Emily, Gone by Bette Lee Crosby

Emily, Gone Reviews

• 
  Debra

  1971, Georgia
  
  Rachel Dixon is tired. So very tired. The last couple of days a music festival has been playing at a nearby farm. The music has kept her small family awake for days. Weary and ready to drop she puts her six-month-old daughter, Emily, down to sleep in her crib and finally sleeps herself. Only to wake up to a nightmare - Emily is gone! No longer in her crib, where could she be?
  
  Vicki Robart is at the music festival numbing herself from the grief of losing her infant daughter months earlier. Leaving the festival, the night of a terrible storm, she enters a home hoping to find some food but instead finds the answers to her prayers. A way to fill the void in her heart, she makes a snap decision which will change lives forever.
  
  Bette Lee Crosby does not shy away from tackling difficult subjects in her books. She does so with grace and charm. She does not lay blame in this book, leaving that up to the reader. and simply tells both women's (families)stories. Her characters are likable and relate-able. She also writes about relationships touching on marital relationships, sibling relationships, friendships, etc. and does so in this book as well. She also examines loss, grief, heartbreak, the immediate and long term effects of losing a child. Often, she has older female characters who are there to provide strength, wisdom, insight and love to the younger characters and I appreciated how this was true in this book as well.
  
  What makes a family? How do love and faith help people heal? What happens when the truth comes out? Could one forgive someone for taking their child?
  
  
  Well written, thought provoking, moving, heartbreaking, and hopeful. Another solid book by this Author although I thought the ending was tied up a little too quickly and nicely. Grab some tissues and dig in!
  
  Thank you to Bette Lee Crosby, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
• 
  Brenda

  Hesterville was a small town in Georgia and when a music festival was slated to happen one long weekend on a property out of town, the locals objected. But the sheriff said there was nothing he could do about it as it was out of the town’s (and his) jurisdiction. Rachel and George Dixon lived in a house abutting the property, and the constant loud, thumping music kept them, and their six-month-old baby Emily awake each night. On the final night, a violent storm hit the area which muffled the music – and all other noises. Their exhaustion meant Rachel and George slept deeply – but when morning arrived, Emily’s cot was empty.
  
  Vicki and her partner Murph had enjoyed the festival; the marijuana Vicki used kept the emptiness at bay most of the time. But her grief was always there and Murph didn’t know what else to do. The night they left the festival, the storm was rampant – it was also the night that lives changed forever…
  
  Grief, guilt and sadness sucked at Rachel and George, but gradually, with the help of George’s mother, Mama Dixon, Rachel slowly picked up the pieces. Would Emily ever be found? Was she safe and loved? Would Rachel ever know?
  
  Poignant, heartbreaking – with lessons in compassion, forgiveness and empathy, Emily, Gone by US author Bette Lee Crosby is up to her usual style; probably one of her best in my opinion. Incredibly well written and starting in 1971 with hippies, marijuana and music being felt right across the country, the story works its way through the years until the satisfying conclusion. A wonderful contemporary novel which I highly recommend.
  
  With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
  
• 
  Suzanne Leopold (Suzy Approved Book Reviews)

  The Dixon’s live in rural Georgia where a music festival is being held in the summer of 1971. Over a three day period the family endures blaring music with shrieking crowds leading to frayed nerves and sleep deprivation. As the festival winds down Rachel Dixon forgets to lock her back door and wakes to find her baby missing from her crib.
  
  Vicki Robart is attending the festival with her boyfriend after arriving from Kentucky. The last night of the event is getting stormy so they decide to head home. They are hungry after non-stop partying but find all the local stores are already closed for the evening. Desperate for food, they decide to loot one of the local houses. Vicki spots baby bottles in the kitchen and sneaks a bit further to view the child. In her weakened/crazed mind she believes that this is the baby she lost seven months ago and takes the girl from her home.
  
  Emily Gone by Bette Lee Crosby is the emotional story of a family coping with loss. The book is told with the differing point of views from Rachel and Vicki while showing how each coped with this spur of the moment crime. The raw sensitivity and courage shown leads the reader to sympathize with both women. I look forward to Bette’s next novel.
  
