When taking a walk outside, Thrity Umrigar likes to think about books she has read or might someday write. Inspired by the emptiness of suburban neighborhoods in the early morning hours, her latest novel, “Missing Sam,” centers on a woman who disappears on a run and the aftermath for her wife.
“It still sometimes feels strange to me, almost unnatural, how deserted our urban, suburban life is,” Umrigar said.
The local best-selling author fostered the idea of a woman going missing on a run and no one noticing, “turning up the heat” as she further developed the plot and main characters, Sam, and her wife, Ali.
“I wanted to test the strength of their marriage under the most extreme circumstances,” she said. “Frankly, I also wanted to test the strengths of our democracy in this age of polarization.”
When Sam goes missing, Ali, who is Muslim and the daughter of immigrants, faces scrutiny from the community and hateful comments on social media despite having nothing to do with Sam’s disappearance. Traditional news coverage only further fuels the rumors and speculation online.
“It’s a bunch of anonymous people, perhaps wanting to feel good about themselves by playing sleuth,” she said. “(Ali) finds herself at a total loss as to how to deal with that, and I'm just afraid that we are seeing more and more of that.”
Set in Cleveland Heights, “Missing Sam” has mentions of Cedar Lee and the Shaker Lakes along with other places Northeast Ohio readers will note. Umrigar said she enjoyed mentioning local spots and also chose Cleveland Heights for its reputation as a progressive community.
“I wanted to test the limits of liberalism,” Umrigar said. “I wanted it to test the limits of allyship. You know, are you going to remain somebody's friend or somebody's ally when the going gets tough? I'm more interested as a writer in these kinds of nuanced, complicated conversations.”
“Missing Sam,” out Tuesday from Algonquin Books, explores prejudices and familial relationships, as Ali turns to her estranged father in the wake of tragedy.
Umrigar said she hopes the story sparks conversations about reconciliation as well as how people treat one another, including immigrants.
“It's really easy to just dash off a snarky response to something that we might disagree with,” she said. “But are we chipping away at our democracy, at sort of the civil society that I think most of us cherish and value, each time we do so?"
Umrigar discusses her book at the Cuyahoga County Public Library’s Parma-Snow Branch Thursday evening and the South Euclid-Lyndhurst Branch Feb. 5. She also speaks at a ticketed breakfast at Tommy’s Restaurant in Cleveland Heights Feb. 20.
Talking with readers after the book launches is a “joy,” she said.
“Readers find things in my books that I'm not even aware of,” Umrigar said. “It's that level of intelligence and brilliance and insight that I really thrive on.”
