find myself truly struggling to give this book a rating that I feel will be fair and honest. I'm going to go with a 3/5 stars.

A story of devastating guilt that shapes the lives of 3 sisters

Any story about sisters always resonates with me as I too, come from a family of three daughters, and this story is so poignant. Laura Pearson writes with incredible insight into a tragedy that has far-reaching effects on the lives of three sisters.

Esme, the eldest, carries the weight of a terrible accident into her adult life and she shuts down her emotions to cope with the burden of guilt she feels. Phoebe is the lost sister, the bright, bubbly middle child that does not have a chance to grow up and fulfil her promise and the youngest, Bea, is left to flounder as her family close ranks and never speak of the past.

When Bea falls pregnant she starts to ask questions about her shared past and demands answers and the story is slowly peeled back, layer by layer, and the past is revealed, and the healing can begin.

This is an outstanding first novel and I am sure that the writer has a bright future ahead of her. The storytelling is beautiful and each revelation leaves the reader wanting more and more to be revealed. A very clever storyline that weaves the lives of the main characters together. Each and every choice each character makes along the way leads them to their final destination where they must choose to be happy and lead fulfilled lives or remain locked in the past.

Gillian

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

Missing pieces is a beautifully written book, and a really heartbreaking read. Although I struggled to connect with the book, never fully becoming engrossed in it, i still found it to be an enjoyable read.

MISSING PIECES is the heart-wrenching story of a family who loses a child just before the birth of another and how it affects all them. It is sometimes grim but deeply moving. divided into two parts, we first see the terrible aftermath of three-year-old Phoebe's death, primarily through the eyes of her mother. The second half of the book is devoted to Bea, the child who was born just months after Phoebe's death. Pearson shows us Bea as an adult and explores how her unknown sister's death affected her entire upbringing. We also get to know her living sister Esme, who has carried the guilt of Phoebe's death her whole life. MISSING PIECES is not an easy read (and could have used a little more editing) but it really held my attention and made me feel genuine empathy for the characters.

I was so incredibly impressed by this book – a debut novelist, seriously? As a depiction of raw grief and its impact on a family, I’ve rarely read better. The writing is exquisite, the book perfectly structured in the way it counts time in days since the loss of daughter Phoebe that tore their hearts and lives apart, followed by an abrupt shift twenty-five years into the future with the impact still reverberating, those long-held secrets still hidden and deeply buried. Mother Linda is superbly drawn – you may not find yourself entirely in her corner (the way she treats daughter Esme is painful to watch), but you certainly feel for her, very deeply, for her pain is palpable and really, really hurts.

The claustrophobia of a family drowning in grief is quite stifling, the only real lightness in the wonderful relationship between father Tom and daughter Esme – their exchanges perfectly written, touching the heart. I particularly loved the making up of stories, those magical moments of escape from life’s realities. So he’s a wonderful husband and father? Perhaps not quite perfect – but as the story unfolds he might just be the parent that you keep closest to your heart.

The second half of the book surprised me, and could have been a wrench – but it really wasn’t. I loved seeing the family after years had passed, and the whole was wonderfully hopeful and up-lifting. The narrative device of letters from Esme to her sister was simply perfect – and the whole book left me with joy in my heart and a (rather tearful) smile.

Heavens, I know I’m really not doing this book full justice, and that’s so frustrating – the writing is exquisite, every word so carefully chosen, wonderful story-telling, and the story itself tears you apart. Do read it – I know you’ll love it too.

Powerful and raw but didn’t really work for me. Not sure what was missing but I didn’t really connect to any of the characters.

The loss of a child is one of the most devastating things that could ever happen to anyone - and the pain and the loss really come through in the key characters.

I found the story more absorbing towards the end of the book when the threads stared to come together. I’d already worked out the big secret so it was a bit of a disappointment when Bea finally got her answers.

I’ve seen lots of glowing reviews so as they say, it takes all sorts.

3* good premise, interesting outcome but just didn’t work for me

First-time novelist Laura Pearson pulls readers into the life of the Sadler family with the first paragraph of Missing Pieces: "The coffin was too small. Too small to contain what id did, which was not only Phoebe's body, but a large part of Linda, too." Immediately, readers' questions are formed: Who is Phoebe? How did she die? Can Linda survive?

