Spring is finally in the air! I am so, so excited because after a particularly harsh winter, spring feels like a new beginning. It also means new books, which is always fantastic.
Lisa Jewell is an author I’ve read before. I dipped my toes into the world of adult fiction with her novel The House We Grew Up In, an exploration of the insular nature of families and mental illness. I was really excited to get my hands on her latest novel Then She Was Gone. The cover is absolutely gorgeous, and after a string of rather frustrating thrillers that have made me want to dump the genre altogether, I was really hoping Then She Was Gone would scratch that itch. Plus, NovelTEA being what it is: there’s a delicious (if I do say so myself!) recipe to go along with the book.
As it’s a thriller, I don’t want to give too much away, but the basic plot is this:
15-year-old Ellie Mack was her mother’s shining star. Popular, intelligent, and utterly in love with her new boyfriend Theo, Ellie had everything going for her. Then she was gone. Disappeared without a trace after telling her mother, Laurel, she was going to the library to study— never to be seen again.
Ten years later, divorced and living in self-imposed exile from her surviving two children. Laurel believes she is just going through the motions, either waiting for news of Ellie’s return— or her death. When the last piece of Ellie’s puzzle is seemingly revealed, Laurel’s life is thrown into a tailspin all over again. Then she meets Floyd, a charismatic, charming author who feels both familiar and brand-new.
Damaged by his own past, Floyd and Laurel get swept up into a whirlwind romance that scrubs life’s harshest realities away, at least for a little while. Floyd is all in and wants Laurel to become part of his family. He introduces her to his daughters: wispy, reticent teenager Sara-Jade and bold, precocious Poppy. But there’s something about Poppy that rings all of Laurel’s warning bells. She’s clever like Ellie, she laughs like Ellie— she even looks exactly like Ellie.
Now, Laurel is forced to deal with her demons and confront all the unanswered questions that have plagued her for a decade:
The police think Ellie ran away, but Laurel has never believed that, deep down. What really happened to her baby girl, and how far will Laurel go to find out?
As far as thrillers go, this was a solid one. Parts of it were a bit predictable, but others threw me for a loop. I found the split perspectives really intriguing (and horrifying, and enraging, and so, so well done on Jewell’s part). This was a book that I found myself reaching to pick up even when I should have been doing other things— writing, for instance— because it was so engrossing.
Lisa Jewell’s Then She Was Gone might not be the twistiest of thrillers, but the fact that it seems so grounded in reality gave it major points. And you know what my favourite part was? Laurel is a reliable narrator. After all she’s been through, she has not drowned herself at the bottom of a bottle or popped a bunch of pills that make her unable to keep her own facts straight. I know everyone’s thirsting for the next Gone Girl, but I’m kind of happy to see such a different protagonist at the helm of this novel; I’m over the unreliable narrator trope.
I absolutely loved this one. Jewell has reignited my faith in thrillers, and I could not be happier.
The recipe I’ve paired with this book is partially due to my newfound obsession with halibut. I ate it twice last week, and was disappointed when the leftovers were gone from the fridge. But I hope you enjoy the garlic-butter baked halibut as much as I enjoyed this book. This dish is nutritious, tasty, and quick to make!
Want to pick up your own copy of Then She Was Gone? Shop our Amazon affiliate link here!
Comments are closed.