Laurel is a mum of three but her daughter Ellie goes missing just before she is due to complete her GCSEs. She had maths tuition from a woman named Noelle who Ellie found very disturbing.
Laurel and her husband Paul's relationship ends after the heartbreak of loosing their daughter. She meets a man called Floyd who seems like a great guy but his life mixes with Laurels more than she anticipated.
Laurel tires to find out what happened to her daughter to her bring her family back together, bringing more family together than she thought she would have again

A fantastic book that I read in a day. I just couldn't put it down, I even missed my TV soaps to read it.
Even though I predicted the ending , there were still so many shocks that I didn't see coming. Lisa Jewell is a legendary writer.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s been a while since I flew threw a book with such pleasure and then gutted when it concluded. These books about people missing either physically or emotionally are so thought provoking. I enjoyed the character development and must say that Lisa Jewell is an author that I will be seeking out in future.

Thankyou for the enjoyment!!

Lisa Jewell is one of my favourite new authors I have discovered and so was excited to read this book and see if the excellence of previous books had made it to her new novel.......I need not have worried.... Jewell’s new offering is a sublime masterpiece of intrigue, love/hate,shocking secrets, betrayal, heartache, twists, turns and then all that again and more
The book is based on a daughter who goes missing and what happens to those that are left and how a chance meeting unravels the mystery and what really happened that day
The cast of characters are wonderful, truly wonderful and addictive and the author paints such a picture with her descriptions you imagine them from the second they enter the story
The book kept me hooked all the way through and would make a superb film
Lisa Jewell is an outstanding author and this a book of brilliance and a definite must read
10/10 5 stars

‘Then She Was Gone’ by Lisa Jewell is a delight, the page-turning story of a disappeared teenager whose experience was something I did not expect. An excellent un-thriller; that’s a phrase I use after giving it some thought. This is not a psychological thriller in that it is frightening. It didn’t make my pulse race with a sense of danger, but it did make me very curious.
Ellie Mack is fifteen the day she fails to come home from the library, she is due to take her GCSE examinations the following week. She is a clever student, a golden girl. But she disappears, never to be seen again. Life goes on. Except it doesn’t for her family, each being trapped in some way by Ellie’s absence. Until ten years later when Ellie’s mum Lauren, now divorced, meets a nice bloke in a café. Her ex, Paul, has a new partner and so do Ellie’s siblings. Laurel is the one who is really stuck, visiting her elderly mother bed-ridden after a stroke. Then she meets Floyd and his daughters Poppy and SJ, and she blossoms.
I would like to say from the beginning I had unsettling feelings of the ‘that’s not quite right’ variety, but I didn’t. Instead the doubts crept in stealthily until the full truth dawned on me at 72% on my Kindle. And then it hit with a sledgehammer.
This is a clever book written by an author who has matured enormously over the years in the subjects she tackles.
‘Then She Was Gone’ doesn’t set out to be frightening, at least I don’t think that is the author’s primary intent. I think she started with a ‘what if’ scenario and let it unfold from there. It is a puzzle involving characters so real you feel you know them, that it could be happening to you; and that’s what makes it so powerful.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/

For once the blurb on the front of a book is true... this really is an addictive read!

The plot follows Laurel whose daughter went missing 10 years ago - when Laurel meets a man in a coffee shop and starts a relationship with him she is astonished to find his daughter looks exactly like her missing daughter Ellie.

The story is told from 4 POV and switches from modern day to 10 years ago when Elli vanishes and beyond.

This is a truly fascinating read - a quick page turner which is hard to put down. From the start the reader becomes invested in Ellies story and events unfold at a perfect pace to keep the reader hooked.

Its hard to even discuss without giving any spoilers away so just go read this book NOW!

I do not hesitate to give this book 5*. It is a book that I found hard to put down. Lisa Jewell's writing is riveting and captivating and leaves me wanting more from her.

Laurel's fifteen year old daughter, Ellie, disappears on the way home from the library one day leaving her mother bereft. Most of the book is told from Laurel's viewpoint and is very emotive and, at times, brought tears to my eyes.

I highly recommend this book because as much as I wanted to find out what happened; I also did not want it to end!

When Ellie Mack disappeared it tore her family apart not knowing what had happened to her but the truth was far more frightening.as her mother Laurel eventually found out. A great read

I’ve been a fan of Lisa Jewell ever since reading Ralph’s Party when it was first published and I love how her novels have become darker over the years. This book is my new favourite by her – I literally couldn’t put it down once I started it and read it in one sitting! The premise is that Laurel’s teenage daughter disappeared ten years ago and has never been found. Laurel is trying to make a life for herself and one day meets a new man and his young daughter Poppy. Laurel sees a lot of her missing daughter in the young Poppy and it stirs up her pain and her anguish at what might have happened to her own daughter. This is a book that was pretty much impossible to work out how it was going to end, and yet when the denouement came it felt believable and true to the story. This is a novel that has stayed with me since I finished it and it’s one I highly recommend!

