“Laura Clark Is Away From Her Desk” by Helen Russell: Sorry, Be Back Never! (BOOK REVIEW)

Sorry, Be Back Never!

Hey, Alex! What have you been reading lately?

I have always been fascinated by the idea of disappearing for a while. Not forever. Just long enough to interrupt the daily rhythm of others and see what happens once I am no longer available to everybody around me. Would people panic? Would they search for me? Or would life continue uninterrupted?

This may sounds dramatic, but the idea genuinely interests me. There is something unsettling about how quickly routine swallows us whole. We answer messages, show up to work, remember birthdays, help friends, and the second we stop, the world has to rearrange itself around our absence.

So when I first came across Laura Clark Is Away From Her Desk – a novel by Helen Russell I received through NetGalley and Wildfire (Headline), I knew I wanted to dive right into it.

Tell me more. What is the book about?

Everyone depends on Laura Clark. She is organised, reliable, the type of woman who gets abused for her kindness. That is until one day she doesn’t show up to work and she is never seen again.

At first, nobody reacts. Her coworkers are more irritated by the inconvenience caused than concerned. Her family assumes she will return and keep on with their lives as usual. It takes nearly a week for a missing person report to be filed.

As the novel unfolds, Russell peels back the layers of Laura’s life while shifting the focus toward the people she left behind. Coworkers, childhood friends, lovers, family members – all forced to confront the uncomfortable reality that perhaps they never knew the real Laura.

Part mystery, part satire, part female rage study, Laura Clark Is Away From Her Desk examines what happens when a woman reaches the point where disappearing begins to look less like tragedy and more like freedom.

What are some strong and weak points of the book?

The most interesting choice Russell makes in Laura Clark Is Away From Her Desk is keeping Laura absent for 98% of the novel. In most missing-person thriller/mystery stories, the narrative becomes obsessed with finding the one who has disappeared. Here, the spotlight shifts elsewhere. Laura’s disappearance acts almost like a mirror held up to everybody around her.

We watch her coworkers struggle without her being there to do the work instead of them. We watch her husband and daughter slip back into routine, unperturbed. No one is particularly worried about her wellbeing or is actively looking for her.

That contrast between Laura’s work and domestic life is especially well done. In the office, she is valued and relied upon but never rewarded for her overtime labour. At home, her attempts at connection are brushed aside. The novel captures something many women can recognise: the exhaustion of becoming invisible through usefulness.

Russell also balances humour and sadness very well. The dialogue is sharp, the chapters move quickly, and the wide cast of characters keeps the story energetic even when little happens.

At the same time, I do think the second half of the novel loses momentum. The short chapters create a fast pace, but eventually some scenes begin circling the same emotional points without adding much new insight. There are repeated domestic moments – takeaway dinners, unnecessary household conversations – that could have been trimmed down.

Ironically, my frustration with the characters also became part of the reading experience itself. Most of them adapt to Laura’s disappearance far too quick. Even when cryptic messages begin appearing and it becomes clear that she is alive, there is still no real urgency to find her. That indifference infuriated me. Which I suspect is exactly what Russell wanted.

Any final thoughts? Should I read it too?

If you enjoy mysteries that care more about character dynamics than shocking twists, you will enjoy Laura Clark Is Away From Her Desk. This is not your typical missing-person book – there is higher chance you will find yourself falling off your desk chair from laughter than you will get chills.

The novel is less interested in solving Laura’s disappearance than exposing the emotional neglect that encouraged her want to vanish in the first place. Unlike traditional thrillers, there is no dramatic final reveal waiting at the end. No satisfying resolution neatly tying everything together. Laura does not want to be found. She wants those loose ends. She wants peace and quiet and to be left alone. A chance to exist outside the roles that have been assigned to her and make her unhappy.

Laura’s absence exposes the selfishness, dependence, and emotional laziness of the people around her, but it also becomes an act of reclamation. Tired of existing in service to others, she chooses herself for once, even if doing so means cutting ties with her past. A strange and unsettling novel that lingers long after the final page.

Thank you so much!! Are there any similar books that you can recommend?

💼 Workhorse by Caroline Palmer – The Devil Wears Prada meets Inventing Anna in this darkly funny novel about burnout, ambition, and the exhausting performance of modern working life.

🎬 Main Characters by Bobby Palmer – a love story told through the eyes of friends, family, random passersby, anyone but the two people falling for each other.

📲 limaistyping…

rating: ☀️☀️☀️
tropes: 🔎 missing person | 🫥 losing oneself | 🏡 neglected woman | 💰 embezzlement fraud | 📺 coping mechanism
read if you like: annual leave, lamb biryani, sending postcards, spam articles, team building
look out for: 👩 Laura Clark (because no one else will) | 📑 company policies | 👓 the woman with glasses? | 🛗 a faulty lift | 💻 search histories
Reading this feels like everything pisses you off to the point where your Google searches recommend seeking therapy or booking a trip to France (ideally, both.)