The Strength of the Sun

Catherine Chidgey

Chidgey is a New Zealand author who writes beautifully but I never did figure out the whats and whys - and even the who - heh - of one of the characters. The story follows the parents of an adolescent girl who disappears and several other characters who are loosely involved with them and with one another. It's part mystery, part commentary on the need to connect to other people, and on this last level I think it works pretty well. It's the mystery part that was a little too cryptic for me.