Then She Was Gone Paperback – 6 Nov. 2018

Over the years, Jewell’s writing style and genre have evolved and I have enjoyed every single stop on this journey. Then She Was Gone has most definitely lived up to the reputation of its predecessors.Ellie Mack seemingly disappeared without a trace when she was just fifteen years old – Ellie headed out to the library to do some studying for her exams and simply never returned. With no witnesses, clues or a body found, the case was closed unresolved with the presumption that she had simply run away and did not want to be found. Her mother, Laurel, ten years on is still not ready to accept these version of events and is hopeful that Ellie will one day walk back through her door. However, this hope has come at a price – Laurel is in limbo, she hasn’t really moved on since Ellie’s disappearance whereas her now ex-husband Paul has found happiness and is living his life (albeit still in Ellie’s shadow).Then She Was Gone is told both in the present day and the past so we hear both Ellie’s voice throughout the book as well as Laurel’s which provides an interesting dimension to the story.What I loved most about this book was how this author has created a cast of lovable characters, all with their own personalities and back stories. Then She Was Gone is a story about family as much as it is a mystery – Laurel’s relationships with her ex-husband, her son and remaining daughter are well crafted and truly add to the narrative to provide a round-view of the Mack family both then and now. It’s fascinating how they have all dealt with Ellie’s disappearance in different ways – as such, Jewell has created an emotionally charged story. At times, this is uncomfortable reading both in regards to Ellie’s story and when the plot line begins to unravel to the reader.Jewell’s writing style is stunning (as usual!) and, alongside the brilliant plot, makes this a fascinating read that is impossible to put down. It is so easy to get completely immersed in Jewell’s books – highly recommend this to both firm fans and those new to Lisa Jewell (and there is an exceptional back catalogue of books to get through too 🙂 ).

Another beautifully written novel by Lisa Jewell. Upon starting this book, I was not expecting to go on the emotional rollercoaster I just experienced.Handling the subject of a teenage girl going missing unexpectedly with the utmost respect and sensitivity through the mothers point of view whilst also touching on how the trauma created a strain with her other children is no easy achievement but creates a compelling read. Each character has depth and in true Jewell style their motives for their actions are both explained and understandable due to the information about how they think we are provided. Noone quite manages to switch the narrative voice quite like this author.The story was not the most mysterious, with the true villain being partially revealed very early on, but watching a heart broken mother, along with the reader, learn more and more about what actually happened to Ellie kept me hooked from the very beginning.I do have to question at times how exactly Jewell manages to write such twisted characters in her novels, but I can only hope she writes some more soon because I can not get enough

The story is heartbreaking and seems so real. Once I started to read it I couldn’t stop.I love Lisa Jewell’s books anyway and although it is very dark, it is the best yet.

Such a good read! A gripping and emotional thriller about a mother searching for answers after her daughter’s disappearance. With dark twists and compelling characters, Lisa Jewell kept me hooked until the final reveal. Suspenseful and haunting. Would recommend!!

I couldn’t wait till I had time to pick it back up again and would loose myself for hours in this brilliant story.One of the best books Ive read.

Excellent service Excellent product thank you

Laurel's eldest daughter, Ellie, disappeared just before her GCSEs. A decade on, Laurel is amicably divorced from her husband Paul and living alone. Her relationships with her other adult children, Hanna and Jake, are also perfectly amicable but not, somehow, as close as they should be in the wake of losing bright, kind, cheerful Ellie.Eventually, Laurel meets Floyd, a handsome, well-dressed single man whose own family set-up is also a little complicated: his adult daughter Sara-Jane is a slightly troubled character, and he's a single dad to Sara-Jane's half-sister Poppy, aged nine, whose dysfunctional mother effectively abandoned her on his doorstep.When Laurel meets Poppy, she's nonplussed by her unusual personality and eerily precocious manner, which is charming and infuriating by turns. But what strikes her most of all is how much Poppy looks like the missing Ellie. Is Laurel going mad? Is the resemblance purely a coincidence? Or is something much more strange going on?I recently reviewed another book in this domestic noir subgenre of pyschological thriller, Clare Boyd's Little Liar, which I hated, so I'm glad to say Lisa Jewell's Then SheWas Gone is of a completely different standard. The plot is, admittedly, somewhat far-fetched, but in a way that somehow works in the context of this particular book, and the characters are well-crafted. In particular, Laurel herself felt credible and real, and after so many psychological thrillers centred on thirty-something women I was delighted to read one with a character in her mid-50s with adult children who isn't some sort of socially inadequate stalker. She's certainly flawed, but realistically so, given what she's been through, and she makes an intelligent, courageous and determined protagonist.There's one relationship in this book that, at first, I felt was too unlikely to believe, but this did come to make more sense to me as the story built to its conclusion.As I said, the plot does require some suspension of disbelief, but this gives the book a slightly heightened, almost gothic feel - it's a novel that hovers on the border of thriller and horror and as such, it is pretty dark and your jaw may drop at some of the more extreme developments. I think this blending of genres works really well, though, and in combination with the skilled characterisation and the twists and turns of the story, it makes Then She Was Gone a gripping read.