on chapel sands my mother and other missing persons

In short, a masterpiece” - John Carey * Sunday Times * “Cumming skilfully withholds key twists in the tale, revealing them at just the right moment. It is a moving, many-sided human story of great depth and tenderness, and a revelation of how art enriches life. “On Chapel Sands is much more than a search for truth. ‘A moving, many-sided human story of great depth and tenderness, and a revelation of how art enriches life’ Sunday Times Above all, Cumming discovers how to look more closely at the family album – with its curious gaps and missing persons – finding crucial answers, captured in plain sight at the click of a shutter.

And pictures of all kinds, from paintings to photographs, open up like doors to the truth. Letters, tickets, recipe books, even the particular slant of a copperplate hand give vital clues. Humble objects light up the story: a pie dish, a carved box, an old Vick’s jar. Two narratives run through it: the mother’s childhood tale and Cumming’s own pursuit of the truth.

On Chapel Sands is a book of mystery and memoir. Cumming began 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. 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. The girl became an artist and had a daughter, art writer Laura Cumming. It was another fifty years before she even learned of the kidnap.

The child remembered nothing of these events and nobody ever spoke of them at home. Five agonising days went by before she was found in a nearby village.

In the autumn of 1929, a small child was kidnapped from a Lincolnshire beach. 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. 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.**Shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award 2019** The child remembers nothing of these events and at home, nobody ever speaks of them again.ĭecades later, Laura Cumming delves into the mystery surrounding her mother's disappearance. Five agonising days go by before she is discovered safe and well in a nearby village. 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.Īutumn 1929 - a young girl is kidnapped from a beach. **SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD**

On chapel sands my mother and other missing persons