I remember Marga from my earliest days at UoB: she was contributing to a shared MA across the History department and the Shakespeare Institute and would make regular trips down to our satellite campus in Stratford. From the outset she was a bright, kind, forceful presence in my life at Birmingham. She always had ideas to share and questions to ask. When I found out that Marga was taking on the role of academic lead for PGT studies in her School I was delighted by the prospect of getting to work with her more closely. I also knew that it wouldn’t be easy, because Marga never took shortcuts! You knew when she was at a meeting because she came with things to say and problems to solve – and I loved her for that. We had just started to get going with some of the plans she had for SHAC PGT, which she pursued with her characteristic passion and vigour. I will dearly miss her collegiality, tenacity, and kindness, which have left their mark on so many of us at UoB.

It is written in the same language and style that I imagine her talking in. Bad grammar and all. This makes the story feel authentic. I imagine the audible version would be good. There are a few characters that are a bit clichéd at the home where she grew up. But there are lots of interesting secondary characters.

Featured Reviews

Vanish is exactly what happens to seven-year-old Margaret in 1947 when her maternal grandmother and Mr. Gray decide she should be 'dropped off' at St. Mary's Hospital, a long-stay institution for children with learning and physical disabilities. I was surprised to find out "The Vanishing of Margaret Small" is this author's debut novel. The author's note at the end, gives brief detail of what brought this amazing story to life. I do hope this book finds its way in front of a large audience of readers and listeners for the well-written and meaningful story it is. I highly recommend it to all! In a Nutshell: An unusual story. The title and cover makes this debut novel appear light and easy-going, but it gets quite intense at times. Definitely worth reading for its quirky protagonist and its character-oriented storyline. Told in two timelines, this story is an intensely emotional journey with top-notch characterizations. It's impossible not to love Margaret, as she's definitely the one who holds this story together. She may be a bit slow but she has an inner beauty that's impossible to resist. The main impact of her first term was economic. Inheriting a weak economy, she reduced or eliminated some governmental regulations and subsidies to businesses, thereby purging the manufacturing industry of many inefficient—but also some blameless—firms. The result was a dramatic increase in unemployment, from 1.3 million in 1979 to more than double that figure two years later. At the same time, inflation doubled in just 14 months, to more than 20 percent, and manufacturing output fell sharply. Although inflation decreased and output rose before the end of her first term, unemployment continued to increase, reaching more than three million in 1986.

Close to the end, we were told Margaret's birth date. I'd like to think this is why I felt that she was so special to me. My own daughter was born on Margaret's birthday. Margaret's current story is interspersed with the story of her life in St. Mary's, a residential home for the intellectually challenged and mentally disturbed. When reading, the locations mentioned were very vivid to me - largely in part to the fact that just last week I binge-watched the second season of "Whitstable Pearl" on Netflix.Funny, sad and uplifting all at once, The Vanishing of Margaret Small by @neilalexander_ is a terrific story, with a twist I didn’t see coming and a heroine who’ll stay in my mind for a long time. Recommended‘. Frances Quinn, author of The Smallest Man and That Bonesetter Woman

Where do I even begin? Everyone and I mean everyone needs to read this book! I defy anyone to not fall in love with Margaret Small, she is the most loveable character you could ever meet and once you know her history you can’t help but love her more. This story is told in a dual timeline. We have present-day Margaret who is struggling to understand why she keeps receiving letters from someone called ‘C’ and Margaret as a child/teen/ young woman telling us her story inside the walls of St Mary’s. The Vanishing of Margaret Small is the first novel by British author, Neil Alexander. In 1947, at the age of seven, Margaret Small is collected without explanation from her grandmother’s home by a man she dubs The Rat Catcher. I've read similar books before (Grace Henderson Says it Loud) but Margaret makes an eloquent narrator and her story has extra dimensions outside of the 'care home' scenario, that make this a touching and rather memorable audiobook.She cared so much about the students and the staff and would always stop for a chat, no matter how busy she was. I will miss her a lot. Okay, call me gender-biased, but I am not a fan of men writing women; most of the times, they mess up female representation. So imagine my surprise when I discovered that this is written by a man! What a beautiful and sensitive portrayal of the female characters! There was no scene where I felt like the writing went stereotypical. So yeah, I admit, there are some good male writers in contemporary fiction. I hope some more of them come my way. ( Sorry for being so presumptive in my dismissal of male authors! It’s a case of ‘Multiple times bitten, perennially shy.’) Thatcher led the Conservatives to a decisive electoral victory in 1979 following a series of major strikes during the previous winter (the so-called “Winter of Discontent”) under the Labour Party government of James Callaghan. As a prime minister representing the newly energetic right wing of the Conservative Party (the “Dries,” as they later called themselves, as opposed to the old-style moderate Tories, or “Wets”), Thatcher advocated greater independence of the individual from the state; an end to allegedly excessive government interference in the economy, including privatization of state-owned enterprises and the sale of public housing to tenants; reductions in expenditures on social services such as health care, education, and housing; limitations on the printing of money in accord with the economic doctrine of monetarism; and legal restrictions on trade unions. The term Thatcherism came to refer not just to these policies but also to certain aspects of her ethical outlook and personal style, including moral absolutism, fierce nationalism, a zealous regard for the interests of the individual, and a combative, uncompromising approach to achieving political goals. This is where Margaret remains until, at thirty-two years old, she's told she can leave St. Mary's to live in a small group home while receiving guidance from an assigned Support Worker.