Unmissing

Unmissing explores how truth is easily manipulated by the characters for self-preservation and control. It is shaped by the main characters’ competing, contradictory perspectives. Through a series of layered deceptions and unreliable narrators, the story suggests that the need to maintain a false version of reality makes objective truth nearly impossible to ascertain until the novel’s end.

The novel builds this theme by pitting its characters’ narratives against one another, forcing the reader to constantly re-evaluate whom to trust. To readers, Lydia presents a harrowing and detailed account of her abduction, rape, and torture at the hands of Luca, presenting herself as a survivor seeking justice. In the novel, she keeps this past a secret, remaining houseless and undocumented until she can confront Luca herself. Merritt portrays herself as a “reasonable” (5) and protective wife whose idyllic life is threatened by a disturbed stranger.

Luca’s behavior best represents this theme. He is the only main character who doesn’t have a sustained first-person narrative. He has little dialogue, and most of his characterization is presented through the lenses of Lydia and Merritt. The actions he does take prove him to be the most deceitful character because he has the most to lose.