2019 copyright, 394 pages
‘Emily Gone’ starts in the small town of Hesterville, GA in the summer of 1971. A music festival has taken over the small town for three days bringing in loud rock music and hippies. The people of the town are worried about what destruction the festival will leave behind. George and Rachel Dixon, along with their baby, Emily, live close to the fields where the festival is taking place and their struggle with the noise level and sleep is horrendous.
On the last night of the festival as the music and noise are winding down, Vickie Robart and her boyfriend, Murph, leave early but not before Vickie makes a stop for food at the Dixon house. The Dixon’s have finally managed to fall into a deep sleep and do not hear Vickie enter their home. In Vickie’s search for food she finds something else that catches her attention more; picking up baby Emily she quietly leaves the house. Murph is halfway to the state line before he realizes Vickie took something more valuable than food. The Dixon’s are frantic when they awake the next morning to find their baby missing from her crib. The local sheriff is doing everything he can to find the missing baby.
Murph is insistent they must take the baby back, but Vickie is in no stable mind to give up the baby she now refers to as ‘Lara’. Who is ‘Lara’? What becomes of Emily? With the help of Mama Dixon, George’s mother, Rachel learns valuable lessons as a struggling mother and wife; and the importance of strong healthy relationships with family and God. This book caught my attention from the first chapter clear to the end. A must-read for everyone.
