| Cassina Gambrel Was Missing | |
| Author: | William Watkins |
| Language: | English |
| Country: | United States |
| Genre: | Novel |
| Publisher: | Lynx Publishing Company |
| Illustrator: | James Richardson (cover photo) |
| Cover Artist: | Montague Ferry Design, NYC |
| Release Date: | 1999 |
| Media Type: | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages: | 192 pp |
| Isbn: | 0-9668965-0-5 |
Cassina Gambrel Was Missing is a 1999 novel by William Watkins.
Set against turbulent events in Memphis, Tennessee in the late 1970s, the novel concerns a young, white, college student named Jackson Taylor who befriends an older black woman named Cassina Gambrel. As the protagonist's fortune and world expands, Cassina's narrows. Years later, Jackson begins a search for his former friend and the book takes on a cynical tone, bordering on bitterness, while the story unfolds through a series of revealing flashbacks.
The novel has been described as part coming-of-age story and part comedy of manners and garnered praise for the author's ability to draw keen characterizations with few words and to juggle a non-linear narrative with skill.[1]