I raced through this in two sittings. It has a heartbreaking premise - a mother who cannot, quite understandably, can't get past the disappearance of a beloved daughter ten years earlier. Given what she has been through, we immediately want things to improve for Laurel - although quite what form any sort of improvement could take is hard to imagine. Then suddenly, an unexpected breakthrough in the case of her daughter's disappearance sets all sorts of dominoes tumbling. These are in turn slid all around the board by an author at the peak of her powers.

The story is told from the POV of a few expertly rendered narrators. I particularly liked the third voice, which appears near the middle of the book, and sends the whole thing spiralling in a truly macabre direction. Yet for all the darkness at this story's core, Ms Jewell nevertheless manages to deliver a deeply touching and insightful story about the nature of love. If like me, you enjoyed the Nicci French stand alones, or Colette McBeth, then I am quietly confident you will love Then She Was Gone.

With thanks to the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book I have read by Lisa Jewell. I just couldn’t put it down. It was such a gripping story. It was very well written and had me hooked from the first page.

Wow, I loved this book, I just had to keep reading to find out the truth. Really intriguing storyline and great description of the characters, I loved how the characters developed the more you read. I look forward to reading mor from this author.

Brilliant book. Read other books by this author and this is completely different style. Love the way the storylines all mingled together and their life's crossed.

I would like to thank Netgalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone Arrow and Lisa Jewell for the copy of ‘Then She Was Gone’ in return for my honest review.

This is the first time I have read this author and will be seeking out more of her books after reading this.
Although the novel centres around Laurel and her sorrow, the narrative changes characters which gives a clever insight into the psyche of each of them. It has a dark, disturbing undercurrent with many twists and turns which kept me engrossed. The story leads the reader into each turn with the knowledge that there are more to come.

Engrossing read with an evil element. Recommended.

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell a thrilling five-star read. This story is like a beautiful rose, you peel each petal back to reveal more delicate and intricate detail. This was such a gripping story, the reality that was contained within the story just made it much deeper and more compelling read. Just like in reality your life will be going along all sunshine and rainbows until one event changes the course of your life, if you get lucky and I hope you are you may never have a Major event happen. Sadly, Laurel was just like that, everything golden until the Golden light in her eye disappears Fifteen-year-old Ellie. Laurel may never be the same again she is a broken woman and her other children and husband are left to watch the shell she has become. Life moves on with the spectre always in the shadows, relationships break down and people get on with life.
There are many, many plot lines running through this story and each one brings more questions but you do get answers but they may not be the ones you expect. Each piece of the puzzle has its own place and when you see the picture as a whole it will show you things you wouldn’t have seen unless you have a talent that lays way beyond me. This book blew me away, I can’t wait to read more from this author.

I was fortunate to receive an ARC and this review is my own and honest

OMG. Just finished this and in less that a minute I’ve recommended it to friends. This is a brilliant book. How the author can get into the mind of her characters is frightening. I finished this in the hairdressers and they said it was as if I was watching a film as just had to keep coming up for air

A great psychological thriller which will keep the reader reading and reading

Can’t go wrong with Lisa Jewell ,all her characters are so well drawn and the dynamics realistically portrayed ,the effect of this kind of loss is well written, the ramnifications of losing a child ,
The baddie was truly awfull ,frightening and also liked the change of it being not the norm standard hard to read , sex abuser in basement story ,was not too Gratuitous though was very creepy at times as we spend time with this unpredictable narssisitic sociopath of a personality and my heart went out to the girl and broke as we continued her story
Good Novel, good mystery and bought the characters together having been so split by their family memembers disspaerance ,moving read
Thanks netgalley for letting me read this and penguin publishers

