It is the 1960s in small town America, and fifteen-year-old Caroline is determined to find out what happened to her older sister Jess. Jess’s boyfriend Tony says that she went to California, but there is no trace of her. Their parents argue about what to do, and the police don’t seem to care much. Caroline is the only one who knows Jess’s friends and can get them to speak to her. The more she learns, the less sure she is about whom to trust. Many people warn her not to trust Tony, but he is charismatic and he is nice to her. Caroline starts to get drawn into the world that her sister used to live in, and this might help her solve the disappearance or it might end up with Caroline ending up in deep trouble.

This is an unusual novel in its setting. Caroline tells her own story, and she has many of the typical concerns of an American teenager. It is an easy read, with lots of conversation and straightforward language. The book could easily fit into the Young Adult genre, aimed at teen readers. There’s no sex and not much graphic violence here. There is a fair amount of romance, although there isn’t a particularly happy ending. The novel gives some sense of the sociology of the time, with the growing prominence of teenagers as a separate group, but most of the cultural references are to the Beatles; it’s not a rich detailed portrait of an era. The plot unfolds and the unsurprising truth is revealed. Nevertheless, this is a distinctive work that tells a story well.

© 2015 Christian Perring

Christian Perring, Professor of Philosophy, Dowling College, New York