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There’s No Place Like Here, by Cecelia Ahern tells the story of Sandy Shortt, an investigator who obsesses whenever people or things go missing. One day she disappears during a jog and finds herself in the land of the missing. The novel is imaginative and funny, with just a dash of romance to please Ahern’s fans, garnered from previous works: P.S I Love You and If You Could See Me Now.

When Sandy disappears only her client, Jack Ruttle seems concerned because Sandy has a habit of dropping out of sight. When she misses their scheduled appointment, Jack searches the area and finds her abandoned car. He sees a file with his missing brother’s name and decides to take a closer look. Inside the car he finds Sandy’s phone, purse and case files, which he uses to retrace Sandy’s steps.

In the meantime, Sandy is lost in a forest, unable to find her way back to her car. She wonders onto a group of campers and is shocked to recognize the aging group of “teenagers” who disappeared in the 60’s during a camping trip. She is even more surprised to find a bustling community, full of familiar sights: the gap toothed smile of a toddler who is now a teen, a mother, a father, a friend, the missing Sandy has search for her entire adult life.

Sandy’s obsession with the missing began when she was a child and her grade school nemesis, Jenny-May Butler vanished.

“I always wondered where Jenny-May went, where she had disappeared to, how on earth anyone could just vanish into thin air without a trace, without someone knowing something.”

She grew so paranoid about losing her own possessions her concerned parents took her to visit a counselor, Greg Burton. She was able to discuss her compulsion but not conquer it. Sandy was missing from her own life long before she disappeared, but once she was gone, she realized how much she left behind, including her first and only love, Greg.

“Perhaps because I had spent so many years turning my own life upside down and looking for everything, I had forgotten to look for myself. Somewhere along the line I had forgotten to figure out who and where I was.”

Ultimately the story is a reminder to be present, wherever you find yourself. It’s thought provoking and surprisingly lighthearted given the underlying theme of death.