• 
  Dale Harcombe

  In 1971 when a music festival comes through to Hesterville Georgia, many of the locals are not too happy, given the noise and upheaval it would cause. But nothing prepares Rachel and George Dixon for the trauma, it would bring to their lives. Rachel tucked her baby into sleep as usual one night and when she woke the next morning baby Emily was gone. Vicki Robart, one of the festival attendees, had a stillborn baby some months earlier. Faced with the opportunity to fill the void left behind by the baby they named Lara, Vicki’s distraught mind convinces her she is meant to have this baby. She kidnaps baby Emily. Murph, her partner, wants no part of this but he loves Vicki. Can he convince her they need to return the baby? It is not just theses lives that are affected. George’s mother comes to alter her attitudes and her ways, while Angela, Vicki’s estranged sister finds her life changed in way she never imagined. Meanwhile Rachel is convinced Emily is still alive but will she ever know the truth of what happened that night?
  Bette Lee Crosby has fast become one of my favourite authors. With consummate ease she is able to draw me into a situation and involve me from the start of the story to the end. Told from more than one point of view it is easy to understand each of the women in this story, their motivations and their anguish. There are moments that brought tears as well as some that brought smiles. I never wanted to have to put this book down and kept snatching it back up whenever I got the chance.
  This thought provoking book is one of grief and heartbreak but also of love and hope. Highly recommended for anyone who likes family stories with complex characters. I adored it. Another gem from the talented Bette Lee Crosby.
  
• 
  Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews

  
  
  A music festival shook the quiet town of Hesterville, Georgia, with its loud music and with the kidnapping of Rachel and George Dixon's baby.
  
  The Dixons had been exhausted from lack of sleep because of the music festival, didn't hear anyone enter the house through the unlocked door, and awoke to find their baby's crib empty.
  
  We find out that, Vicki, one of the festival goers had just lost her baby, chose a random house to enter to find food, but instead found her lost baby waiting in the crib and took her as her own.
  
  When Vicki came back to the car with a bundle under her coat, her boyfriend, Murph, didn't question anything until he found out what she had done.
  
  Both Murph and Vicki had plans for the baby, but the plans were not the same. Murph had plans to return the baby, but Vicki had plans to keep the baby and took off without him.
  
  We follow the Dixon family and Vicki in this beautiful, but heart wrenching story where one family's life is turned upside down and another supposedly becomes happy.
  
  Ms. Crosby has outdone herself with EMILY GONE as she paired her amazing writing, her amazing characters, and her heartfelt story lines with a new twist - a mystery.
  
  EMILY GONE has tender moments, sad moments, happy moments, and many moments that need tissues.
  
  I didn't want to put this heartwarming book filled with Bette Lee Crosby's signature warmth down.
  
  Her books feel like a huge hug. 5/5
  
  This book was given to me as an ARC by the author in exchange for an honest review.
• 
  Camille Maio

  If you're going to embarrass yourself by crying on a train, at least make it over a good book. This was the case when I finished Emily, Gone. Or, more to the point, I started AND finished this book on my train ride. The premise was gripping from the start and as it played out, I thought of many different ways it could end.
  
  Crosby has written an exceptional book that raises questions about love, family, faith, and forgiveness. This one will stay with me for quite some time.
• 
  Erin Clemence

  I won an autographed copy of this novel through a Facebook contest, and although a review was not required, I wanted to honour the author and do one anyway.
  
  In 1971, a music festival rolls through the usually quiet town of Hesterville, Georgia. In the middle of the night, an infant is taken right from her crib while she sleeps. Rachel and George are left with nothing but an empty crib and the guilt that stays with them for years, while Vicky and Murphy travel throughout the South with their new baby daughter, one that will hopefully quell the pain they suffered after losing their own infant daughter months ago. When the truth behind that night starts to come out, three women are forever changed. Are some secrets best left secret? How do you start a life over again after it has been torn apart?
  
  
  Bette Lee Crosby is the author of more than twenty novels. Twenty novels I’ve never read, by an author I’ve never heard of. I am deeply embarrassed as I make this revelation now, as I feel like I have missed out on a big part of a literary journey, by not having been exposed to Ms. Crosby’s books before now.
  
  “Emily, Gone” is heartbreaking and emotional, but also uplifting and hopeful. Three women are torn apart by suffering, and it is only as they struggle to put their lives back together that we see the true nature of the human spirit, and a mother’s love. Both Rachel and Angela are endearing characters, and even Vicky has something charming in her broken soul. It is difficult to take sides as this novel transpires, and I felt the need to root for all of them, in one form or another.
  
