Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Hero archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Synopsis
From the award winning author of Things That Fall from the Sky, a richly nuanced and deeply moving novel about the disappearance of a young girl, as told by her devastated father. Celia is seven years old on the day she goes missing. Her father, Christopher, is giving a tour of their historic house; her mother, Janet, is at an orchestra rehearsal. Celia is outside playing. She rides her bicycle. She throws a rubber ball against the roof. She disappears. A writer of fantasy and science fiction, Christopher finds himself drawn into a grief induced world of wishful fantasy in which Celia still exists. Plunging into his work to help him cope with her disappearance, he writes of its effects from the points of view of the people who are still haunted by her absence: Janet, the policeman who is in charge of the case, and Christopher himself-each voice contributing to the heart-wrenching picture of a town subtly, but lastingly, changed. The Truth About Celia is a novel of remarkable understanding-an extraordinary exploration of profound loss and inconsolable grief.
Is The Truth About Celia appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 16 and up.
A deeply emotional exploration of child abduction and parental grief. While not graphically violent, the subject matter—a missing seven-year-old girl and her father's psychological breakdown—is intensely distressing and deals with every parent's nightmare. Best for mature teens and adults.
What to know going in
This book has mild violence, no sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include child harm, kidnapping, and grief (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Older teens interested in literary fiction exploring profound loss and how communities are forever changed by tragedy will find this moving and thought-provoking.