The Vanishing

Bloomsbury. First English translation, 2003. First published in Holland in 1984. May have some age discolouration and previous owner name. Scarce

Petrol gauge broken, anxiety and tempers flaring, young lovers Rex and Saskia pull in at a service station on their way to a holiday the South of France to refuel. As soon as they stop the tension is relieved. Rex buries two coins in a crack at the base of fence post as a secret sign of their love: Saskia goes off to buy a couple of cold drinks and vanishes. Eight years later Rex is still haunted by her. Then one day he sees scrawled in the grime on the roof of a yellow car parked below his window two lines: REX YOU ARE SO SWEET SANDRA and WHEN I WRITE THIS IT SHOWS THE PAIN...And the obsession rages in his blood again.