THE #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER! 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 … 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 café, 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?
“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
“More than a whiff of The Lovely Bones wafts through this haunting domestic noir…Skillfully told by several narrators, Jewell’s gripping novel is an emotionally resonant story of loss, grief, and renewal.” —Publishers Weekly
“Sharply written with twists and turns, Jewell’s latest will please fans of Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, or Luckiest Girl Alive.” —Library Journal
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“A man who can’t love but desperately needs to be loved is a dangerous thing indeed.”
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I picked this book up because it received such great reviews and it didn’t disappoint! A fast-paced, psychological thriller that keeps you hooked the entire time! You can always count on @lisajewelluk to deliver pure entertainment/suspense! A great bookclub pick also! Enjoy a nice big glass of wine while reading this because you won’t want to put it down!
couldn’t put it down. just when you think you knew – guess again!
This book kept me on my toes! Just when I thought I had things figured out, I was wrong – it was way deeper and more twisted than I imagined!
Very bittersweet! Great character driven story!
This book was way better than i expected it to be. I really like how it played out at the end. I wont spoil it for the people who havent read it. But it was very enjoyable 🙂
Lisa Jewell is a prolific author of gripping contemporary thriller and suspense novels, and her loyal fans have become accustomed to a high caliber of character development and innovative plot twists in her work. They might be slightly disappointed in picking up Jewell’s Then She Was Gone, a novel published by Atria in 2017. The book alternates from the time when Ellie-a young intelligent teen admired by all- mysteriously disappears to ten years later after a retrospective televised reenactment is broadcast. Even though what could be her remains are discovered, the chronology of what occurred long ago remains unclear. The emotional scars from that day are still close to the surface for Laurel Mack, Ellie’s mother. Over the intervening years, Laurel has become a shell of her former self and continues to be unconvinced by the hasty conclusion made by the initial investigation that Ellie simply ran away from home. Estranged from the remainder of her family, Laurel clings to an idealized image of the daughter she lost. Just when she is beginning to accept a lack of resolution and is ready to move on with her life, she encounters a new man who may not turn out to be the Prince Charming he appears. Questions start to arise about the man’s past, possible motives and ties to a woman who was Ellie’s tutor before she went missing. Then She Was Gone does have numerous moments that strain credulity and border on the implausible, still, it is a compelling enough story for the reader to forgive these faults. Jewell reliably unspools a twisty tale that will keep even veteran mystery readers gasping with the revelations as the chapters pass. This title would make a decent choice for a book club or quick read, but those new to Jewell might be better served to begin with Watching You or The Family Upstairs.
Good read
Predictable
This is really a dark and twisted story, but unfortunately very predictable. I kept hoping for a surprising turn but it never came.
I whipped through this book. I’m a big fan of psychological thrillers and this one filled the requirements. I was hooked all the way. If I had any reservation, it would be that the ending was tied up a bit too neatly. This story’s happy ending didn’t quite ring true after the devastating events the characters had endured.
But I did enjoy it and would recommend it to others.
Considering how this novel is classified, I was expecting a true thriller, with lots of twists and turns, and some breathtaking moments. It was none of that, and I wish I’d simply gone in cold, because what it *was* wasn’t disappointing, just very different. A wonderful kind of different!
Then She Was Gone features Laurel, a middle-aged woman who isn’t crazy or awful or frantic. Rather she is normal, all things considered. She’s lost a child, so she’s damaged, but not overly so. She’s smart and interesting, and you feel true sympathy for her. Her family is also damaged, but there are no over-the-top antics or unyielding grudges. They are good people with good intentions surviving a trauma, and you like them.
And then we discover some bad things done by questionable people, bringing painful answers and ALL THE FEELS. Nothing gimmicky or hyped, but again, interesting. I love that I loved a book that wasn’t glitzy or “unputdownable” or screwing with my mind. I love that I loved this book because it was approachable, it was realistic and it was, above all, interesting.
An interesting, strange, brilliant story that tells the story of Ellie, her mother, the strange woman Noelle and the rest of the people affected by or involved in her disappearance. Sad, heartbreaking and real this boom had me in tears by the end, feeling on behalf of everyone involved and slightly angry at myself for feeling it.
Well written and characters so real you can see them right in front of you. All different. All real. And all affected by the golden child that was the center of their lives. Definitely a worthy five star read that anyone can enjoy.
Wow and wow!
No wonder this book by Lisa Jewell has such good reviews. I have never read anything like it.
Did I start with the wrong book? This story had a haunting sadness.
The story is about a missing girl called Ellie. We don’t learn much about her, the plot rather revolves around the cause of her missing, and the effect it left on her environment.
It was a solid read, but nothing spectacular; I guess that my expectations were much higher for a book that’s got more than 20,000 votes from the Goodreas community.
Lisa Jewell is an experienced writer and she knows how to tell an attention-grabbing story, but I must admit that the plot is quite predictable and I wasn’t sure whether that was authors intention or not. Some of the clues seemed to obvious as if the author was telling the reader:
Yes, you’re right! Do you want to see if that’s really true?
However, predictability didn’t repel me from the book, which is quite unusual; I simply wanted to see what happens next and if it could it get any crazier; and it gets.
Much of the story revolves around grief, denial and hope; mostly told from the POV of Ellie’s mother, Laurel. She was living in denial of her daughter’s death until the remains were finally found. Her grief had made her blind and she neglected all aspects of her life, including the rest of her children, especially her daughter Hannah, who suffered most.
While Laurel is trying to rebuild her life, she realizes that it’s not going to happen that easily. She gets involved in new sets of mysteries and weird coincidences.
We get to see the manipulative and exploitative side of human nature who are willing to do anything for personal gain; crushing everything and everyone who are standing on their ways. In that game, nobody actually wins and the reckless, selfish, manipulative behavior affects more people than we can think of.
Although the story was built on some rather unbelievable set of events, with a lot of obvious patches for plot holes, which are not quite well explained, the reading community obviously enjoyed the book and forgave the author for taking shortcuts while building the story.
After all, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading mysteries but be prepared to reveal a lot of information by yourself.
Originally published at http://ivanbacic.com
This would have been a great book but the ending was not believable at all.
This is not my typical genre, but it was recommended to me, so I gave it a try. I read it straight through. Never put it down. The author feeds you just enough information to keep you guessing… and turning page after page…just one more chapter. Loved it!
Love this book!!
Unique and disturbing, I couldn’t put it down
Loved the book. Kept me guessing the entire time. think you will enjoy this book if you like page-turner plots.
There was so many twists in this book. Just when you think the author has finished, with a certain scene, she brings it back later in the book and has added more.
Some of the characters are creepy and you never know what to expect, from them. I would like to say more, but I don’t want to give away the book.