  Not only does this novel serve to provide ample emotional and entertainment, it is also thought-provoking, as Crosby explores the worst kind of loss through the eyes of a mother.
  
  Beautiful, creative and full of spirit, “Emily, Gone” is a novel I won’t soon forget. It was a difficult novel to put down, with short chapters narrated from the standpoints of most of the main characters, which allowed for an in-depth exploration of each characters’ tragedies. Well a well-developed storyline, the highs and lows of the plot lead to a delightfully happy ending, which provides the much needed satisfaction a reader is seeking after such an emotional journey.
  
• 
  Marilyn Rothstein

  No wonder every reviewer I follow on social media is crazy about this book! A page-turner of a great Southern story by Bette Lee Crosby. The tale of three women and one child--compelling from beginning to end.
• 
  Karren Sandercock

  In 1971, the small town of Hesterville in Georgia, was invaded by hippies there for a music festival. The crowd was much larger than expected, despite tickets being sold, and many of the shops in the town had to close. The festival played continuous loud music, some of the crowd behaved badly, and caused problems.
  
  Rachel Dixon had a young six month old baby Emily, after two nights of blaring music, no sleep, a storm hit, and she and her husband George were exhausted. They didn’t hear the back door opening, a small woman entered the house, took Emily and in the morning her cot was empty. The local police immediately started investigating Emily’s disappearance, and they had very little to go on, a few smudged thumb prints and some dusty footprints. They had trouble solving the missing baby case, despite posters being distributed, a reward being offered and lots of media attention.
  
  Vicki Robart, was at the festival with her boyfriend Russ Murphy, she���s depressed, she had a baby girl seven month before and she was stillborn. Not until later does Russ discover what Vicki had done, he’s shocked and he tries to convince her to return the baby. Vicki’s mentally unstable, she’s determined to keep Lara and Russ can’t get her to listen to him. Vicki had a sister called Angela, she hasn’t seen her in over three years and Russ doesn’t know anything about her. Angela and her husband Kenny are surprised to suddenly hear from Vicki, when she arrived with a baby and they have no reason to suspect the baby wasn't hers?
  
  Emily, Gone by Bette Lee Crosby is a story about a family’s heartache of losing their baby daughter, for years they suffered every parent’s worst nightmare, they hoped Emily was alive and being cared for. Years later, what happened on that night is reveled, two mothers find out the truth about their daughter, and for one it’s a devastating revelation. I recived a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, you feel so sorry for the characters of Rachel and George Dixon, a heartbreaking story, and four stars from me.
  https://karrenreadsbooks.blogspot.com/
• 
  Barb

  A crime of opportunity: a grieving, unhinged young woman breaks into a home looking for food — and comes out with a 6-month-old baby she's convinced is her own stillborn child. While her boyfriend agonizes over how to get the baby girl back to her parents, Vicki settles right in as a mom. Meanwhile Rachel finds it impossible to get over the loss of her baby. There are plenty of wonderful small-town characters, and this story of grief, resilience, and healing is compelling and well written. This book should come with a warning label: Don't start reading this unless you can commit to the whole novel immediately!
  (netgalley)
• 
  Melike

  Emily, Gone had me captivated from its first pages until the last ones because of the superb storytelling of Bette Lee Crosby. The book starts in the small town of Hesterville, Georgia in 1971. The Dixon family lives close to Baker field where a music festival takes place. Vicki and her boyfriend Murph are attendees at the festival. A very stoned and hungry Vicki asks Murph to stop at the Dixons house, so she can steal food. What she ends up doing instead is kidnapping Emily, the Dixons' baby. We follow what happens to the lives of the Dixons and Emily for the next 18 years.
  
  Grief, heartbreak, compassion, forgiveness, and healing are some of the themes that are tackled so beautifully in this novel. The book tugs at your heartstrings. The characters are drawn expertly and I felt like I knew them. I was so engrossed in the story. I kept visualizing myself sitting in the front porch with Rachel and mama Dixon and crocheting along with them and listening to Mama Dixon's advice and wisdom.
  
  When you sit down with this book, please know that you may not be able to put it down. I was curled up on my couch with my Kindle glued to my hands for hours.
  
