On Chapel Sands

The Sunday Times bestseller – Laura Cumming, prize-winning author and art critic, uncovers the mystery of her mother’s disappearance as a child

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD

‘A modern masterpiece’ Guardian

Uncovering the mystery of her mother’s disappearance as a child- Laura Cumming, prize-winning author and art critic, takes a closer look at her family story.

Autumn 1929 – a young girl is kidnapped from a beach. Five agonising days go by before she is discovered safe and well in a nearby village. The child remembers nothing of these events and at home, nobody ever speaks of them again.

Decades later, Laura Cumming delves into the mystery surrounding her mother’s disappearance. Examining everything from old family photos to letters, tickets and recipes, she uncovers a series of secrets and lies perpetuated not just by her family but by the whole community and in doing so unlocks a mystery almost a century old.

‘A moving, many-sided human story of great depth and tenderness, and a revelation of how art enriches life’ Sunday Times

Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction
Shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize
Longlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize

Author Biography

Laura Cumming has been chief art critic of the Observer since 1999. Her book, The Vanishing Man- In Pursuit of Velazquez, was Book of the Week on Radio 4, Wall Street Journal Book of the Year and a New York Times bestseller. It won the 2017 James Tait Black Biography Prize and was published to critical acclaim (‘A riveting detective story- readers will be spellbound’ Colm T ibin). Her first book, A Face to the World- On Self-Portraits, was described by Nick Hornby as ‘Brilliant, fizzing with ideas not just about art but human nature’ and by Julian Barnes as ‘that rare item- an art book where the text is so enthralling that the pictures almost seem like an interruption’.