It soon becomes clear that Phoebe was Linda and Tom's three-year-old daughter, and they, along with seven-year-old Esme, have sustained the must unimaginable loss. Each of them responds to the tragedy in his/her unique way. A part of little Esme has been lost along with her younger sister. She carries the weight of what has happened, even though she is too young to full comprehend the tragedy, much less its impact upon her family. Tom attempts valiantly to hold his family together, even though he carries guilt as a result of his own reaction to the chasm that had broken open in his marriage to Linda even before Phoebe's death. He encourages Linda to carry on for the sake of their two surviving daughters, who deserve to be loved, cherished, and protected. As he looks as newborn Bea, he longs to tell Linda, "I know what we've lost and it's killing me too, but look at what we have. You're missing it."

But Pearson's focus is upon Linda and her crippling grief, guilt, and anger. Pearson realistically crafts a heartbreaking portrait of a woman who is undone and utterly unable to function. It is not easy, but devastatingly compelling reading.

And then Pearson moves the story forward twenty-five years. Bea has moved away from home and been largely estranged from Tom and Esme. She has not seen either of them for a year, and is in a dead-end relationship with a man who is neither equipped nor ready to be a father. But she is indeed pregnant and must decide whether to carry the baby to term. Bea is the only member of the family with no memory of Phoebe upon which to draw. In fact, she has never been told how Phoebe died, much less any of the details about how her family coped in the horrible days following Phoebe's death. As a result she has always felt like an outsider in her own family, "never understanding why they wouldn't -- or couldn't -- let her in." She resolves to go home for a visit and learn the truth so that she can understood her family's history and move forward with her own life.

Esme, now thirty-two, has never married, continues living at home with Tom, and assists him with the operation of his bookstore. She channels her energy into jogging, running for the "sensation of being alive," running "away from the pain and guilt" she has carried since she was a young child. She has never confronted her own emotions about the loss of Phoebe. But she agrees with Bea that the time has come and sets about telling Bea what happened through a series of confessional letters addressed to Phoebe. As with her description of Linda's reaction to losing Phoebe, Pearson pulls readers into Esme's psyche in a convincing, emotionally raw manner. It is an authentic exploration by a young woman at the events that transpired when she was but a child. In the process, not only is the relationship of the two sisters, Esme and Bea, transformed, but both daughters also confront their reaction to revelations about Tom's behavior, their parents' marriage, as well as their mother's suffering and fate. Things begin to change in the Sadler family. Secrets are revealed, difficult conversations had.

Missing Pieces is a stunning debut work, featuring characters with whom readers will readily relate. Pearson reveals the details about the Sadler family history at expertly-timed intervals that keep the action moving and sustain the reader's interest. Pearson deftly explores the characters' responses to the sudden tragic death of a young child with compassion, credibility, and depth, sans melodrama or plot contrivance. Rather, Missing Pieces is a beautifully crafted story about a family struggling to survive an unthinkable event. There are no villains in this story, but Pearson explores each characters' believable strengths and flaws in a manner that makes the characters increasingly empathetic as the truth is gradually revealed. When the full story of the tragic day when they lost Phoebe is finally told, the characters' catharses ring true, as does their strength, resiliency, and capacity to forgive -- and the hope for their futures that Pearson injects into their story.

Such a moving and emotional read. This has really tugged at my heart strings & I can't stop thinking about this book.
It makes you reavelaute your own life & to appreciate those around you.
This is so well written & having the different perspective of the characters is so clever, from understanding a little girls confusion to no longer being an only child & her parents having to share their love to a mother lost in grief.
I really enjoyed this book & could not put this down. This is going to stay with me for a long time to come.

Thank you to Netgalley for letting me read a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow this book was great I was gripped from page 1 and I finished it in just 2 days. This book will make you smile and make you cry. I was amazed to learn that this was a debut book as it was very well written I truly felt the pain of all the characters and I cannot wait to see what Laura writes next!

The story follows a family after the loss of a child. Linda and Ben lose Phoebe the 3-year-old little sister to Esme, 7. We also discover that Linda is pregnant with a 3rd child. We do not learn what happened to Phoebe until the end of the book but its evident that all the remaining members of the family blame themselves and in Linda's case she also blames her daughter and husband. Linda takes it very badly and she spirals into alcoholism and mental health issues with lead to her ending her own life leaving behind Ben, Esme and new baby Bea. The story is set over 2 timelines. The first part is set in the 1980's when the tragedies happened and the second in the modern day when you see the repercussions of that fateful autumn are still affecting the family. I was delighted to see the book had a positive outcome with all characters able to move on although its clear no-one could ever forget the events of that autumn.

This book was an amazing read and I would recommend this book to anyone as a 2018 must read!

