Then She Was Gone

Product Information

I’d be open to reading a different book of Jewell’s since I don’t think she’s a bad writer or anything, but the mystery in Then She Was Gone didn’t really do it for me. This ranks for me as a pretty average mystery novel, so I don’t know that I’d really recommend it. I’m open to reading a different book of hers in the future though! What a breath of fresh air this book was for me. I‘ve had trouble loosing myself in a good book lately. And isn’t that what we all hope for?

Thank you to NetGalley, Ariele Friedman, Atria Books and Lisa Jewell for a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. I would listen to a friend's concerns, regardless if she believed in Mother Nature or the Great Pumpkin. Laurel is doing her best to move on with her life. Her teenage daughter went missing years ago, triggering an avalanche of misfortune. The family splintered. Laurel and Paul divorcing. And now, their two remaining children are leaving home at the first chance they get - anxious to live their own lives, away from the oppressive tension within their home.

Part Two

You know, how you get to forty and you suddenly stop giving a sh** about all the stupid things you worried about your whole life. Well, nine year old Poppy is already there." The characters are very ordinary people. They are not rich, nor particularly successful. They don't marry millionaires and live happily ever after. They are ordinary people with ordinary worries who have ordinary awful things happen, and who react like I imagine that I, or any of my friends, would react should a child of mine go missing. And in this very 'ordinaryness' Jewell creates compelling characters that we come to love and empathise with, and addictive reads. Before she went missing, Ellie had been struggling with math class. Ellie asked for a tutor, and Noelle Donnelly was recommended. It went well, but Noelle started to weird Ellie out, so Ellie stopped the lessons. After the lessons stopped, Noelle runs into Ellie and offers her some practice materials. Ellie, not wanting to be rude, accepts. They go to Noelle's house, and Ellie isn't seen again.

Heathcote, Charlotte. “‘Then She Was Gone’ Review: Jewell Writes Lively and Fluid Prose.” Review of Then She Was Gone, by Lisa Jewell. Express, 28 July 2017, www.express.co.uk/entertainment/books/833831/Then-She-Was-Gone-book-review-Lisa-Jewell. Accessed 2 Nov. 2018. My love for tales of mystery and adventure began with my grandfather, a decorated World War I hero. I will never forget being introduced to his friend, a WWI pilot who flew across the skies at the same time as the feared, legendary Red Baron. My love of reading and storytelling eventually led me to write and it’s the best job I’ve ever had. I have seen this book before but passed on it. Whatever the reason I was compelled to buy it. The book is written well my main disappointment was based because the suspense and murder are the main focus. I think Lisa Jewell has written a chilling novel of suspense, but it is also a book about the power of maternal love, forgiveness and healing and never giving up.I won’t go over the plot, I rarely do that, you all read the blurbs on the books I know you do! This is a true thriller to me as it contains an extremely deviant sociopath who is so mentally ill that it’s painful to read her thoughts. You know where it’s going but you just can’t stop it. I have now read the last few books by this author and look forward to reading many more. To prove a point of mine, it is possible to write a good and suspenseful story without blood, excess gore and constant action. This is the kind of psychological thriller I actually enjoy. How can we understand that our partner is an ideal candidate for providing mutual love or unconditional love? If you are always loyal, honest, and supportive with each other and never complain about each other to other people, there is a high probability that you are ideal candidates for mutual or unconditional love. This book shows us the importance of mutual love in our life.

Jewell teases out her twisty plot at just the right pace, leaving readers on the edge of their seats. Her multilayered characters are sheer perfection, and even the most astute thriller reader won’t see where everything is going until the final threads are unknotted.” — Booklist, starred review

Table of Contents

EXCERPT: She had no one to call, no one to ask 'Have you seen Hanna? Do you know where she is?' Her life simply didn't work like that. There were no connections anywhere. Just little islands of life dotted here and there.

Floyd is kind and sensitive and has a young daughter named Poppy, who looks inexplicably like Ellie. Symbolic of the desire to move on once closure has been reached, Part Two opens with Laurel encountering, apparently by accident, an attractive eligible bachelor in a neighborhood café. He is American-born anglophile Floyd Dunn, a moderately successful author of scientific books. The two strangers exchange personal information during a leisurely conversation. Floyd is separated from his wife and is the father of two daughters. The older of the two, Sara-Jade, known as “SJ,” is a product of his marriage, and usually lives with her mother. The younger child, Poppy, just nine, is the result of an extended but long-past affair. Poppy was left with Floyd—who is ecstatic to have her—when she was four years old, after which time her mother took off for parts unknown. Well, this was the refreshing change I’d been looking for! Though some give-away clues are revealed early on, you’re still taken on a journey that will most definitely pull your heart in many directions.He makes mention about what a schlub he is and how incredible Laurel is just for giving him the time of day. As Laurel slowly finds closure, she begins to rebuild her life. She starts dating and it seems as if she has found love again with a single father named Floyd. But something isn’t quite right about Floyd, especially his relationship with his nine-year-old daughter, Polly. The more and more Laurel spends time with Floyd and Polly, she comes to realize that what happened to Ellie was not at all what it seemed. This story was very dark, gloomy, and creepy, but also quite emotional and poignant. Laurel's voice is so realististic, raw, and sympathetic, she nearly had me believing she was a real person and that this was a true story. Her emergence from a tortuous state of limbo and her fierce determination to get to the truth, and begin truly living life again was an amazing transformation. Stacy Shaw has her whole life ahead of her. New job, new house and now a baby on the way—everything she’s ever hoped for is finally coming true. But on a warm summer night on the way home from work, she vanishes. The police race to find her, but the clues don’t add up. Conflicting facts emerge as her story twists and turns, sending the trail spiraling in all directions.