Author: Charlotte FreemanReview on my blog here.
I picked Place Last Seen from Wendy’s list near the beginning of summer. I just got around to reading the book and couldn’t remember why she had picked it. I decided instead of going to check I would read the book and then go back and look. While I was reading I kept asking myself: Does she have a child with Downs? Does she live near the Sierra Nevada’s? Does she like to hike? Did she lose someone? It never even crossed my mind that she might be a member of a search and rescue team, especially one of the dog handlers.
So what does this book tell me about Wendy? In my opinion, she is one tough chick mentally and emotionally. The search and rescue team from the book was out in the rain, snow, cold, worked steep rocks, late into the night, started early in the morning. They took time off from work or used their vacation days (the volunteers). Those conditions aren’t only tough on your body, they are tough on your mind. Speaking of emotional toughness, at one point in the book they find one of Maggie’s shoe. How would it feel to come across that shoe? How do you handle that? The highs and lows of finding or not finding someone are something I can’t really imagine.
My other thoughts are that Wendy probably loves dogs and is as dedicated to them as she is to her search and rescue.
Overall I did enjoy the book though I thought it moved a little slow sometimes. I would recommend it to someone who wanted to read it but probably not as a book “out of the blue”
3 comments:
Glad you found the book somewhat interesting, Juli!
Yes, search and rescue is not for the light of heart or body; and emotionally it can be very draining (I remember a search we were on for a 4 year old who was in a National Park overnight lost...I was terrified we would not find her alive and when she was found okay I sobbed with relief - it is hard on the volunteers when kids go missing). And you're right about my love of dogs - they're awesome!
Thanks for reading my "pick."
somehow i missed bonnie's review of this book in july - and it didn't register to me from wendy's list of books "about" her that this is a book i had read ...
now that i know what book we're talking about, i've got to comment. i read this book in 2000, and this is part of a review i wrote for an email group my cousin was moderating:
It was a difficult book - emotionally - for me to read, in the same way that The Deep End of the Ocean was: bringing to surface my mother-feelings of fear, of guilt, of doubt, of blame, but a satisfying experience too. I know it got very much into my mind and heart because one night as I neared the end of the book, I had a dream about how I thought it would all turn out.
thanks, juli and wendy, for reminding me of this experience!
Alison, having a dream about how the search would turn out is amazing. Now I'm curious ... was your dream anything like the book's ending?
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