  Many thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for giving me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
  
• 
  Tammy(PeaceLoveBooks)

  Emily, Gone is my first Bette Lee Crosby book but not my last! I was instantly pulled into the story of how one crazy decision changed the lives of three woman and a baby girl. Loved it!
• 
  Dawnny

  One of the best books I've read this year. Set in a small Georgia town during a music festival in 1971. It changes the lives of Rachel and George when they wake to find their daughter Emily gone. Viki leaves the festival and enters the home of Rachel and George and finds their daughter Emily sleeping in her crib. Viki recently lost her baby. Viki takes Emily and what happens is a gripping story that is so emotinally charged you can't put it down. It will stay with you long after you close the cover. One of the best books I've read this year.
  Dawnny-BookGypsy
  Novels N Latte Book Club
  Hudson Valley NY
• 
  Skyye Breeze

  I love it! It's a beautiful story that will bring you to tears! The writing is flawless! The story captures you and you can't stop reading i was in that moment where i wanted to finish it to find out what happens because the not knowing was killing me but also not wanting to finish it i wanted to take my time and savor it. soak it in. you could really feel everything the characters were going through and it just fills your heart with so many emotions! This is definitely one of the most beautiful books I've read this year!
• 
  Jayne

  "Emily Gone" should have been called "Emily On".
  
  WHY?  Because it was a book that just went on and on and on.
  
  The first 25% of the book was superb.  Baby Emily is abducted from her crib during a music festival by a woman who entered the home to steal something to eat. 
  
  Police are unable to find Emily and the case (and the book!) goes cold. 
  
  The next 50% of the book features repetitious text and a story that drags.
  
  The last 25% of the book was very, very, very contrived.   I was very surprised that none of the GR reviewers commented on this book's contrived ending. 
  
  I was also surprised by the large # of laudatory reviews. (Huh?)
  
  This book was a 13-hour audiobook that should have been a 6-hour audiobook.
  
  I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a superb job with the narration.   Unfortunately, even a good narrator could not save this book.
• 
  Barbara Sissel

  It’s a nightmare no parent would want to endure, that of waking to find your child is gone, her crib empty. EMILY GONE is a heartrending portrait of one such couple whose love and trust in one another and in their married life is tested beyond imaginable limits. But who could do such a thing, take someone’s child? It’s a compelling mystery, one that will keep you turning the pages. A poignant, compassionate and engrossing book, this is a story that explores the bonds of love and family, the fragility of hope and faith, and the often difficult ground of forgiveness.
• 
  Grace

  Emily, Gone is a compelling story of loss, love, and forgiveness. Can a wronged mother overcome grief? Will justice be demanded for terrible deeds? Emily, Gone, as told by masterful storyteller Bette Lee Crosby, will make you rethink what it means to forgive—and to rejoice in the power of healing hearts.
• 
  Linda Zagon

  Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “Emily, Gone” by Bette Lee Crosby, Lake Union Publishing, April 30,2019
  
  WOW!! Kudos to Bette Lee Crosby, Author of “Emily, Gone” for writing such an amazing, intense, intriguing, captivating, entertaining, dramatic and enthralling novel. This is a novel that tugged at my heartstrings. There are layers and coincidences, twists and turns, and unpredictable events in this novel. The Genres for this story are Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Mystery and Suspense. The author describes her colorful and dramatic cast of characters as complex and complicated. The time-line of the story starts in 1971 and goes to the past and future when it pertains to the characters and events in the story. The story originally takes place in Hesterville Georgia.
  
  In 1971 in Hesterville, Georgia , which is a very small town, a music festival arrives with thousands of people. Bette Lee Crosby describes vividly, the sounds, sights, smells, and atmosphere. This takes me back to the seventies, and I can hear the loud music. Something happens one night during the music festival that changes the Dixon family life and the other residents in Hesterville Georgia. It is every parent’s nightmare. When Rachel Dixon wakes up in the morning, her baby girl Emily is gone.
  
  This is such a compelling and intense book that I couldn’t put it down. I read this in one sitting. I can easily see this being made into a screenplay and movie. I love the way the author describes the importance of family, friends, community, love and hope. I loved and cried at the ending. I do hope that I read more about the characters. I would highly recommend this novel for readers who enjoy a thought-provoking and suspenseful story.
  
• 
  ☕️Kimberly (Caffeinated Reviewer)

  Travel with me to 1971 and the sleepy town of Hesterville, Georgia.
  
  Losing a child is both unthinkable and unbearable. Crosby introduces us to three women. The one who birthed Emily, the one who took her, and the woman who raised her. This was a beautifully poignant story that shared the many facets of grief, love and motherhood. The story spans eighteen years and allows us into the lives of these women and their families.
  