This was the first book I’ve read from Lisa Jewell and it was an emotional and suspenseful read. This story follows Laurel Mack whose daughter, Ellie, went missing 10 years ago. Ellie was never found, and no-one knows what happened to her and we start in the present tense, following Laurel and life 10 years after Ellie has gone. Laurel meets Floyd and they develop a relationship which leads Laurel to meet his daughter Poppy, who looks shockingly like her lost daughter Ellie and this causes her to start questioning Ellie’s disappearance and what happened to her.
This is told in both the present tense and the past tense and from several points of view although Laurels is the most prominent POV that we hear. I really enjoyed the POV of telling and the changing past/present tense as it helped really weave Laurel’ current situation together with what happened in the past to Ellie and it was especially heart-breaking to hear Ellie tell her story of what happened to her.
I felt unsure about Laurel at first, she just seemed very cold and uncaring, but you soon come to see that it’s caused by the loss of Ellie and everything that came with it – her other daughter Hanna is cold towards her and her marriage to her husband broke down. Despite the multiple POV telling, Laurel is the main character in this story and the way her character is developed really makes you feel for her. You feel annoyed and angry with her. You felt sympathetic and wanted to reach in and hug her which was strange because as said, I was really unsure of Laurel at first and I thought this was going to be another book where I really wasn’t sure if I liked the main character.
The writing was fantastic and really keeps you gripped and even when there didn’t seem to be much going on, I was still gripped and didn’t find myself getting bored with the story. I didn’t figure out exactly what had happened to Ellie – I had some idea of what have happened to her but the reality of it was quite twisted. Again, one of the things that made it so great was the realism and the reality that this could happen. I feel like one of the things that did slightly let this down was the lack of police investigation into the original disappearance, once you find out what actually happened it’s hard to believe that they wouldn’t have seen that lead, but I suppose that there wouldn’t be a story if Ellie had been found!
Overall I thought this was a great, twisted and suspenseful read and I would definitely recommend picking it up!

Wow, what a brilliant story.
This book is full of twists and turns that will take your breath away.
Laurel is heartbroken when her 15 year daughter Ellie disappears but she slowly gets her life back on track.
When she meets Floyd she thinks she’s found happiness again and when she meets his daughter, Poppy, she is taken aback by the likeness to her daughter. She wonders if it’s the grief affecting her perception but other family members notice the likeness too.
There are secrets that several characters are hiding that come tumbling out and it really will take your breath away....
I can’t say anymore as I really don’t want to spoil such a great story.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK for sending me a copy to read and review.

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW – 4.5 gripping stars!

Then She was Gone is certainly not what we’re personally used to reading from the wonderful Lisa Jewell, however, we literally inhaled this thrilling and suspenseful novel which was brilliantly written. Jumping from past to present we get an eerie sense of foreboding with hints at what’s to come yet Lisa Jewell kept us on the edge of our seats needing to know the what, the how and the why’s. We love a great thriller and this was certainly one that kept us up at night unable to put our kindles down. Such a unique and compelling story. Ellie Mack disappeared ten years ago and this story tells of a dark and twisted web of lies and deception on what happened and how random circumstances played a part of a horrific tragedy initiated by a warped mind.

‘Ellie Mack was possibly the most golden girl I had ever encountered.’

Ellie was fifteen when she disappeared on her way to the library. A happy go lucky in love, studious girl who had no reason to run away. However, this is the belief of the police. Her Mum on the other hand has never accepted that Ellie would’ve run away. Rather she suspects something far more sinister, becoming obsessed and unable to move on; losing the ones she loves along the way clinging on to the hope that one day Ellie will return. However, with no clues or witnesses to her daughter’s whereabouts there is little hope to grasp.

‘She’d never worked out how he’d done it, how he’d found that healthy pink part of himself amongst the wreckage of everything else. But she didn’t blame him. Not in the least. She wished she could pack a couple of large suitcases and say goodbye to herself, wish herself a good life, thank herself for all the memories, look fondly upon herself for just one long, lingering moment and then shut the door quietly….’

Our hearts hurt for Ellie’s Mum as we read of her desperation, her sorrow and her inability to reach any form of happiness in the face of darkness. Her struggles to connect to her other children and the breakdown of her marriage all leading to a downward spiral. That is until a ‘chance’ meeting with a handsome man named Floyd. This meeting changes Laurel’s path completely, one that leads to a sinister and heart-breaking discovery as well as setting a change in motion for Laurel and her family.

‘She was about to know something after ten years of knowing nothing.’

At the heart of this story is the dynamics of a family touched by loss and the consequential behaviours in overcoming grief and the not knowing of what happened to Ellie Mac, their sister – their daughter. Without question this story is superbly character driven and we loved that. Our only gripe was the way in which the police investigation of a missing child was portrayed with what seemed like little research, therefore we sometimes had to remind ourselves that this was fiction. On a last note though…the epilogue……slayed us!!!! We -without question- highly recommend Then She was Gone to anyone who loves psychological thrillers.

Reviewed from an ARC copy provided by Atria Books.with thanks