Then She was Gone

A bright and beautiful teenage girl goes missing in this dark and unsettling fast moving psychological thriller.

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SUMMARY

What happened to Ellie? She was fifteen, bright and madly in love with her first boyfriend. One morning she heads to the library and tells her mom she’ll be home by lunch and to save her that last leftover piece of lasagna. Only fifteen minutes from her home, she disappears. No one saw a thing. Ten years later, her mother, Laurel, whose life fell apart after Ellie’s disappearance, has never given up the search or the hope. But there comes a time when it’s time to move on. She meets Floyd, a charming and complimentary man at a bakery who offers her a bite of his carrot cake. Laurel is swept off her feet, and before long Laurel’s relationship with Floyd develops into something deeper, and soon she is introduced to his precocious nine year old daughter, Poppy. Meeting Poppy takes Laurel’s breath away. Poppy looks just like Ellie did at that age. And the questions come flooding back. Where did Ellie go? Had she run away? Had she been kidnapped? Laurel feels things are not quite right, she is missing something.

“If she could rewind the timeline, untwist it and roll it back the other way like a ball of wool, she’d see the knots in the yarn, the warning signs. Looking at it backward it was obvious all along.”

REVIEW

THEN SHE WAS GONE is a tragic and grabbing story of a bright, and brave teenager that goes missing and the aftermath that follows in the ensuing years. It is creatively told told from multiple points of view, at varying points in time, using a variety of sources. I really liked Laurel’s character; her strength, her fortitude and her persistence in finding the truth of what happened to her daughter. All the characters in this intriguing story were unique, well-developed and each had great depth.

LISA JEWEL’s writing was captivating, and the book was a fast read. It’s a dark and unsettling story that is dramatic and unforgettable. The ending was a little sudden but was satisfying. JEWELL Is a British author of popular fiction and has written sixteen novels. Her recent books include Watching You (7/12/18), I Found You and The Girls. She lives in London with her husband and two daughters. I listened to the Audible version of this book and thought the performance by Helen Duff was quite good.

Publisher Atria Books/Dreamscape Media

Publication April 17, 2018

Narrator Helen Duff

Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

“The blame game could make you lose your mind...all the infinitesimal outcomes, each path breaking up into a million other paths every time you needlessly choose one, taking you on a journey that you’d never find your way back from.