14th December, 2025 in Recommended Reads

When Things Go Missing by Deborah J. Brasket

“From the start, he never believed he deserved her, like she’d taken up with him by mistake and might not stick around if he didn’t play his cards right. But he never knew which cards to play, and the fact she stuck around anyway seemed more like good luck on his part or plain laziness on hers.” The novel, When Things Go Missing, by Deborah J. Brasket, drops us into the remnants of a dysfunctional family, as fallout tumbles from the sudden departure of the mother and wife of the three protagonists—brother, Cal, sister, Kay, and their father, Walter. As each handles her absence, they soon begin to contemplate the reasons she left and the broken foundation they each stand upon. While the novel begins steeped in sorrow, its gradual turn toward healing makes When Things Go Missing a quietly hopeful exploration of loss and resilience.