Who did you blame for Billy’s disappearance? Why do you suppose he wasn’t found by the authorities? Did you have any theories about what happened to the boy?
I honestly thought by the last 3rd of the book that maybe he had just left. It was barely addressed and no one seemed disturbed by what the police or trial concluded. They just all went their own ways. I also found it odd that Emilio mentioned when he first met Thirza that he was doing “research” and asked multiple times about the “missing boy”. This led me to believe he was investigating it or writing a book. However, that plot line was pretty quickly dropped and never mentioned again which was odd. The way it was wrapped up at the end was very unsatisfying.
completely agree - Emilio’s “research” was never followed up on, there was a lot of disconnect throughout the whole book.
I was convinced that he had died. No ransom requests and the bloody clothes were good red herrings.
At one point I wondered if Piers had anything to do with it - that he’d figured out Billy wasn’t his son, and had him spirited away.
It’s entirely possible he just left, but Thirza or Columbine should have picked up on it. The story about him going home to look for his hat was very muddled –several different versions surfaced. I had a sense he would show up later n the story, since he was so often mentioned.
Columbine was suppose to be watching him and she let him go back to the house to get his hat. He should not have gone alone. The people who grabbed him took him far away from Corfu. So maybe that is the reason he was not found. But I am surprised that the couple that found him and took him to the US did not try harder to find out what his history was. Then his bloody clothes were found and it was assumed he was dead. I thought his mother had had an affair which had resulted in his birth.So thought his biological father had found him.
I think I blamed the chaos of the invasion, rather than a certain person. I wondered if he had been accidentally killed. But as the story developed, I did wonder if it was a kidnapping attempt, disrupted by the chaos. I would have liked this part of the story to be developed more. I wanted to know what happened with Billy’s initial disappearance, what the authorities actually did, and then what happened with the American couple finding and taking him. I was disappointed that the author did not develop these aspects.
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Agree! The entire disappearance of Billy was vague. At one time I wondered if Emilio knew him as an artist in a nearby village.
I blame Dulcie because she left her son to be guarded by Columbine who was not reliable.
I always expected Billy to be alive because they never found his body. Without a body the authorities gave up and then he was quickly sheltered by the American family.
Columbine let Billy go off by himself in aa very dangerous situation. I think she’s initially to blame, but I do think he was grabbed to be used to elicit money from the family, then was discarded in Italy when there was so much chosen the island because of the in invasion.
I was very saddened when Thirza was blamed. She was just a kid herself. In reality, it was Billy’s mother’s “fault”, she was too concerned with the refugee children.
I always blamed Columbine for him disappearing. She was the adult in charge of the kids at that moment he was abducted but, Dulcie should have been more concerned about her kids first and getting them to safety.
Also, when Billy shows back up and tells his story I was surprised the Greek authorities didn’t put two and two together when that couple found him? Or were the Greek authorities even told a kid was found? That seemed a bit of a grey area that he could be whisked away to America so easily and adopted?
I found Billy’s story very strange. If his memories started to return, why didn’t his adoptive parents pursue the truth? I question why the author included his return. It didn’t add to the plot other than suggest a happily ever after ending.
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I have to agree with everyone else that the whole Billy plotline was very disjointed. I assumed he was kidnapped and then something happened that they did not pursue the ransom and then….? It would seem likely that the Greek authorities gave up after the bloody clothes were found assuming he was dead and no further reason to pursue the case. The idea of American tourists finding him and then not being able to connect to any authorities doesn’t seem too unlikely in a foreign country at that time period. I am sure that after they adopted him and he became a part of their lives they didn’t feel it necessary to help him find any earlier family.
I agree that this left too many loose ends. Given the threatening note to Dulcie, the logical plot line would concentrate on that connection behind his disappearance. It seemed predictable that he would reemerge and a little contrived that it happened at his sister’s wedding day. But it is a novel and added to the dramatic story.
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I blamed Dulci as it seemed that she knew Columbine was often drunk and unreliable.
I believe Columbine was mainly to blame. Billy’s disappearance seemed strange, and finding his bloody clothes and the knife seemed like red herrings. I had no theories about what had happened. However, I always felt he would return later in the story. His return was so far-fetched. coincidentally arriving on Thirza and Emilio’s wedding day. All the loose threads were tied up, but for me not satisfactorily.
I always suspected the aunt. She let this little boy go by himself during a crisis on the Island. Why would she do that?
I very specifically blamed Columbine. She obviously not only resented Dulcie, but was also completely unreliable. It seemed believable that she would allow Billy to just slip away. At the same time, Dulcie wasn’t particularly respectful of Columbine so was remiss by assigning anything critical—the protection of her beloved son during an apparent invasion—to Columbine.