(Reviewed by Heidi A. Swan)
Reader beware: this story is about people involved in child kidnapping and child deaths. Wanting to turn away from such a topic, I was lured inside, like a child promised treats which can only be gotten in a nondescript, white van.
Ms. Vivier gives a compelling opening of an abduction in process. The point of view is that of an older child who is assisting in the kidnapping by inviting the unsuspecting young child to play. It was educational for me to realize a child can be used as bate in this way. From there, we are in the minds of a newly-released convict who murdered a child and the guilt-stricken mother of an abducted daughter. The book weaves between the three seemingly unrelated stories and dovetails them to a conclusion.
This is a translation and I thought it flowed very well. Some of the greatest strengths of the work is the POV of a child whose father died and whose mother is unable to cope (the mother later gets involved with a filthy boyfriend who forces the child to help him snatch other children).
Mummy was sad. Mummy didn’t smile anymore. Mummy didn’t go out anymore. Mummy didn’t cook anymore…she was afraid of leaving Mummy on her own—afraid that she’d do something stupid: that she’d lock herself in the bathroom with daddy’s razors or that she’d take too many pills. The child took care of everything. She did the shopping in the local shops…The comings and goings of the girl with her messy hair and sometimes dirty clothes eventually…aroused concern…
As unsettling as these interwoven stories are, they could have gone much farther. Herein lies what I feel is the author’s shortcomings. She brings us inside the minds of a grief-stricken mother whose lack of attention contributed to her daughter’s kidnapping. The author focuses mostly on her agony as it relates to her husband’s inability to forgive her. What about the suffering of her lost daughter? What untold horror is she living? Where is she? Is she dead or alive? Additionally, we are privy to a man who makes his living by kidnapping children. But what happens to these children once he gives them to the middle-man? What is their ultimate fate? It is alluded to, but it is not delved into. That felt unrewarding and frustrating for me.
Nonetheless, it is a short, interesting read about the horrors of child abduction and abuse. Ms. Vivier has good instincts for her characters’ inner thoughts and self-justifications.
