Part biography and part reportage If You Were There is an affecting look at missing people in the UK. The best non-fiction changes your perception by making you aware of things.

The difficulty of defining what a missing person is, for example. It was not something I had previously considered, but once Garcia explains why it is troublesome to characterized who is and isn’t missing, it is hard to believe I overlooked it.

Garcia explores the emotional fallout from his father walking out on him when he was a child and mixes this with interviews of professionals who work to find missing people and people whose family members have gone missing.

While reading the book, I picked up a lingering scent about the futility of looking for someone who either doesn’t want to be found or, for one reason or another, can’t be found. The sad emptiness of those left behind. Garcia talks to these people with understanding and empathy. Reading how they fill the void either with misplaced hope or the indignant desire to change things or something else was heartbreaking.

Garcia writes with clarity and does a superb job of weaving his personal accounts with those to whom he talks. It is a striking book that packs a punch both emotionally and intellectually. One of the things that Garcia eloquently illustrates is how rarely there is a clear resolution to these cases, even in those where the missing are found. It is powerful stuff.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. You can buy the book using this affiliate link.