Ten years ago Ellie Mack walked out the door on her way to the library to study and never came home - leaving her family behind, frozen in time and grief. There was a flurry of activity when she disappeared, but over time the Police concluded that she ran away, and the case was forgotten by everyone except her family. Her mother Laurel has never been able to move on, she has never believed that Ellie ran away, and when a special programme airs around the tenth anniversary of Ellie's disappearance she has a faint hope that she might find out what happened - but she never expected them to find Ellie's remains a few months later. After ten years of existing rather than living, Laurel now has the concrete proof that her golden girl will never be coming home.
With her two other adult children keeping her at a distance, it is no surprise that Laurel is swept up rather quickly by the attention from a charming and charismatic man who crosses her path at a local café. Floyd is intelligent, interesting, and has a daughter named Poppy who has an uncanny resemblance to Ellie. Swept off her feet in a whirlwind romance, Laurel takes chances and starts to blossom again, and the more time she spends with Floyd and Poppy the more she sees a resemblance with her missing daughter. As she starts poking around in their lives, Laurel uncovers some startling connections to her own life and that of Ellie - and soon she will make the most startling discovery of all.
Picking up books to read based on their blurbs can be a risky gamble - most of the time the blurbs are pretty accurate but sometimes the book and the blurb seem to have nothing in common - that was definitely not the case with Then she was gone. I was absorbed in the story quickly and read the book in one sitting because I didn't want to put it down. The characters are the biggest part of what makes this story so good - you connect with them, empathise with them, care about them, and experience the story through their eyes. There are parts of the story that are somewhat predictable (especially for readers who read a lot of crime/thrillers like I do), but Lisa Jewell handles those (almost) clichés well.
Reviewing books like Then she was gone is always tricky because you want to share how great it was - while also not spoiling any of the things that make it such a good read. I have to confess to having a tendency to like books that would make great movies or television series and this is one of those books that reads like it could be made into either easily - there's nothing challenging about the text to slow you down with complications and overly flowery descriptions, but the characters are well developed and easy to connect with. Highly recommended read, and I can't wait to read more from the author.
If you like this book then try:
- Sticks and stones by Katherine Firkin
- The liar's daughter by Claire Allan
- The nowhere child by Christian White
- The half sister by Sandie Jones
- Hidden lies by Rachel Ryan
- When I was ten by Fiona Cummins
- Before she was Helen by Caroline B. Cooney
- My best friend's murder by Polly Phillips
- Crimson Lake by Candice Fox
- The better sister by Alafair Burke
- Either side of midnight by Benjamin Stevenson
- Two wrongs by Rebecca Reid
Reviewed by Brilla
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