Thanks to writer Morag Joss for her brilliant workshops as Creative Writing Fellow at Reading University. I still take heed of her nuggets of advice. To Alex Birtles, Jan Dacre, Caz Frear, Helen Hathaway and Maddy Read-Clarke – thank you so much for taking the time to read early drafts and for giving me such a great response. To Russ Aitkins for his ideas and suggestions relating to police procedure back in the 1980s. Any mistakes are most definitely my own. And to Jack Rogers who gave me ideas about legal procedure. Apologies if I went off track.
Thank you to all my family and friends who have supported me along the path to publication, and especially to my wonderful friend and early champion, Jenny Noël who passed away before this book was published.
All my love and gratitude goes to my beautiful children: Stephen, Amelia and Olivia, who have spent so many years putting up with overcooked dinners and a distracted mother who’s always in a different world.
Thank you to my lovely, patient husband, Derick, who has rescued those overcooked dinners, made me endless cups of tea and never lost faith in my ability to achieve my dream.
And finally, I would like to remember my parents, who patiently read my early attempts at detective stories, who supplied me with shelves full of books, who took me on endless trips to libraries and who never had any doubt that, one day, my dream of being a writer would come true. I miss you still. This book is for you.
READING GROUP GUIDE
1. How has the disappearance of Gabriella affected Anna throughout her life? Why has this effect been so profound?
2. Family relationships are central to the novel. What are the various family dynamics that feature? What is the effect of the secrecy and lies?
3. What do you think the time-slip structure adds to the book? Did learning more about Anna’s past change your view of Anna in the present?
4. How would you describe Gabriella’s character in comparison to Anna’s? Did the fact that you knew she would go missing have any effect on your reading?
5. In what way is Anna an unreliable narrator? How does this affect the reading of the novel?
6. How does each member of Gabriella’s family deal with her disappearance? What does this tell us about their character?
7. The ‘Missing Girl’ of the title could apply to several of the women throughout the novel. Discuss.
8. Were Anna’s parents right to shield her from their secrets? Did Anna have a right to learn the whole truth eventually?
9. Were there any characters you were surprised to find yourself sympathising with? And what made you sympathise with them?
10. How do you feel about the ending of the novel? How has Anna changed? Do you feel there is hope?
THE MISSING GIRL
JENNY QUINTANA grew up in Essex and Berkshire, before studying English Literature in London. She has taught in London, Seville and Athens and has also written books for teaching English as a foreign language. She now lives with her family in Berkshire. The Missing Girl is her first novel.
First published 2017 by Mantle
This electronic edition published 2017 by Mantle
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ISBN 978-1-5098-3953-7
Copyright © Jenny Quintana 2017
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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