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The Vanishing of Margaret Small

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The Vanishing of Margaret Small

By: Neil Alexander
Narrated by: Annie Aldington, Rachel Atkins
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About this listen

 Meet Margaret Small: 75, plain spoken, Whitstable native and a Cilla Black super fan. Shortly after the death of her idol, Margaret begins receiving sums of money in the post, signed simply 'C'.

She is convinced it must be Cilla, but how can it be? To solve the mystery of her benefactor Margaret must go back in her memories almost 70 years, to the time when she was 'vanished' to a long-stay institution for children with learning disabilities.

An absorbing and page-turning mystery with a dual timeline, The Vanishing of Margaret Small takes readers into a fascinating past, and introduces an unforgettable literary heroine.

Perfect for fans of Libby Page and Gail Honeyman.©2022 Neil Alexander (P)2022 Bonnier Books UK Detective Fiction Mystery Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Suspense

Critic Reviews

"An evocative, endearing, entertaining and thoroughly delicious character portrait and a terrific first novel." (Donal MacIntyre, TV presenter)

"A tender, thought-provoking and totally gripping novel from a wonderful storyteller...deserves to be a huge hit!" (Matt Cain, author of The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle)
All stars
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I thoroughly enjoyed this story, and loved Margaret from the first chapter. The narrators selected were absolutely perfect for these characters.
A very sad story, reminding us of how the world has failed so many people in the cruelest of ways. Also a reminder that everyone deserves kindness and respect, you truly never know what they have been through in life. Highly recommend this audiobook

Loved it!

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This beautiful story made me laugh, cry and most of all think about the lives of women like Margaret who lost so much and yet remained so wonderfully themselves. Neil has captured the stories of so many in a timeless, heartfelt and most of all enthralling way. I loved every moment of it.

Heartfelt, funny and moving story. Loved it!

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This book brought me to tears. I didn’t truly realise what people went through back then if they had a learning disability. It’s a tough story beautifully told, bringing what feels like a real voice and humanity to the words. To the author, thank you for writing this

Beautiful and heartbreaking

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.