NO TIME TO WAVE GOODBYE
Jacquelyn Mitchard
Random House
Fiction
ISBN: 9781400067749
All of us who wondered what happened to the Cappadoras after we closed our copies of THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN can now take a deep sigh of relief. But that cozy "so nice to meet up with you again" feeling is only temporary. It's been 22 years since Beth Cappadora suffered the shocking disappearance of her three-year-old son, Ben, and 13 years since he returned to their lives. Ben has married Eliza, the daughter of Beth's friend (and the police detective who led the search for Ben) Candy. Ben and Eliza have a beautiful baby girl named Stella. Ben works at his father Pat's restaurant, which has been very successful. Beth also has been fulfilled in her work: her photographs appear in museums, art galleries and books.
Life is quite far from perfect, however. Ben has insisted, ever since he was found, that he be called "Sam," the name his kidnapper gave him. He calls Beth's husband, his birth father, "Pat." Ben states that George, the husband of his now-deceased kidnapper, is his true father and calls him "Dad." Beth and Pat truly like George, who they include in many family gatherings at Ben's insistence, but his presence in their lives rankles, always reminding them of the horror of the kidnapping and seeming somehow to unwittingly distance their son from his Cappadora family connections.
Vincent, Ben's older brother, has suffered gut-wrenching guilt over Ben's kidnapping ever since it happened. After all, he was the one who was supposed to be watching Ben for the brief moment their mother was distracted in that hotel lobby. After a disaster-filled adolescence, however, Vincent appears to be finding his way as a filmmaker. As the story opens, he invites his family to the premiere of a documentary he has just finished.
Beth is devastated, especially at first, to discover that the movie, called No Time to Wave Goodbye, relays the personal stories of families who have suffered child abductions. She wonders if pulling his family back into the black era following his brother's disappearance is some kind of retribution from Vincent for the years of grief-fueled poor parenting he received. Beth’s pain is intensified by the fact that so many of the people closest to her participated in the movie's making --- and that none of them breathed a word about it to her. However, the film enables her to grow closer to Vincent, opening up topics they had been unable or unwilling to discuss previously.
As time passes, Vincent's movie is shown in many mainstream movie theaters and begins to win awards at film festivals. When No Time to Wave Goodbye is nominated for an Academy Award, Vincent's thrilled family attends the ceremony, leaving tiny Stella with a trusted family friend. At the very moment pride and joy overwhelm the Cappadoras, an unimaginable tragedy strikes them. This nightmare opens them up to sorrow, fear, public scrutiny and danger, while adding yet more guilt to Vincent's burden and adding urgency to his quest for redemption.
If readers find the very beginning of the book to be a bit on the leisurely side, they must persevere. The plot twists and turns, with Jacquelyn Mitchard capably amping up the ante almost unbearably, especially toward the conclusion. Fair warning: Just when the reader believes she has experienced every emotion available to her, the story takes one final swift curve --- Pow! --- straight into the heart. NO TIME TO WAVE GOODBYE is an absolute must-read for anyone who devoured the equally wonderful and terrifying THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN.
--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (terryms2001@yahoo.com)
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.
© Copyright 1996-2009, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