  Crosby relays her story from POVs of all three women and one of Rachel’s mother-in-law, whom I came to admire. There were also perspectives from a few secondary characters. I found these enhanced the story solidified the plot and gave depth to the characters’ emotions.
  
  The author paints a portrait highlighting moments and weaving them into a tale that will touch you. From the music festival overwhelming a small southern town to the struggles a widow faces when her son takes a wife, and the emotional struggles of losing a child.
  
  While I found fault with some characters’ actions, Crosby allowed me to feel their emotions, internal struggles and the depths of their reasonings. The story and events that unfolded felt plausible and genuine. The only niggle I had was with the reconnection but I will call it fate’s intervention.
  
  The story wasn’t all sad, there were happy moments, significant milestones and growth allowing me to grow close to these characters. Rachel’s life was touching, and I connected with her.
  
  
  This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer
• 
  Kira Flowerchild

  I know this author has numerous published books, and I'm sure there are plenty of people who like reading "happily ever after" books, no matter how implausible the plot is, but in the case of this book the author should have listened to her own words:
  
  

  The possibility that Emily would one day simply walk back into their lives was too ridiculous to even consider...

  
  
  Too ridiculous to consider. Makes one wonder why the author considered it, right? Not only considered it, but ended the book that way. Books like this make me wish I was reading a "real" book instead of reading on my Kindle, because I really, really want to throw them across the room.
  
  Other than that absolutely ridiculous plot device, the remainder of the book was one long description of the agony of loss. We've all suffered loss in our lives. We all know it goes on much longer than those around us would like it to. So if you're writing about it, get on with it. Take a clue from all those people who get tired of hearing about your grief. They don't want to read about it page after page after chapter after chapter.
  
  I realize this review is more negative even than my usual reviews - and they can be pretty negative - but it irks me when a writer who is reasonably talented uses said talent for nothing but pulling one's heartstrings. I realize also that this book has multiple five-star reviews and I am really, really stretching it to give it even a three-star review (equivalent of a four-star review for most reviewers). I'm shutting up now. If you like HEA, read this book. Nothing else to say.
  
  
• 
  Linda

  Bette Lee Crosby has outdone herself with this awesome, heartfelt, loving, heartbreaking, beautiful book.
  
  It’s the story of a loss so great you won’t be able to read without many tears. I mean big ugly faced tears. How to you deal with waking up to an empty crib. A baby gone. You don’t have a clue what happened or where that baby is. If it’s being loved or hurt. That is exactly what happened to Rachel and George Dixon. They put their baby girl down for the night and went to bed like always. They had been awake for a couple of nights because of a concert so close that it was impossible to sleep. But this night they slept. What they found the next morning changed their lives forever.
  
  This book will bring you so many tears. From the start to the very end you will keep turning pages to find out what happened to Emily. Will they ever find her and is she being cared for. Rachel prays that whoever kidnapped Emily is kind and loving. Is the kind of mother she is.
  
  This book is so well written you feel all the heartache all the sadness and longing. You feel the loud music in your chest as if you was there. You will shed many many tears while unable to put this book down. It’s a bit different from most of Bette’s books. I think it just may be the very best so far. The characters are all so likable believe it or not. I could not find fault with any. Pity, sadness, heartbreak yes, but no dislike at all. My heart broke for all the mothers in this story of such great loss. There were a few tiny stories within this one about other women who had lost babies and were grieving. It’s one that will stay with you for a long long time.
  
  I honestly loved this book with all the tears and joy. It’s full of love and happiness and so many tears. A book that all mothers should read.
  
  Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union publishers for the ARC of this book. I also bought it too. I highly recommend it.
  
  A HUGE 5 STARS..... From the very first word to the last period!!
• 
  Mary

  I really like Bette Lee's books. And this one was no exception. Her subject matter was a bit darker in this one, the abduction of a baby from her home, her crib. My heart broke for the parents of little Emmy. I burned with indignation at the abductor, wanting justice. Well written (as always) and very compelling. Plenty of heartbreak moments and outright blubbing. I'm just not sure about the ending. Would it really be that easy? Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the free ARC.
• 
  Lisa

  I haven’t cried over a book like this in years! From the moment Rachel Dixon discovers her baby Emily is gone the tears were flowing. This story pulled at my heartstrings for all three women, but also for Emily! These mothers struggled with such painful decisions, and the love, compassion and forgiveness was just so heartwarming. I was truly touched by the relationships developed amongst all these characters. I especially loved Mama Dixon and the unconditional love and caring way she helped Rachel overcome her grief. I couldn't wait to get home to read what was going to happen as the story unfolded.
  
