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Five Days Gone: The Mystery of My Mother's Disappearance as a Child
(OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen)

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Published:
Simon & Schuster Audio 2019
Status:
Checked Out
Description
NOMINATED FOR THE 2019 NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR AUTOBIOGRAPHY
ONE OF NPR'S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NONFICTION
SHORTLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE

The acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of The Vanishing Velazquez shares a riveting true story "with as many twists and turns as any mystery" (Los Angeles Times) describing her mother's mysterious kidnapping as a toddler in a small English coastal village—"an incredible and incredibly unusual book about family secrets" (Nick Hornby, The Believer).
In the fall of 1929, when Laura Cumming's mother was three years old, she was kidnapped from a beach on the Lincolnshire coast of England. There were no screams when she was taken, suggesting the culprit was someone familiar to her, and when she turned up again in a nearby village several days later, she was happy and in perfect health. No one was ever accused of a crime. The incident quickly faded from her memory, and her parents never discussed it. To the contrary, they deliberately hid it from her, and she did not learn of it for half a century.

This was not the only secret her parents kept from her. For many years, while raising her in draconian isolation and protectiveness, they also hid the fact that she'd been adopted, and that shortly after the kidnapping, her name was changed from Grace to Betty.

"Both page-turning and richly absorbing" (The Providence Journal), On Chapel Sands (originally titled Five Days Gone) unspools the tale of Cumming's mother's life and unravels the multiple mysteries at its core. Using photographs from the time, historical documents, and works of art, Cumming investigates this case of stolen identity w​ith the toolset of a detective and the unique intimacy of a daughter trying to understand her family's past and its legacies. "Brilliant" (The Guardian) and "a story told with such depth of feeling and observation and such lyrical writing I couldn't put it down" (Anna Quindlen), On Chapel Sands is a masterful blend of memoir and history, an extraordinary personal narrative unlike any other.
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Format:
OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen
Edition:
Unabridged
Street Date:
08/27/2019
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781797101293
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Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

Laura Cumming. (2019). Five Days Gone: The Mystery of My Mother's Disappearance as a Child. Unabridged Simon & Schuster Audio.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Laura Cumming. 2019. Five Days Gone: The Mystery of My Mother's Disappearance As a Child. Simon & Schuster Audio.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Laura Cumming, Five Days Gone: The Mystery of My Mother's Disappearance As a Child. Simon & Schuster Audio, 2019.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Laura Cumming. Five Days Gone: The Mystery of My Mother's Disappearance As a Child. Unabridged Simon & Schuster Audio, 2019.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
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Date Added:
Aug 21, 2019 13:08:39
Date Updated:
Oct 25, 2021 22:49:50
Last Metadata Check:
Oct 29, 2023 13:39:16
Last Metadata Change:
Sep 25, 2023 18:22:54
Last Availability Check:
Mar 24, 2024 12:53:33
Last Availability Change:
Nov 19, 2023 00:41:50
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Mar 29, 2024 02:17:20

OverDrive Product Record

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edition
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title
Five Days Gone
fullDescription
NOMINATED FOR THE 2019 NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR AUTOBIOGRAPHY
ONE OF NPR'S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NONFICTION
SHORTLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE

The acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of The Vanishing Velazquez shares a riveting true story "with as many twists and turns as any mystery" (Los Angeles Times) describing her mother's mysterious kidnapping as a toddler in a small English coastal village—"an incredible and incredibly unusual book about family secrets" (Nick Hornby, The Believer).
In the fall of 1929, when Laura Cumming's mother was three years old, she was kidnapped from a beach on the Lincolnshire coast of England. There were no screams when she was taken, suggesting the culprit was someone familiar to her, and when she turned up again in a nearby village several days later, she was happy and in perfect health. No one was ever accused of a crime. The incident quickly faded from her memory, and her parents never discussed it. To the contrary, they deliberately hid it from her, and she did not learn of it for half a century.

This was not the only secret her parents kept from her. For many years, while raising her in draconian isolation and protectiveness, they also hid the fact that she'd been adopted, and that shortly after the kidnapping, her name was changed from Grace to Betty.

"Both page-turning and richly absorbing" (The Providence Journal), On Chapel Sands (originally titled Five Days Gone) unspools the tale of Cumming's mother's life and unravels the multiple mysteries at its core. Using photographs from the time, historical documents, and works of art, Cumming investigates this case of stolen identity w​ith the toolset of a detective and the unique intimacy of a daughter trying to understand her family's past and its legacies. "Brilliant" (The Guardian) and "a story told with such depth of feeling and observation and such lyrical writing I couldn't put it down" (Anna Quindlen), On Chapel Sands is a masterful blend of memoir and history, an extraordinary personal narrative unlike any other.
reviews
      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        June 10, 2019
        English author Cumming (The Vanishing Velàzquez) unravels the mystery surrounding her mother’s five-day disappearance in 1929, when she was three years old, in this intense family history. Cumming’s mother, Betty, was at a beach on England’s Lincolnshire coast with her mother when she was kidnapped. Five days later, she was quietly found and brought home. Who had taken Betty and why is not revealed until later in the book and is part of the mystery that Cumming slowly unpacks, though readers learn early on that Betty was adopted, a fact her adoptive parents, Vera and George Elston, hid from her. Secrets were big in the Elston family and in the village in which they lived, so much so that Betty didn’t learn about her own kidnapping for over half a century. Growing up, Betty’s domineering father tried to isolate her. “I only knew that George was angry, bronchitic, dictatorial; and that he was a liar,” Cumming writes. Betty’s life changed at 13 when a woman claiming to be her grandmother approached her. The encounter scarred Betty and led to shocking revelations. Cumming incorporates photos, letters, and her mother’s own words to tell the story. The book sags a bit in the middle as Cumming teases the core mystery, but the final third reads like a thriller. Questions and lies abound in this touching book about a daughter’s quest to help her aging mother uncover her true identity.

popularity
712
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NOMINATED FOR THE 2019 NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR AUTOBIOGRAPHY
ONE OF NPR'S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NONFICTION
SHORTLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE

The acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of The Vanishing Velazquez shares a riveting true story "with as many twists and turns as any mystery" (Los Angeles Times) describing her mother's mysterious kidnapping as a toddler in a small English coastal village—"an incredible and incredibly unusual book about family secrets" (Nick Hornby, The Believer).
In the fall of 1929, when Laura Cumming's mother was three years old, she was kidnapped from a beach on the Lincolnshire coast of England. There were no screams when she was taken, suggesting the culprit was someone familiar to her, and when she...
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subtitle
The Mystery of My Mother's Disappearance as a Child
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