Lost

This is the story of Susan and Christopher. They were a loving couple. They move to a more peaceful place so that she can care for him. He has dementia. One day she stepped out for a short time. He wandered off in the frigid landscape and was lost. She searched for him and called in help. There are three major characters in this book. Jeff is part of the search and rescue team. Corey is a boy that cannot talk and has faced rejection. Jeff stays with Susan as the team searches for Christopher. Corey, Jeff and Susan are each lost in their own way. This is a character driven plot. It will be easy for caretakers to relate to Susan's situation. The tale is fast paced, heart-wrenching and heartwarming. Alice Lichenstein's "Lost" is creative and courageous. The style is almost prose. The characters are believable. Lichenstein is a gifted writer.

Lost: A Novel is a taut and tense examination of a single word which is also its perfect title ~ "Lost". With original prose which is spare but dense with meaning, Alice Lichenstein gives the reader not only an illuminating meditation on the many meanings of the word "lost" but also an instructional manual on how to love, how to lose, how to accept, how to care. Most essentially it is a guide post for navigating the mine field of fate. The compass is love. With the grip and the pace of a sensational thriller, the author examines all those things in life which can be lost ~ mind, body, self, parent, child, family, marriage, community, innocence, trust, purpose, love. Lost: A Novel is at once heart-wrenching and life affirming. Each beautifully developed character is lost, at some level of interpretation, in their own private world. Whether it is the state of being lost physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually, each character has known love and loss; each is desperate for rescue. The story's main thrust is the confluence of four lives in crisis when Christopher, a man suffering from advanced dementia who cannot care for himself, wanders off alone in the frigid winter landscape surrounding his unfamiliar home, disappears and becomes actually lost. The ensuing massive search brings the man's frantic wife Susan, a scientist and Christopher's sole caregiver, together with the police department's search and rescue liaison, Jeff. Jeff is a Vietnam vet who is also trained as a social worker and is simultaneously working on an urgent case of a troubled young boy, Corey, who is a juvenile fire starter. Their stories merge in a tragedy which is emotionally arresting in its relevance. These are stories which are true to life and easily empathized. Christopher was once a gifted architect with a brilliant mind who is now lost, body and mind, to the ravages of Alzheimer's Disease. Susan is a doctor of microbiology who can identify the smallest of cellular life under her microscope yet is blind to the state of her own emotional life. Jeff is a needy, battle-scarred war veteran with a tremendous capacity for caring and giving but is yet to heal from his own wounds of the heart or to recover from his own personal losses. Young Corey, confused and frightened, traumatized and mute, is the silent force which drives the compelling story line through the tense conflict of each character's fate. Lost: A Novel is as deeply sobering as it is compelling to read. The plot is original and fearless; the language beautiful and intense. The atmosphere is rich and palpable; the characters vitalized and believable. This is a riveting, page turning novel which will undoubtedly stay with the reader long after its brilliant denouement. It is truly an amazing and sensitive treatment covering the texture and richness of love and loss. Alice Lichenstein's Lost: A Novel is novelistic craftsmanship at its finest.

Reviewed by Leslie Granier for Reader Views (04/10) "Lost" tells the story of Susan and Christopher Hunsinger, an older couple who have been experiencing difficulties. Christopher suffers from dementia and Susan acts as his caretaker. One morning Susan steps out for a short walk while Christopher is asleep. Upon returning home, she is alarmed to discover Christopher is missing. With the temperature well below freezing, she knows she must find him quickly. A search party is assembled and social worker Jeff Herdman is assigned to stay with Susan. Jeff is dealing with his own issues which include handling the case of a boy named Corey whose brother died in a house fire. As the search goes on, Susan and Jeff help each other stay strong and keep hope alive. "Lost" is the perfect title for this book. The author does an excellent job of weaving together the stories of Christopher, Susan, Jeff, and Corey by showing the different ways each of them has lost something. By sharing memories from their pasts, she beautifully demonstrates how their lives have been affected by their losses. This story will stir the emotions of its readers. It will also leave them with a feeling of hope as well as the ability to recognize goodness in their fellow man. The author has created characters people can relate to. She also presents realistic scenarios, especially through Susan's situation. She explores how friendships become awkward when one member of a couple becomes ill and often results in the isolation of the healthy one. She accurately portrays the emotions of an overstressed caretaker - relief at getting a short break and guilt when she loses her patience. The fact that Susan felt she needed to "be a martyr" and take care of Christopher by herself because he was her responsibility resonates with reality. It almost seems as if the author herself personally filled the role of a caretaker in "Lost."

Alice Lichtenstein tells her tale with understated elegance, extraordinary compassion for all her people, and a transcendent vision of the hope we all have of transforming grief to hope through our willingness to risk love in the wake of loss. I hope this novel will lead readers back to her first novel, THE GENIUS OF THE WORLD. In both novels, Alice Lichtenstein imagines the world from multiple perspectives, illuminating the grace of shared experience, and the infinite mystery of each person's unique perception. In LOST, she dares to take us into the world of a deeply troubled child with limited access to language. Miraculously, she has found the poetry of Corey's inner voice; and through his unspoken words, she teaches her readers to love and understand him.

Lost, by Alice Lichtenstein, is a beautiful, literary and profoundly poetic novel. It will appeal to anyone who has ever known or loved a person with Alzheimer's or has lost someone they loved. The descriptions of loss and grief are profound and the book keeps on getting better with each page. The novel is told from the viewpoint of three people, each with a different story, whose lives become interconnected. The chapters are in the voices of different characters - Corey, Jeff, and Susan. Corey is an eleven year old boy who has been legally acquitted of setting a fire that destroyed his home and killed his older brother. Corey is fascinated with fires and during a game that he played with his brother, using cigarette lighters, his house burned down. It is difficult to find a placement for Corey in the foster system because of his history of fire starting. Currently, he is living with his grandparents but they are on the verge of kicking him out. Corey's grandmother can't sleep with Corey in the house because she is afraid of him. Corey has been mute since the fire and can not explain himself to others Susan, 62 years old, is living with her husband of four decades, Christopher. Christopher is 72 years old and has rapidly progressing Alzheimer's disease. One morning, Susan goes for a short walk and when she returns, Christopher is gone, lost. She searches for him unsuccessfully so calls in the search and rescue team. Jeff Herdman, 40 years old, is the liaison between the Susan and the searchers. He is a trained EMT who has served in Vietnam . Despite having Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, he functions well. He is helpful to Susan and encourages her to be hopeful. He is in the midst of his own marital crisis. His wife, Leeanne, 20 years his junior has left him for a younger man. During the day Jeff works as a caseworker for disturbed teenagers, primarily fire starters such as Corey, who is one of his clients. The novel describes the pre-Alzheimer's relationship of Susan and Christopher. Their love is a deep one that has survived Christopher's disease. Susan cares for him gently and lovingly despite knowing that the Christopher she's loved is long gone. The book shows us the many ways that these two people have lived and loved for decades. Their strength is in the commitment and nourishment of one another. Both of them suffer profound grief at their losses. Susan worked as a microbiologist, specializing in newts and salamanders. Interestingly, they have regenerative brains which Susan wishes she could find a way to replicate in humans. Christopher worked as an architect. As his Alzheimer's worsened, Susan moved to another town because she felt shunned by their old friends who no longer came around or invited them out. Being around Christopher was too difficult for them. Jeff's marriage to Leeanne is in a shambles. Leeanne is childlike in her emotional immaturity and is currently having an affair for which