Teenager Eva is presumed dead as a result of a sailing accident, and in the aftermath of this no one is paying paying much attention to her younger sister Faith. They really should be. Faith knows her sister Eva well and is sure that the sea would not be enough to conquer her. If she hasn't return of her own accord, Eva must have been taken.

The coastline is as much a character in this book as the two sisters; one who goes missing, one who is adamantly insisting that her sister is still alive and needing to be rescued. The ever present threat of the unpredictable sea lends much to the moody and atmospheric air of this novel. This is both a mystery and a family drama as the book explores what happens to those who are left behind when a loved one goes missing.

WITHOUT YOU is one of those books where you feel most of the adults need a good slap, and that is never a good idea to disregard the concerns of a young child when they are trying to tell you something important. Isolated and in increasing distress, each sister is trying their best to battle their way home to each other and it is heartbreaking how little it seems that their parents and others understand either of them.

Really enjoyed this book and the setting was a huge plus. The seaside village of Suffolk comes alive for the reader. There's a few extraneous characters perhaps to widen the field of suspects but the focus is never lost from the urgency need to bring a child home.