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Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

Thriller

Then She Was Gone

by Lisa Jewell

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Quick take

The missing daughter, the devastated mom, the new boyfriend, and the shock they never saw coming.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, Psychological

    Psychological

  • Illustrated icon, Multiple_Viewpoints

    Multiple viewpoints

  • Illustrated icon, Family_Drama

    Family drama

  • Illustrated icon, Nonlinear_Timeline

    Nonlinear timeline

Synopsis

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 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?

Why I love it

Attention, readers with pets: I hereby confirm that Then She Was Gone is lap-cat approved. Once I opened it, I found myself trapped in Lisa Jewell’s addictive plot and unable to move from my seat, much to my cuddly calico’s delight. This spine-tingling thriller with a plot reminiscent of The Lovely Bones had me torn on whether to sympathize with its multiple narrators or completely distrust their every word.

The story begins with Laurel Mack, a mother irrevocably shaken by the disappearance of Ellie, her favorite daughter. Ten years later, her marriage long over and her other children grown, Laurel falls into a sudden romance with a man she meets over coffee. Things move quickly, and soon she’s meeting his family, including his unusual, brilliant nine-year old … who happens to look exactly like Ellie.

If you think you’ve surmised the twist here, I promise that you haven’t. I'm someone who loves trying to figure out a plot before it’s revealed, and Then She Was Gone was a guessing game right down to its final chilling page. What really happened to Ellie? In this seemingly straightforward domestic suspense shot through with horrific revelations from the past, the answer lurks in everything the narrators do, and don’t, say. You (and your lap-cat!) will be frozen to your chair until you find out the truth.

Member ratings (20,631)

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View all
The Boyfriend
The Last One at the Wedding
Sleep Tight
First Lie Wins
House of Glass
Middle of the Night
Listen for the Lie
A Talent for Murder
Someone in the Attic
One Perfect Couple
Like Mother, Like Daughter
Darling Girls
Kill for Me, Kill for You
Bad Tourists
Murder Road
Daughter of Mine
The Fury
Only if You’re Lucky
The Other Mothers
When I’m Dead
The Soulmate
What Lies in the Woods
She Started It
The Only One Left
Dark Corners
Blacktop Wasteland
All the Dangerous Things
The Only Survivors
The Broken Girls
The Family Game
The Push
We Were Never Here
Things We Do in the Dark
The Golden Couple
The Collective
The Stranger Upstairs
Gone Tonight
Too Good to Be True
The Last Word
You Are Not Alone
Rock Paper Scissors
Not a Happy Family
A Flicker in the Dark
The Last Flight
Reckless Girls
The House Across the Lake
The Wife Upstairs
The Last Thing He Told Me
The Maidens
Everything We Didn't Say
Invisible Girl
The Paris Apartment
You're Invited
The Last Party
Dark Places
Pieces of Her
The Wife Between Us
Sharp Objects
None of This Is True
The Silent Patient
The Winter Sister
The Other Woman
Necessary People
The Family Upstairs
The Night Swim
Girl A
The Hunting Wives
Just Another Missing Person
First Born
The Lies I Tell
Breathless