Francisco Garcia is London born and bred but his father was Spanish and left when he was a small child . Garcia doesn’t know what subsequently happened to him.
This autobiography is ostensibly about Garcia searching for his father but is really a study of what it means to be a missing person.
Garcia interviews people from the charity Missing People through to families with missing relatives and those who work with looked after children, children who sell drugs through ‘county lines’, or the victims of trafficking.
One of the most poignant chapters deals with those who die unidentified and may or may not have their identities found, and those who die in funeral poverty.
The book raises questions such as: if you choose to disappear, are you really missing?
I found it thought-provoking and sad. The missing are those who slip through the gaps in society and Garcia - through his own loss - is acutely attuned to those they leave behind.
Recommended: thoughtful, poignant and an interesting meditation on belonging and its antithesis.

I really loved this book. I thought it looked into the broad and changing definition of missing people and why really well, without losing the reality of what it is to be missing or have the space of someone missing in their lives.
It was such a well written and personal account along side a number of really interesting interviews. Would recommend

A heart-breaking but educational and very interesting read on just what goes in to searching for a person who has gone missing, and the affect it has on those left behind.

Thanks for the ARC and the opportunity to review ahead of publication.
Not sure this book was exactly what I expected from it.
I thought the main trust of it was going to be the authors search for his father that went back to Spain when he was still a small child. In fact it turned out to be more about the search for missing parties in the UK and the organisations and volunteers. Despite this, I found the entire book extremely educational and interesting. Thanks again to NetGalley and the publishers.

This is a very interesting and eye opening nonfiction book telling the real life circumstances of Francisco’s father and how he walked out of the family home and was never seen again. Missing. This explores the entire concept around missing people and the loved ones they leave behind. Full of alarming statistics about how many people go missing each year, how the police deal with such cases, why people may want to go off the radar completely and what happens when/if they returns.

Francisco reports on many different perspectives, interviews those who have been effected and filled this book with his compassion, non judgemental findings. I found this fascinating and emotional to read. The reason this took longer to read than normal is because I had to stop and compose myself several times. Some of this is utterly heartbreaking. Perhaps it’s because there are some parts that are incredibly relatable for me.

This book includes contacts for The Missing People charity, as well as numerous other support groups and help lines, making this much more than a memoir. I definitely recommend this book to all, well worth the read!

As non-fiction books go there aren't many that delve into the reasons why people go missing, or perhaps more poignantly, what happens next.

In order to make sense of his own story and his 'missing' father Christobal who vanished from the nuclear family of his mother, Francisco and Christobal when he was young although a further appearance was made before he vanished from sight soon after he was visited in Spain by his eight-year old son.

This book looks at the reasons why some people go missing and in a rather naïve, although hopeful, way suggests solutions such as reversing austerity policies and funding mental health provisions and safety nets.

Sadly the book mirrors the disjointed journey its author took in his search for meaning of what happened to his father, and more importantly, why. While I learnt much and had some of my preconceptions challenged this was far from an easy read, which is only to be expected.

The synopsis of this book was somewhat misleading. I was expecting the dominant theme to be the writer doing a lot of detective work to locate his father. His personal story was present throughout and referred to many times, but what I did not expect was a very sensitive study of people who go missing, the homeless, people with all sorts of problems arising from poverty, mental health issues, etc. I really did learn a lot and the book was much deeper and broader than just one man's search. I liked that it did not only concentrate on the missing themselves but also on the people left behind.

The ending was quite poignant and I am sure reflects the experience of many others in a similar position.

Written with clarity and empathy, I liked this book a lot.

Powerful book on one mans personal journey. It is a book of heartbreak and sadness, not only that of the authors but also of those who have had people go missing and how hope is kept alive or slowly fades over time. An emotional read from lots of different angles/aspects of loss and grief.

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a non fiction book about one man’s quest to find his Father. His Father Christobel was an addict when he walked out on him and his mother in the middle of the night never to be seen again. This prompted Francisco to look into the wider issue of missing people. The majority of this book is interviews with representatives of different agencies everything from Police to people who arrange funerals for those with no known relatives. Some agencies you will have heard of others you won’t have.

The book was okay but not what I was expecting. I expected it to be more of a memoir of a man’s quest to find his Father. This was more of a deep dive into all the different agencies that have dealings with missing people. This was quite an interesting read especially hearing from someone who had gone miss but came back. You don’t often get to hear from the missing persons point of view.

A very well-researched, well articulated and moving account of what it is like to experience somebody go missing from your life. Although Garcia also talks to people who have "disappeared" and looks at why, this is essentially how the lives left are affected. Garcia's father left without a word when he was a boy and then he lost his mother to cancer. This little boy, now a man, needs to ask questions and find his Dad even if he might not like the answers. Very thought provoking and touching and a reminder that to be a parent is for life, whatever happens.

I got into books blind, or should that be with my own belief on what the story is about.

For some reason, I thought this was about a missing person in America and that they went missing in the 60s. I was pleasantly surprised to see that this book is not about a missing person in America and that they did not go missing in the 60s. The author, Francisco was born in the early 90s and his father (Christobel) abandoned him for the first time.

So starts this book, following an outline of Francisco's early years and the sad death of his mum, we move to adulthood where Francisco decides to track down his father; a father who was in and out of his life as a child. It was common knowledge that Christobel went back to her native Spain but beyond that, Francisco has no idea where his father is.

