Then She Was Gone
2017
- families
- missing children
- fiction
- missing persons
- daughters
- secrecy
- nyt:hardcover-fiction=2018-05-06
- divorced women
- life change events
- cold cases (criminal investigation)
The story
"Ten years after her teenage daughter disappears, a woman crosses paths with a charming single father whose young child feels eerily familiar, in this evocative, suspenseful drama from New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell--perfect for fans of Paula Hawkins and Liane Moriarty. Ellie Mack was the perfect daughter. She was fifteen, the youngest of three. She was beloved by her parents, friends, and teachers. She and her boyfriend made a teenaged golden couple. She was days away from an idyllic post-exams summer vacation, with her whole life ahead of her. And then she was gone. Now, her mother Laurel Mack is trying to put her life back together. It's been ten years since her daughter disappeared, seven years since her marriage ended, and only months since the last clue in Ellie's case was unearthed. So when she meets an unexpectedly charming man in a cafe, no one is more surprised than Laurel at how quickly their flirtation develops into something deeper. Before she knows it, she's meeting Floyd's daughters--and his youngest, Poppy, takes Laurel's breath away. Because looking at Poppy is like looking at Ellie. And now, the unanswered questions she's tried so hard to put to rest begin to haunt Laurel anew. Where did Ellie go? Did she really run away from home, as the police have long suspected, or was there a more sinister reason for her disappearance? Who is Floyd, really? And why does his daughter remind Laurel so viscerally of her own missing girl?"--
What it’s like
Taut, unhurried domestic suspense told in close third person, with a claustrophobic London-suburb texture: rain on Sunday pavements, kitchen tables under strip lights, cafe windows fogged by milk-steamer breath, the quiet hum of a house where a missing child's bedroom is still kept. The prose is plain and clean rather than lyrical, built from short scenes that cut between a grieving mother's present and the teenage world that vanished, so the reading feels like a series of tightening doors. Mood is cool and watchful, a slow unease that settles into dread rather than shock, with the emotional weight sitting on guilt, memory and the terror of hope returning. Violence is off-page and implied; there is no gore, little on-page cruelty, and the sexual content is minimal, though the mystery turns on a child's safety and some scenes are heavy with menace. Best for late-night alone reading, a rainy weekend, or a long flight, for readers who like psychological mysteries with a grief-stricken protagonist, a secret-laden family, and a slow reveal that rewards attention over speed. Less suited to anyone wanting something gentle or light.
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