Missing Reels

The Time: late 1980s. The Place: New York City. The Protagonist: Ceinwen, a rural Mississippi girl. As a sales girl earning minimum wage, and a resident of a rundown apartment on Avenue C, Ceinwen’s primary getaway is in watching old movies. That is, until Ceinwen stumbles on a mystery: Ceinwen suspects that Miriam, her classy downstairs neighbor, starred in a lost silent film, and she becomes determined to track down the missing reels. Eccentric film buffs, aging film stars, and a compelling English math professor are roped into her quest.

A well-researched mystery that film buffs will enjoy for its discussion of lesser known films, ideal projection speeds, modern film curation, as well as the famous directors and actors whose talent made Hollywood’s Golden Age. The novel initially struggles with minimal description and heavy-reliance on dialogue which occasionally results in confusing and abrupt scene changes. Yet, readers are encouraged to overlook this deficit as her profuse dialogue is skillfully written, and manages to relay characters’ underlying emotions through their casual comments to one another. All in all, Nehme’s passion for films and her sympathetic, if believably flawed, characters will keep readers engrossed and steadily flipping pages.