Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “Emily, Gone,” by Bette Lee Crosby, Lake Union Publishing, April 30,2019

Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “Emily, Gone”  by Bette Lee Crosby, Lake Union Publishing, April 30,2019

WOW!! Kudos to Bette Lee Crosby, Author of “Emily, Gone” for writing  such an amazing, intense, intriguing, captivating, entertaining, dramatic and enthralling novel. This is a novel that tugged at my heartstrings.  There are layers and coincidences, twists and turns, and unpredictable events in this novel. The Genres for this story are Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Mystery and Suspense. The author describes her colorful and dramatic cast of characters as complex and complicated. The time-line of the story starts in 1971 and goes to the past and future when it pertains to the characters and events in the story. The story originally takes place in Hesterville Georgia.

In 1971 in Hesterville, Georgia , which is a very small town, a music festival arrives with thousands of people. Bette Lee Crosby describes vividly, the sounds, sights, smells, and atmosphere. This takes me back to the seventies, and I can hear the loud music. Something happens one night during the music festival that changes the Dixon family life and the other residents in Hesterville Georgia. It is every parent’s nightmare.  When Rachel Dixon wakes up in the morning, her baby girl Emily is gone.

This is such a compelling and intense book that I couldn’t put it down. I read this in one sitting.  I can easily see this being made into a screenplay and movie.  I love the way the author describes the importance of family, friends, community, love and hope.  I loved and cried at the ending. I do hope that I read more about the characters. I would highly recommend this novel for readers who enjoy a thought-provoking and suspenseful story.