Lost [Mass Market Paperback]

Joy Fielding (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 2004

Ever since she was a child, Julia Carver has tested her mother Cindy's nerves and tried her patience. Forever willful and self-absorbed, Julia, now twenty-one and an aspiring actress, moves back home when her father remarries -- and turns Cindy's household into chaos. But when Julia doesn't return after a promising audition with a Hollywood film director, Cindy knows it's more than just typical Julia dramatics -- and a frantic search begins. Now, secrets are revealed, lives are forever altered, and Cindy is forced to acknowledge the disturbing truth about the daughter she realizes she never really knew.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Motherly love fuels this latest romantic suspense novel by Fielding (Whispers and Lies; Grand Avenue; etc.), set in Toronto during the city's international film festival. When Julia-beautiful 21-year-old actress, imperious bitch-goddess-goes missing after a screen test with a famous director, her disappearance touches off a full-blown midlife crisis for her mother, Cindy. As Cindy searches for Julia, she envisions lurid crime scenarios, wrangles with her charming snake of an ex-husband and his trophy wife and comes to the uncomfortable realization that she and her selfish, irresponsible daughter have a few things in common. She copes by hashing out issues with her whiny sister, sharp-tongued mother and long-suffering younger daughter, by nurturing infants and pets and by having great sex with a handsome and preternaturally attentive new boyfriend. Crammed with stock situations and expected revelations, this breezy melodrama relies heavily on hit-or-miss repartee. Fielding fills space by having characters repeat one another's dialogue; a comic subplot about an incontinent dog is intrusive and tedious; and the drama takes place mostly in the heroine's head. Cindy herself is a likable mixture of brashness, panic and pratfalls, and readers will empathize as she tries to find her daughter and herself, but she is the lone bright spot in this lackluster effort. Fielding's many fans will miss her usual sharp plotting, but most will go along for the ride.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The Lifetime channel would do well to invest in best-selling author Fielding's (Whispers and Lies [BKL Jl 02]) entire backlist, for it would provide enough women-in-peril material for an entire season's worth of TV movies. Here divorcee Cindy Carver must deal with old wounds and new turmoil when her daughter, Julia, an aspiring actress, goes missing. Although Cindy has long been divorced, she is still seething with resentment for her ex-husband, who is remarried to a much younger woman. When Julia fails to show up for an appointment, Cindy initially thinks it's just more spoiled behavior on the part of a daughter who has always been willful and difficult. It soon becomes apparent, though, that Julia has vanished, and Cindy must now deal with her ex-husband, the police, and the media, although she does receive emotional support from a loving circle of women friends and a cool new boyfriend. Atmosphere is not a strong suit here--set in Fielding's hometown of Toronto, the novel barely rises above a rote recitation of street intersections. What gives this title its zing is a feisty central character who will endear herself to women everywhere with a series of hilarious faux pas. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (December 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743448650
• ISBN-13: 978-0743448659
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,273,293 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joy Fielding is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Still Life, Charley's Web, Heartstopper, See Jane Run, and other acclaimed novels. She divides her time between Toronto and Palm Beach, Florida.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed..., February 21, 2004

By 

Diane "dianemax" (Newfoundland, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost (Hardcover)

I was intrigued by the synopsis of this book but after reading it all I felt was disappointment.

The story follows a divorced mother who has recently "lost" her oldest daughter. The plot weaves around her anguish, which was really the only selling point in this novel, and the unraveling mystery. Unfortunately it isn't much of a mystery, certainly not one worth solving. The father's cavalier attitude throughout the book helped me to figure out the ending about mid way through.

Don't waste money on this one.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Don't Get Lost..., November 1, 2003

By 

Jennifer Hall (Rockmart, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lost (Hardcover)

At the very least, if you are a fan of Joy Fielding, simply check this book out from your local library and don't actually spend the money to purchase it. It only took me one day to read the entire book, so I don't feel I wasted too much time on it. But that's the point: ultimately, this novel feels like a waste of time.

The novel revolves around a divorced mother of two daughters: the oldest, Julia, is a twenty-one year old, aspiring actress, and a seemingly impossible and obstinate and instantly unlikable young woman. She begins the novel pitching a fit because she can't get into the bathroom in the morning to get ready for an audition later that day, and then disappears from her mother's life.

Cindy, her long-suffering mother, spends the novel worrying about her first-born daughter, ignoring the needs of her other daughter, Heather, arguing with her mother and sister, falling in love and into bed with a new man, and wrestling with her constant thoughts and memories of her ex-husband.

Mix in the plot twist of "what is happening with the couple next door?", which red herring will pop up next, and subplots coming and going, and you end up with this novel: one that ends so much with a thud you wish you'd never invested the time spent getting to that point.

As readable as most of the novel is, it concludes in such an irritating and infuriating way that it's not surprising that the book will be thrown into a near wall or dropped immediately to the floor in disgust.

I've liked many of Fielding's novels...this is clearly not one of them.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed!!!, June 20, 2004

By 

J. Ott, PA "jmott" (Seminole, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lost (Hardcover)

Joy Fielding was one of my favorite authors. Until I read this last book. I was not thrilled with Whispers and Lies, but looked forward to Lost. It appears that her talent has run out. Two books in a row that failed to capture my attention; I skimmed the last 100 pages of Lost. Character development is poor; these people are not even likeable. It will be a long time, if ever, before I'm picking up a Joy Fielding book again. It was good while it lasted.