All That's Bright and Gone
A Novel
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4.3 • 13 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
A young girl sets out to save her family in this “poignant and endearing” coming-of-age mystery that “will linger long after the final pages”—for fans of Jodi Picoult and Fredrik Backman (New York Journal of Books).
I know my brother is dead. But sometimes Mama gets confused.
There’s plenty about the grownup world that six-year-old Aoife doesn't understand. Like what happened to her big brother Theo and why her mama is in the hospital instead of home where she belongs. Uncle Donny says she just needs to be patient, but Aoife’s sure her mama won’t be able to come home until Aoife learns what really happened to her brother. The trouble is no one wants to talk about Theo because he was murdered. But by whom?
With her imaginary friend Teddy by her side and the detecting skills of her nosy next-door neighbor, Aoife sets out to uncover the truth about her family. But as her search takes her from the banks of Theo’s secret hideout by the river to the rooftops overlooking Detroit, Aoife will learn that some secrets can't stay hidden forever and sometimes the pain we bury is the biggest secret of them all.
Driven by Aoife’s childlike sincerity and colored by her vivid imagination, All That's Bright and Gone illuminates the unshakeable bond between families—and the lengths we’ll go to bring our loved ones home.
“A luminous debut . . . It will change forever the way you look at the little girl next door.” —Alan Bradley, New York Times–bestselling author of the Flavia de Luce mysteries
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Six-year-old Aoife Scott, the narrator of Nellums's impressive debut, worries about her mother, Siobhan, after Siobhan is sent to the hospital following a disturbance outside Michigan's Westgate Mall. Aoife is puzzled about the delay in her mother's return home and the vagueness of her beloved lawyer uncle, Donny Scott, about her mother's situation. Aoife is equally mystified by conflicting information about her dead brother, Theo; the silence around Theo's parentage and demise; the role of her mother's "special friend," Marine veteran Mac Corey; the hostility of her neighbor, Mr. Rutledge; and the odd nocturnal behavior of Uncle Donny. Inspired by her imaginary friend, Teddy, and her actual friend, eight-year-old fledgling detective Hannah, Aoife sets out on a path of discovery that entails risk to herself and her loved ones. Through the honest, winning, and convincing Aoife, Nellums provides ample evidence that the most important mysteries are those that lie closest to home. Fans of Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce novels won't want to miss this one.
Customer Reviews
All that’s Bright and Gone
I really loved this book in the eyes of a child. Wish I would have known who Teddy represented right from the beginning. Very interesting!!! Loved it!!!!