Margaret Ford was married to Derek, who died a few months ago of cancer. She now lives alone in an English village not far from Tunbridge Wells and struggles to connect with her friends and neighbors, especially now that her spouse, the father of her only child and touchstone of her life, is gone. Readers quickly learn that Margaret and Derek’s daughter, Jeanie, is also gone, but more slowly learn what happened when Jeanie was 11 and left home to deliver newspapers. The slow pace mirrors Margaret’s emotional journey between her recollections of the last time she saw her child, and the sudden appearance of the titular visitor, who’s the perfect Watson to Margaret’s Holmes in ferreting out what happened to Jeanie. Without spoiling the fragile conceit—fragile not because it’s weak but because it’s beautifully delicate—it will be evident that it works on different levels, from supernatural to emotional. As Margaret’s visitor settles in and encourages her to look for information, Margaret herself gets stronger and braver, visiting some of those friends and neighbors who haven’t seen her for a while. If these visits were only in service of details to help Margaret discover Jeanie’s circumstances, they might feel formulaic, but Cannon takes care to show how intertwined lives in this small village are, whether two people are having a hidden affair or someone’s son has returned without knowing his father’s whereabouts. Almost everyone around her, Margaret will learn, has someone who once loved them fiercely—a niece, a beloved pet, a proud parent. One of the triumphs of this well-modulated story is when Margaret has to confront the real (and often ignored) reason behind what happened to Jeanie, one that parents of tween daughters today will recognize for the scourge that it is. However, the author never allows her novel to turn into preaching; the focus remains on Margaret and how she will move on now that she has some resolution.
