Five Days Gone

The Mystery of My Mother's Disappearance as a Child

By: Laura Cumming

Narrated by: Kate Reading

Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

Nominated for the 2019 National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography

One of NPR's Best Books of the Year

Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction

Shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize

Longlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize

The acclaimed New York Times best-selling author of The Vanishing Velazquez shares a riveting true story “with as many twists and turns as any mystery” (Los Angeles Times) describing her mother’s mysterious kidnapping as a toddler in a small English coastal village - “an incredible and incredibly unusual book about family secrets” (Nick Hornby, The Believer).

In the fall of 1929, when Laura Cumming’s mother was three years old, she was kidnapped from a beach on the Lincolnshire coast of England. There were no screams when she was taken, suggesting the culprit was someone familiar to her, and when she turned up again in a nearby village several days later, she was happy and in perfect health. No one was ever accused of a crime. The incident quickly faded from her memory, and her parents never discussed it. To the contrary, they deliberately hid it from her, and she did not learn of it for half a century.

This was not the only secret her parents kept from her. For many years, while raising her in draconian isolation and protectiveness, they also hid the fact that she’d been adopted and that shortly after the kidnapping, her name was changed from Grace to Betty.

“Both page-turning and richly absorbing” (The Providence Journal), On Chapel Sands (originally titled Five Days Gone) unspools the tale of Cumming’s mother’s life and unravels the multiple mysteries at its core. Using photographs from the time, historical documents, and works of art, Cumming investigates this case of stolen identity with the toolset of a detective and the unique intimacy of a daughter trying to understand her family’s past and its legacies. “Brilliant” (The Guardian) and “a story told with such depth of feeling and observation and such lyrical writing I couldn’t put it down” (Anna Quindlen), On Chapel Sands is a masterful blend of memoir and history, an extraordinary personal narrative unlike any other.

©2019 Laura Cumming (P)2019 Simon & Schuster Audio

A gracious and vivid story

A gracious and vivid story reconstructed from memories lovingly shared between mother and daughter. Each chapter is perfectly framed in the details of illustrations, paintings, and photographs that imbue the author's life with significance. It is all in the service of teasing out reason and meaning from a collective silence once destined to obliterate a forbidden and difficult truth.

No more.

By this loving act of sleuthing and story Ms. Cumming weaves together a more complete narrative of Grace. It also holds each person involved in a truer light. That glow bathes the central figures in the warmth of redemption.

Art as a Key to Lost Lives

Laura Cummings brilliantly leans in to exploring her mother's past. Her tale is a new spin on memoir--neither a straight mystery, as the title might suggest, nor merely an account of an adopted child trying to reunite with long-lost parents--Cummings sifts through old photos and her mother's writing to consider what her early childhood and later life must've been. The author's grandmother unwillingly gave up a child for adoption in Scotland and later left for Australia, but Cummings' revelations of the relationships she uncovered are a poignant and imaginative exploration of two generations' past. She reveals how artistic eyes both conserve and open up tales of lives otherwise lost through photos, letters, diaries and memorabilia.

Might have been a better read than a listen....

Through a lot of this book the writer “quotes” her mother-as it is her mother’s story. However, when listening, one doesn’t know who is speaking if the voice never changes. It made major parts of the book quite difficult to follow.

Also, the author discusses pictures, both photographs as well as famous works, that I am assuming are included in the book. The famous works could of course be looked up, but I would have liked to see the photo George took of Veta paring apples for a pie.

Good story

You have to get all the way to the end to appreciate this book. ALL the way!

interesting social history

I heard the author talking about the book on NPR and since I am fascinated by social history I was intrigued. I chose the auto book so I could listen during my commute. the reader was great. the story was interesting and I could empathize with many characters. As for the writing, I often got confused as to whose perspective was being shared the main character or her daughter as the author (ie. the daughter) jumped back and forth a lot between her mother's memoir and her own recollection. also the downside of auto books is you cant see the pictures contained in the print book. so when the author goes into great detail about a painting or photograph and how it relates to some aspect of the story it got boring because I am unfamiliar with the piece and had no frame of reference. This story could easily have been a short story or magazine story.

Compelling and beautiful

I loved this book, it really draws you in with the mystery of it, but the eloquence of the writing makes it a delight from beginning to end.

Good book

To my surprise this book turned out to be a genealogical journey, which of course involves a lot of detective work and a fair amount of speculation and imagination. Good read.

Family Secrets

I listened to this story about the life of the author's mother and her family members, but wish I had read the paper copy since it contained photos that Laura Cumming discussed in detail. The author did significant research to find out about her mother's early years. Cumming used historical details, art interpretations, and community mores to understand the events surrounding her mother's kidnapping and life in her small English village.

Did not finish

my husband suggested this book, as it looked like something I would enjoy. However I was unable to finish it. The narration left me flat, the storyline just wasn't there for me