On Chapel Sands: My mother and other missing persons

£9.99

In the autumn of 1929, a small child was kidnapped from a Lincolnshire beach. Five agonising days went by before she was found in a nearby village. The child remembered nothing of these events and nobody ever spoke of them. It was another 50 years before she even learned of the kidnap. The girl became an artist and had a daughter, art writer Laura Cumming. Cumming grew up enthralled by her mother’s strange tales of life in a seaside hamlet of the 1930s, and of the secrets and lies perpetuated by a whole community. Cumming began investigating with a few criss-crossing lives in this fraction of English coast – the postman, the grocer, the elusive baker – but soon her search spread right out across the globe as she discovered just how many lives were affected by what happened that day on the beach – including her own. ‘On Chapel Sands’ is a book of mystery and memoir.

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Description

**THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**
**SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD**

Uncovering the mystery of her mother’s disappearance as a child: Laura Cumming, prize-winning author and art critic, takes a closer look at her family story.

‘A modern masterpiece’ Guardian

Autumn 1929 – a young girl is kidnapped from a beach. Five agonising days go by before she is discovered safe and well in a nearby village. The child remembers nothing of these events and at home, nobody ever speaks of them again.

Decades later, Laura Cumming delves into the mystery surrounding her mother’s disappearance. Examining everything from old family photos to letters, tickets and recipes, she uncovers a series of secrets and lies perpetuated not just by her family but by the whole community and in doing so unlocks a mystery almost a century old.

‘A moving, many-sided human story of great depth and tenderness, and a revelation of how art enriches life’ Sunday Times

Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction
Shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize
Longlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize

Additional information

Weight 0.277 kg
Dimensions 19.8 × 12.9 × 2.4 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

301

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

362.8297092 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K