The Disappeared

“Rebecca Sanford’s novel will capture your heart and your imagination. Carefully researched and powerfully written, The Disappeared is a necessary book to help us find the hundreds of children—now women and men—who were stolen from their families in the Argentina of my own tragedy.”

“Equally heartbreaking and uplifting, Rebecca Sanford’s The Disappeared is a testament to the enduring devotion of a mother to her children. A powerful, richly crafted debut by a gifted new voice in historical fiction.”

“Written in spare yet wonderfully evocative prose, The Disappeared captures the brutal realities of a shared buried history, one that we can now never afford to forget. Rebecca J. Sanford is a gifted novelist, and I highly recommend this deeply compelling and important book.”

“The prose is naturalistic, aching, and apprehensive…A tumultuous wartime saga, The Disappeared follows mothers and daughters as they fight for personal and political truth.”

“Sanford’s debut is a wrenching reminder of the costs of history, the human losses behind politics, and the burden of keeping secrets.”

“A fast-paced exploration of responsibility, accountability, and activism in tumultuous times…A must-read for historical fiction fans and a real-world cautionary tale of complacency and tyranny.”

“Rarely does a book capture the raw emotions of a tragic historical event as powerfully as The Disappeared by Rebecca Sanford…Sanford’s writing is both evocative and poignant. She has a remarkable ability to breathe life into her characters, making their experiences palpable.”

“The prose is naturalistic, aching, and apprehensive; the search for truth, no matter how determined, is plagued by self-doubt…The chapters jump across geography and decades, befitting the fragmented histories and selfhoods resulting from the orchestrated ‘disappearings.’” 

“A beautiful and tenderly written tale of activism, trauma, and the resilience of familial love. Sanford writes with depth and sensitivity as she tells the story of three generations of women who have all lost something incredibly dear to them and who follow their passion and convictions at all costs, in the hope of a better life for themselves and for those they care about most. A wonderful and memorable read.”

“An engrossing lesson in the consequences of venal politics and an illustration of how trauma can move down through generations. It should serve as a wake-up call for any nation flirting with putting a strongman in—or back in—power.”

“Carolina Hoyos gives a powerful performance…Hoyos convincingly conveys anxiety, panic, and fear, captivating listeners.”

“The devastation caused by Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’ has no foreseeable end. The trauma lives on in the children of the disappeared, the mothers and grandmothers of the disappeared, and the society at large. Rebecca Sanford’s compelling book, The Disappeared, reminds us there is no ‘over.’”

“As Sanford links the story lines, she portrays Rachel’s cathartic discoveries in commanding and poetic prose. It’s a resonant and historically rich tale.”