  Filled with all these emotions of sadness, happiness, joy and the coincidences that brought the ending together was what made this a five star for me. I highly recommend this book to everyone! It's a must read from beginning to end. What a wonderful book Bette Lee Crosby! If I could give it 10 stars I would! Thank you so much for this incredible story!
• 
  Laurie

  The mantra of this beautiful heart-filled novel is "If you believe, prayers can come true."
  Bette Lee Crosby has an amazing ability to pull my heart right into the pages of her stories. This book did just that!
  An awful thunder storm, in the middle of the night. Her Mom and Dad sleeping in the next room, and Emily is abducted and just gone!
  How do you go on as parents who lose their only child? Do you ever forget or stop caring and thinking about that precious baby? Do your prayers change?
  How do you learn to trust, love and go forward each day?
  A remarkable journey of two families whose lives will intersect because of one sweet girl.
  Excellent!
  *Tissues were needed.*
• 
  Susan Peterson

  My favorite book by Bette Lee Crosby! Emily, Gone is a heartbreaking bit also heartwarming story. Three women—three mothers and one little girl whose lives are forever changed in an instant of grief and impulse. This poignant story is written with warmth and compassion, a story that will tug at your heartstrings.
• 
  Anna at A Wondrous Bookshelf

  The book starts forty-seven years ago in the small, fictional town of Hesterville, GA, where a music festival akin to Woodstock is about to take place at Harold Baker’s farm. The townspeople, apprehensive about the festival and the type of audience it will attract, try to prevent the festival from happening to no avail.
  
  The Dixons live close to the farm where the festival is taking place. Rachel, George and poor baby Emily have endured several nights of loud music and very little sleep. On the last day of the festival, when the music seemed to be dying out, Rachel tucked in baby Emily in her crib and went to bed exhausted. Unbeknownst to Rachel and George, their paths were about to cross with hippies Vicki and boyfriend Russ Murphy who were driving back from the festival stoned and starved.
  
  Vicki asks Murph to stop to get her something to eat, but when he fails to find a place that’s open late at night, Vicki convinces him to pull over by a house where she can trespass and get something to eat. Although Murphy is initially not on board with the idea, he agrees to it as long as Vicki can go in and out of the house without raising anyone’s attention. When Vicki enters the Dixon family’s home, she finds a lot more than food, and a crime of opportunity presents itself in a way that will change the course of the Dixon’s and Vicki’s life forever.
  
  I loved this book. As much as I hated Vicki, I could also understand her pain and where she was coming from as a woman and a mother. Things are never as simple as they seem and this book will have you question your preconceived notions on this topic.
  
  This book is a page-turner that had me crying. The theme of this book is every parent’s worst nightmare, and Crosby did a fantastic job of telling such a compelling story with love and compassion. A heart-wrenching, beautiful story about forgiveness and ultimately love.
  
  Emily, Gone is scheduled to be published on April 30th, 2019. I want to thank the author for providing me a free copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion.
• 
  Julie

  Wow, this was so good and not what I expected! Reading the synopsis, I thought I kind of thought "Okay, I know what's going to happen." but I was wrong. The story was so much richer and involved than I expected, and kept me reading to find out what was going to happen next. The characters were well-drawn and had real emotions and feelings.
  Thank you Bette Lee Crosby for giving me this book. It's the first of yours I have read, but will be reading more.
• 
  Peggy

  This novel was a bit far fetched for my liking ...
• 
  Elizabeth

  Bette Crosby writes beautiful, thoughtful and imaginative books. There is no doubt about that. I'm proud to be committed to reading each and every book she writes. "Emily, Gone" is no exception.
  
  Yes, there's a however coming....I miss the books this author has written previously. "Emily, Gone" is excellent. Bette provides a beautiful story, full of feeling and amazing details. She is, at heart, a true storyteller. But, personally, I have grown tired of reading about child kidnappings and the pain and frustration that even imaginary parents go through. Maybe it's my age, maybe it's because we hear so much about the world's agony that I just can't handle it anymore. Let's leave at that.
  
  Bette has written a beautiful book, full of love and pain. I recommend it but with reservations. It is a true tear jerker.
  
  Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.