I read 50% of this fascinating book on one rainy Sunday in May, not realising how much I had read when I put it down to cook some food.

It is a book of heartbreak and sadness, not only that of the authors but also of those who have had people go missing and how hope is kept alive or slowly fades over time.

This is a very well written book, detailing the efforts that Missing Person agencies go to track down missing people and it pulls no punching as to how many people are going missing in current times.

An eye opening and sobering read.

4 stars out of 5

I got a copy of If You Were Here for free from the publisher in return for a fair review.

Wow, I read this thinking it was just going to be the story of Francisco and his father.... I was so wrong.

This book is so so so much more and has opened my eyes to those that are missing, returned, and the families of these people. The statistics that are throughout this book are shocking and I feel people would look very differently at those on the street if they were to read this.

A very emotive piece with insights from people who work for charities, and people who have been involved in the circumstances this book goes into.

I would really recommend to so many people.

If You Were There is a thoughtful and empathic exploration of 'the missing' and the human stories behind the statistics.

Simply unpicking the definition of a 'missing person' is interesting in itself; there is no way of telling why or how a person might become missing. Garcia weaves together a variety of different stories, looking at the experiences of people who have been missing, the organisations working to support them and those left behind. It's an astute and comprehensive piece of journalistic non-fiction written with real sensitivity, never losing sight of the personal story at its heart.

A compelling and well researched study about missing people: the reasons they go missing, the people and organisations who search for them, the people who are left behind looking for answers and what happens when they return or are found in tragic circumstances. Through the eyes of Francisco Garcia, whose own father went missing, we get to know and understand how and why people get lost to the system - the homeless, the mentally ill, those caught up in modern slavery or county lines and those desperately sad situations where people die alone in poverty and receive a public health funeral, with nobody to mourn them. Many of the stories told have tragic or unresolved endings, including the author’s own. By exploring and retelling some of the stories behind the statistics of the missing and those who go unmissed and unmourned, Garcia reveals a world which is unknowable and unthinkable from the comfort of our seemingly secure and well adjusted lives, yet scarily close for far too many. With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Francisco Garcia has spent his life haunted by a ghost. When he was a young boy, his father, Christobal, returned to his home country of Andelusia and didn’t come back. It was left to his mum to bring him up and when she died young of breast cancer, it fell to his grandmother. Christobal wrote to Francisco’s mum from a monastery and then effectively vanished from their lives. He appears in a handful of photos and Francisco’s vague childhood memories. But as, he says in this book, a’ a missing person leaves a person shaped hole in your life.’
Why do they disappear? Where do they go? Francisco embarks on a search throughout Britain to discover the reasons why a person goes missing in the UK every 90 seconds. According to statistics, there are 180,00 reported missing people in the UK. Some walked out on their lives, others may have come to harm or suddenly disappeared. The growth in modern slavery and ‘county lines’ has added to the problem. The author meets the searchers, the police and charities who try and find the missing. According to one senior police officer there has been a huge increase of 77% in reported missing cases since 2010 which is really sobering. It seems easier than ever to slip through the net and become a ‘misper’. However, the author avoids using the word, closure, as often there is none or any right answers. As he says, ‘searching for the truth can be a risky business.’ He sees the mammoth task that the police face which is shared with charities such as Missing People.
This book was written during the pandemic in 202 which has made matters worse. It hampers their activities as not everything can be done from a desk.
The author visits homeless shelters, Crisis at Christmas and food banks and sees the increase in homelessness. He comments on the results of the austerity years. Social housing is almost a distant memory and ‘sofa surfing’ or the hidden homeless are almost one step away from a rough sleeper. I worked in a Homeless Persons Unit within a London council and if people lost their jobs, they often lost their home. It was a vicious circle and with job insecurity and zero hours contracts it was going to get worse. He cites the case of a teacher who had worked in Japan for 25 years and then returned to England. It took him 7 months to obtain an NI card and NHS number. By that stage, he was at his wits end.
And then some people do come back and try to fit back into a life that they’ve left. Whatever made them vanish, it’s probably still there, or the experience has changed them so much that they can’t fit back in again. ‘The support isn’t available’ as one says.
However, the book doesn’t lecture but presents the scary statistics objectively. Christobal struggled with his language difficulties and his problems with finding work before eventually giving up the fight.
Eventually he visits La Linea which was his father’s home town and from where he wrote his final letter. But he’s not sure what he’s looking for and accepts that he may never know why his father left.
This is a thought provoking, challenging and, at times, an uncomfortable book. I did read it with a mounting fury as I often feel that we have become a less responsible society, that people just slip away without anyone noticing. The chapter on public health funerals was particularly poignant.
My thanks to Mudlark and Netgalley for an ARC.

When Francisco Garcia was just seven years old, his father, Christobal, left his family. Unemployed, addicted to drink and drugs and adrift in life. Christobal decided he would rather disappear altogether than carry on dealing with the problems in front of him. Twenty years later, Francisco is ready to take up the search for answers. Where might his father have gone? Will there be a happy reunion?

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book even though I had mixed feelings about reading it as i pressed the request button. This is a very moving story that takes us on a journey across Britain and back to Spain, his fathers homeland. We learn of the people Francisco met along the way and the workers who met him in his search. Did this story have a happy ending? You'll need to get a copy of this book

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HarperCollinsUk #NonFiction and the author #FranciscoGarcia for my ARC of #IfYouWereThere in exchange for an honest review.