Book talk: “The Year of Fog,” by Michelle Richmond

The Year of Fog (Bantam Discovery) by Michelle Richmond
The Year of Fog
Michelle Richmond (blog)
Bantam Discovery (Paperback), 2008 (ISBN 0385340125 / 9780385340120)
Fiction, 416 pages

First Sentence: Here is the truth, this is what I know: we were walking on Ocean Beach, hand in hand.
Book Description: Life changes in an instant. On a foggy beach. In the seconds when Abby Mason—photographer, fiancée, soon-to-be-stepmother—looks into her camera and commits her greatest error. 
Six-year-old Emma vanished into the thick San Francisco fog. Or into the heaving Pacific. Or somewhere just beyond: to a parking lot, a stranger’s van, or a road with traffic flashing by. Devastated by guilt, haunted by her fears about becoming a stepmother, Abby refuses to believe that Emma is dead. And so she searches for clues about what happened that morning—and cannot stop the flood of memories reaching from her own childhood to illuminate that irreversible moment on the beach.
Now, as the days drag into weeks, as the police lose interest and fliers fade on telephone poles, Emma’s father finds solace in religion and scientific probability—but Abby can only wander the beaches and city streets, attempting to recover the past and the little girl she lost. With her life at a crossroads, she will leave San Francisco for a country thousands of miles away. And there, by the side of another sea, on a journey that has led her to another man and into a strange subculture of wanderers and surfers, Abby will make the most astounding discovery of all—as the truth of Emma’s disappearance unravels with stunning force.
Comments: The Year of Fog somehow manages to be suspenseful and reflective at the same time. In the midst of the story of Abby’s search for Emma, the child who mysteriously disappeared while in her care, Michelle Richmond weaves case histories on the subject of memory and considerations of how the past shapes who we are.
When her fiancé’s daughter disappears during the brief moment when Abby stops to consider how to photograph a seal pup on the beach, Abby’s guilt over her lack of constant attention is compounded by a sense that she has failed as a stepmother-to-be. That stepparent ambivalence particularly resonates with me; it’s far more than being a caretaker, but somehow not quite a “full” parent, no matter how strong your emotional investment in the child is. In Abby’s case, it almost seems to fuel a need to atone for Emma’s disappearance by completely immersing herself in efforts to find her.
This is definitely Abby’s story, told through her first-person narration, and I found her a very relatable and sympathetic character. Her self-awareness as she digs herself in deeper and deeper is one of the qualities that makes her painfully compelling.
A blurb on the cover of the paperback edition I read suggests that the book will appeal to fans of Jodi Picoult, and I think that that was one reason I picked up The Year of Fog, but Richmond’s novel is more balanced between character and plot than Picoult’s books typically are. It’s an engrossing, unsettling, and emotional story, and based on how much I liked it, I’m pretty sure I’ll be reading more of Michelle Richmond’s books.
Rating: 4/5
Other bloggers’ reviews:

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8 comments

  1. This book has tempted me for a while but stories about abducted children freak me out. The stepparent angle is quite intriguing however. 4 out of 5 stars is pretty good so maybe this is a comfort zone I need to deal with!

  2. Jaimie – I know what you mean; it’s hard not to respond viscerally to missing-child stories when you’re a mom. This is also a good character study, though. Give into temptation and pick this one up :-).

  3. I have seen this one on the shelves but hesitated to pick it up because I worried it would be another Deep End of the Ocean or something similar. Your review though has me ready to go out find a copy though.

    I can’t even imagine what Abby went through. And now your review has me wanting to know what happens next. 🙂

    Great review, Florinda.

  4. Literary Feline – The front cover also suggests the book might appeal to fans of Jacquelyn Mitchard, so I suspect they’re trying to make that connection to The Deep End of the Ocean (which I actually thought was pretty good, by the way), but this is a better book. I think it has more depth.

  5. I liked Jacquelyn Mitchard’s book too. It was just such a difficult subject matter to read because of how deeply the author delved into the characters turmoil and grief.

    I meant to tell you that you were in my dream the other night. Or, more accurately, your blog was. My husband and I were going somewhere and had to scale down the front of your blog (which was a giant sized computer tower, only with windows and a colorful awning over a balcony. I waved hello to you as we quickly scrambled down, but I don’t know if you heard me. 🙂

  6. i just read this one – most of it last night. i really liked it. i’d already put Richmond’s newer one on my to-read list (i think based on your review), but now i’m definitely looking forward to it.

  7. Alisonwonderland – Glad you’ve caught up with this one, and liked it – hard to put down, isn’t it :-)? Just one reason it was my Book of the Year! I’ll look forward to reading your reviews of this, and also of No One You Know.