Book Review No 31: Traces of Absence by Susan Holoubeck

Still struggling to come to terms with her father's sudden death, Dee's daughter Corrie decides to defer university and spend a year in Argentina. Although the pair have a fractured relationship at that time, Dee is encouraging of this plan. Having hosted an Argentinian exchange student whose family is willing to return the favour, she believes Corrie will not only be safe and but also have the space and distance to work through her grief. When Dee receives the news that Corrie has disappeared without a trace, she is devastated and horrified at what may lie ahead.

Although Dee immediately travels to Argentina, she soon comes to realise the chances of a happy reunion are slim. Although the local police are apparently working hard on the case and the Australian consulate is also lending its assistance, the statistics of unexplained absences are frightening and as each day passes the trail grows colder. Eventually Dee knows she must return home to mother her other children and continue with her life. But each year she returns again to Argentina with a spark of hope that refuses to die. It is on her fourth visit that Dee realises she will not continue her annual pilgrimage. In the process of saying goodbye and thank you to those who have helped, a tiny new clue emerges from left field and Dee prepares herself once again for the emotional journey ahead.

Beginning in 2009, the story flashes back to 2005 and the ensuing years - as well as further back into Dee's past and how her various life experiences have shaped her both as a woman and a mother. This time shift works well without impacting on the flow of the story.

I was immediately drawn into this storyline and enjoyed the way it panned out into something different than I expected. While the disappearance is the core of the story, it is also very much an emotional journey for Dee as she reflects on her life and choices and how she and Corrie had come to a place that they were so detached from each other.

I also enjoyed the way the story explored the people of Argentina and the unlikely friendships Dee struck up along the way from a gay Priest, to a religious community of nuns who were all ready and willing to help a stranger in her desperate search for her child.

While the ending was not quite how I pictured it, I did like the open-endedness of it and believe it was the most realistic outcome.

Overall a beautifully told story of motherhood with all its inherent guilt and frustrations but also the undying love between mother and child no matter what life delivers.