Blog Tour Review of Alexandra Gone by Anna McPartlin

Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Downtown Press; Original edition
(April 13, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1439123330
Product Description
LETTING GO FOR GOOD . . .
"Once, Jane Moore and Alexandra Walsh were inseparable, sharing secrets and stolen candy, plotting their futures together. But when Jane became pregnant at seventeen, they drifted slowly apart. Jane has spent the years since raising her son, now seventeen himself, on her own, running a gallery, managing her sister’s art career, and looking after their volatile mother—all the while trying not to resent the limited choices life has given her.
Then a quirk of fate and a faulty elevator bring Jane into contact with Tom, Alexandra’s husband, who has some shocking news. Alexandra disappeared from a south Dublin suburb months ago, and Tom has been searching fruitlessly for her. Jane offers to help, as do the elevator’s other passengers—Jane’s brilliant but self-absorbed sister, Elle, and Leslie Sheehan, a reclusive web designer who’s ready to step back into the world again. And as Jane quickly realizes, Tom isn’t the only one among them who’s looking for something . . . or traveling toward unexpected revelations about love, life, and what it means to let go, in every sense.
In this insightful and irresistible novel, by turns profound, poignant, and laugh- out-loud funny, acclaimed Irish writer Anna McPartlin tells a story of friendship and love, of the families we are born into and the ones we create for ourselves, and of the hope and strength that remain when we fi nd the courage to leave the past behind at last."
"June 21, 2007
Tom,
When you are shopping can you pick up the following:
Bread
Milk x 2
Water x 4
Spaghetti


Mince (Lean! Make sure it’s lean and not the stuff they call lean and charge half price, because it’s not lean. I want lean cut right in front of you and I don’t care how much it costs.)


Tin of tomatoes
Basil
Garlic
Wine, if you don’t still have a case or two in the office, and make sure it’s not Shiraz. I’m really sick of Shiraz.


If you want dessert pick something up.
I’m meeting Sherri in Dalkey for a quick drink at 5. She has the Jack Lukeman tickets so I took money from the kitty to pay for them. I’m taking a ticket for you so if you don’t want to go, text me. I’ll be home around 7:30. Your aunt called. She’s thinking about coming to Dublin next weekend. Try and talk her out of it. I’m exhausted and can’t handle running around after her for 48 hours straight. Your aunt is on cocaine. I’m not messing. An intervention is needed.


Oh, and dishwashing liquid. And will you please call someone to get the dishwasher fixed?
OK see you later.
Love you,
Alexandra
P.S. When somebody close to you dies, move seats.
God, I love Jimmy Carr."
My Thoughts
So begins Alexandra,Gone written by Anna McPartlin which takes place in a Dublin suburb and is about how two families cope with the disappearance of Alexandra who one day just disappears. Of course her husband Tom is the automatic suspect but as the story progress's you realize that this is not the case. This contemporary story jumps from character to character which makes the story flow together. The story is sad and at the same time humorous. The main character Jane (who was a childhood friend of Alexandra's) trys to be the rock in her family, raising her son without the father and running a gallery and managing her sister Elle's career. She also has to deal with their always drunk and cantankerous mother Rose who lives in a basement apartment in her home. When an elevator breaks down she finds herself with Alexandra's husband Tom and ends up helping, along with Leslie (a fellow passenger in the elevator who has demons of her own) in the campaign to find what happened to Alexandra.
Tom has done whatever was needed to try to help find his wife to no avail. His in-laws have had a tough time with their daughters disappearance but go on with their daily lives the best they can.
This is a story of love and loss,new friendships and old, and how family dynamics can affect each member of that family. Underneath this often downright funny novel is the dark shadow of what really happened to Alexandra, (this would be a spoiler so I won't say).
This was a fast read and I enjoyed it very much.
I received this finished copy of Alexandra,Gone from Sarah Reidy at Simon Schuster for the blog tour that takes place April 13th, 2010