Missing Sam (publication day January 27, 2026) by Thrity Umrigar caught my attention immediately, telling the story of a fight between married Aliyah and Samantha, that they don’t resolve before they go to sleep. In the morning, Sam goes for a run and doesn’t come back. Ali becomes the prime suspect in her disappearance.
Umrigar (the author of previously-reviewed Honor, among many other books) masterfully gives the reader just a little bit of information at a time, switching back and forth, telling the story first from Sam’s perspective, then Ali’s and also from the perspective of the man who took Sam. So we know that Ali didn’t have anything to do with Sam’s disappearance, even though in the world of the book, Ali, as a lesbian woman of South Asian descent, is damned in social media and by the local press. Meanwhile, she fears the worst.
One positive of Sam’s being missing was the reuniting of Ali and her father, who had been estranged for a while, but he is there for her during this time. After too long, Sam is released and quickly found, but of course, her weeks of being held captive, drugged, and raped have changed her. Both women have to come to terms with what happened, but in the aftermath, they have the support of both of their families.
As with Honor, Missing Sam was pretty intense and dealt with difficult themes, such as family estrangement, homophobia, Islamophobia, misogyny, rape, and PTSD. But Umrigar handled all of these issues with respect and care. I would recommend it with these warnings. I also will consider it weight-neutral.
Reading While Fat 