This is a heart breaking tale of a family trying desperately to deal with the worst kind of loss. Linda and Tom have a beautiful daughter Esme and are expecting a new baby soon, however they have just suffered the death of their daughter Phoebe and are struggling to move on and rebuild their shattered lives. The arrival of baby Bea feels like it should be the glue to put them all back together again, but can it? Is it ever possible to recover from this kind of tragedy? Or will its consequences break them all?

We then move forward many years to Bea expecting her own baby and this leads her to reflect on the events that rocked their family so deeply all those years ago. She wants to know exactly what happened as those times have been locked away by the rest of her family and never discussed.

This is a fabulous book, I won’t deny that it is heart wrenching and difficult to read at times as the depiction of grief and loss is so well written and so vivid. We see how a tragedy like this can affect everyone around it so very deeply and create rifts and scars that will echo through the years and continue to cause pain if left to fester. We witness all the characters living their own hell brought about by feelings of guilt.

I am stunned that this is Laura Pearson’s debut novel, it is accomplished and written with such empathy. I will most certainly be looking out for future novels by this new author,

Yes, this book is terribly sad (achingly so at times), but it is also beautiful in its depiction of the human spirit, love, loyalty and how the ties of family can run so deep. I absolutely recommend it.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #AgoraBooks for a forward copy of #MissingPieces in exchange for an honest review.

A totally heartbreaking read about the aftermath of a family tragedy- how it shapes everyone's lives. You can feel the desperation and how they all feel and it really touches you. Further parts of the story trickle through and you are wondering just what happened on the awful day.

Missing Pieces tells the story of how a family copes with the tragic loss of a child.
It tells the story from Linda (the mum), Tom (the dad) and Esme the older sister in the days following Pheobe’s death.
Before jumping ahead in time to tell the story of Bea the baby born shortly after the tragedy.
Powerfully written the story delves into the heartbreaking aftermath of loss and how it can affect and change individuals in many different ways and how keeping secrets and not talking can prolong the agony for all involved.
This was my first but won’t be my last Laura Pearson book and I would like to thank Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

An amazing debut, beautifully written. No child is ever born into the same family - a first child joins its parents, a second child changes the relationship of everyone - joins a family of 3 and the first child has to 'move over'. The author has described beautifully how all the members of the Sadler family deal with the death of their second child.
Esme in retrospect, describes when Phoebe joins the family:
'You were loud and angry and I wondered how someone so small could take charge so swiftly, so completely. All at once, everything was different. You determined when we could eat, and sleep, and make noise. You lay there, unable to do anything for yourself, and you might as well have been marching around these rooms with a whip.'

This is not a weepy, it is a delicately portrayed story of love and loss and family relationships which I could not put down. There was sadness, happiness and some wonderful humour when Tom tells his children stories. Can't wait to read more by this author.
Very many thanks to Netgalley/Laura Pearson/Agora Books for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

A heart-wrenching story of a family trying to come to terms with the death of a child and the impact it had on each individual member and the family as a whole. It gives an in-depth perspective from the mother's, father's and older sister's point of view - each feel they are to blame for the child's death yet none can talk to the other about it, which results in tragic consequences. The story also follows the life of Bea, who was born after her sister's death - she never met her sister but her death has impacted greatly on Bea's life too. A beautifully written debut novel, will have you sympathising with and feeling enraged at the characters. Highly recommended.

This highly emotional story is one that describe family issues over a long period of time. The characters are lifelike and the unravelling of the story is perfectly paced to keep the reader wanting more information. The story is set in two parts and begins with a happy family situation that disintegrates very rapidly when the youngest child Phoebe dies and a third child is then born into the family. .The first part of the story mainly delves into how this death affects the mother, Linda, and the grief that the family all share in. The second part is about a grown up pregnant Bea, the child born to Linda when she was going through the crisis of coping with the death of Phoebe.
I loved the way that Laura Pearson brought the characters and the family dynamics alive in such a empathetic way. The unusual way that the eldest sister. Esme, communicated the family history to Bea allowed the story to progress at a more natural speed and illustrated the pain that Esme had in going back in time.
From such an emotional ride through the book it concludes in a warm and beautiful ending.

A book about losses and how everyone in a family is effected, even those that weren't born yet...

Missing Pieces tells the tale of Esme, along with her father, mother, and sister, Bea, after the death of the middle sister Phoebe.

What I liked: I loved the poignancy of the story and story line.

What I didn't like: Sometimes I didn't feel I could get a good grasp on some of the characters, namely, the mother, although I wonder if it was meant to be because of her particular part in the story.

Overall, this was a very sweet, yet sad, solid book.