A Place Called Here by Cecelia Ahern

Synopsis

Sandy Shortt had been intrigued by the mystery of Jenny May Butler gone missing
when both were ten. Even though Jenny May had been bullying her since forever,
Sandy can’t quite stay satisfied until she knew where in the world she was! That’s
when her obsession with lost things began. She demanded a house-search
whenever any one of her things went missing, which frustrated her parents (who
tried not to show it) and made her see a counsellor when she turned fourteen. The
counsellor-turned-friend came as someone who would listen to her questions and
kept in touch with her till later years. Now Sandy is in her thirties and not being
satisfied with her job with the Gardai, she runs her own missing persons agency.
She’s been in touch with the families of those gone missing, trying to find them,
supporting them throughout. More than helping families unite, she wants to just know
where they are; that knowing would be enough to help her get satisfaction from her
life’s work.

Jack Ruttle’s brother, Donal has been missing for over a year. Everyone in the family
seems to have got over it, but he looks up Sandy’s agency and fixes a meeting. They
had been talking over the phone and he was somehow sure that she would be able
to find his brother. But she doesn’t show up. That morning while jogging in another
city, Sandy finds an unused path in the woods and takes it. That’s when she went
missing. After two days of running around in the forest, she finds out a group of
people camping, now in their fifties. However, she recognizes them as a group who
went missing on their school trip many many years ago! One of them, Helena,
advises her to keep her identity a secret and tells her that she’s finally found the
place where the lost things go! They take her to their ‘town’, with a board naming the
place as ‘Here’. Many people who had gone missing, tired from trying to find a way
out, have developed villages and did work to pass their time. Many have married,
had children, sent them to school and tried to live as normal a life as possible. That’s
why Helena asked Sandy not to let others know that she knew things about their
family.

Anyway, Sandy’s still intrigued, living in ‘Here’, finding out her long lost and missing
things. But she isn’t just like others. Her watch first goes missing from Here, which
became an issue of great unrest! Where would the things from Here go? Helena’s
husband seems to know her power and knows she’s a ‘messenger’. Soon enough,
when Sandy had a heart-warming meeting with Jenny May (read the book to know
how!), she stumbles out of Here and finds herself back to her city, in the normal
mortal world, after two weeks. She’s completed her quest, she’s no longer uneasy
and fiddling, she knows where her things and the missing people have gone. She’s
finally free to go back and love her family. (And oh! Donal isn’t found. Again, I won't
spill the beans on that mystery).