The Temple House Vanishing was a fascinating mix of boarding school drama, mystery and love story, reminiscent of a combination of The Secret History and Lolita. It's a well-paced and well-written novel which swaps between the point of view of Louisa in the past - the girl who went missing - and the journalist covering the story 25 years later.

It's engaging and enjoyable throughout, with a gripping unravelling at the end as everything becomes clear.

An interesting story that carries you along, weaving this way and that. An unexpected conclusion that takes you by surprise.

Boarding school, coming of age novels are my absolute favourite so I was eager to get settled into reading this - and I was not disappointed. Great characters, well paced and totally absorbing this is highly recommended.

I absolutely loved this dark, suspenseful novel set in an all girls Roman Catholic boarding school run by nuns. The rules and repression of religion, fear of damnation and judgement versus raging teenage hormones and then throw in a handsome enigmatic art teacher; Edward Lavelle.

Louisa, a bright daughter of divorcing parents hopes to find a fresh start and academic stimulation with her prized scholarship at the prestigious school. She feels like an alien there though and seeks someone to find solace in; cue Victoria who emotionally seduces her and they feel affinity with one another from the very start.

Mr Lavelle made all the girls question the norm and fantasize about a different viewpoint. Most of the girls fell in love with his bohemian nature and charm. He seems to confuddle, confuse and challenge the girls; which gives way to inappropriate feelings and confusing relationships. Victoria often rebuffs Louisa’s loyal friendship and has her heart and her head completely in Mr Lavelle’s hands; Meanhile Louisa and Mr Lavelle disappear in a shroud of mystery, which lays unsolved for years.

The story ignites the curiosity of a journalist whose babysitter as a young child had been Louisa. She seeks out Victoria amongst other ex students and finds the truths that have long since been buried.

What I loved most in this book was the fact that I thought I knew how it was going to end, but I was very wrong. Looking back, the clues were there from the very beginning; I just didn’t see them as they were so subtly interlaced.

Thank you to Corvus, Rachel Donogue and NetGalley UK for this ARC in return for a fair and honest review.

The Temple House Vanishing is not a straightforward murder mystery whodunit. If that’s what you are looking for, then this isn’t the book for you. What it is though, is a wonderfully atmospheric, beautifully written novel that takes the febrile existence of a group of teenage girls and parlays it into a story of weakness combining with obsession.

Taking place between two timelines, the nineties when Louisa, the missing girl was at boarding school and the present day, this is an investigation by a journalist into what really happened when a teacher and a pupil disappeared from the school. The story is narrated by the journalist, who had a tangential connection to Louisa and by Louisa herself, as she looks back and relates her impressions of that time.

Louisa hasn’t had much fun growing up; her parents divorced and she is a lonely child, but bright and has won a scholarship to a prestigious all girls Catholic School, Temple House. Louisa quickly discovers that it isn’t a lot of fun being the poor girl amidst the ranks of the entitled and most of the girls look down on her and are anything but friendly.

The one place she feels relaxed is in the summer house where the art classes take place. The art teacher, Mr Lavelle is young and exudes a bohemian air. Constantly smoking, with a cabinet of curiosities that he asks the girls to choose an object from that will be their special identifier, he makes his female pupils feel special, and some feel more special than others.

Victoria comes from money and she seems to Louisa to be so poised. Despite her worldliness, she takes to Louisa and makes a friend of her, allowing her insights into Victoria’s dreams and desires. Louisa has never had a friend, especially not one like Victoria and she is completely smitten.

The art teacher is the centrifuge for a story that takes a group of young women just coming into their own skins who find themselves surrounded by nuns and one, single, almost handsome man. There’s something about that harsh school house set on a bleak cliff top and the rigid discipline of the nuns that enhances the tension and counterpoints the rising libido that abounds in this book.

Rachel Donohue creates a rich, intense, almost cloying atmosphere in which to play out the details of her story and we can imagine what impact the raging hormones have on the behaviour of these girls. We begin to understand that this situation is fertile ground for forbidden fruit. Secrets and lies’ jealousy and obsession loom large and no-one behaves well.

The narrative switches back and forth between the journalist investigating the story, now 25 years old, and Louisa, telling her own story. Not all these characters are likeable and that helps to make them feel more real but it is naïve Louisa to whom we feel drawn and for whom we must feel sorry, for she is an ingénue in a maelstrom of an already bubbling power struggle.

Verdict: A fantastically assured debut novel with an atmospheric, rich and intense storyline that is haunting and evocative and keeps the reader intelligently gripped until the very end.

At the end of the Autumn term, 1990, school girl Louisa and art teacher Mr Lavelle, disappear without trace. For the 25th anniversary, a journalist decides to run a series of articles about the pair, and the circumstances surrounding their disappearance. Can she discover the truth?

Starting a book with the suicide of one of the main characters is an unusual, and bold, move which, in the end, paid off. A little slow going in the early stages, The Temple House Vanishing is worth persevering with, if only for the final few pages when the full story is revealed. It was very cleverly thought through and tied up the ends quite nicely.

Victoria, Louisa’s friend, and a key component of the story, is a complex character, and alternates between being a good or bad person. As the story progresses, it gets harder to decide.

Overall, an enjoyable story, and one that pays to preserve with.

As a big fan of books about boarding schools and nuns in my youth, I was eager to dip into this story and pleased to be invited to revisit those things in this well received debut novel. It satisfied me on several counts. It’s intelligently and competently written, intriguing in concept, peppered with literary references, full of thoughtful reflections, and darkly gothic in tone.

The eponymous house seems like a looming, stand alone character all by itself. The narrative offers a two person narrative perspective with parallel storylines. One is told by Louisa herself, and the other by an unnamed journalist, linked to Louisa in her past. She’s investigating the story on the anniversary of Mr Lavelle and Louisa’s disappearance 25 years hence, and trying to work out the true sequence of events.

On the not so good side, I would have liked to have seen more detail about the nuns and how they viewed the events that took place. A deeper development of the exclusive friendship between the shy yet bright, scholarship pupil, Louisa, and the rich and privileged but couldn’t care less, insouciant Victoria would have been good as well.

The tangled, full of misunderstandings love triangle between Louisa, Victoria, and the handsome, but naive young male art teacher, Mr Lavelle, who freely broke protocol and led them into previously uncharted waters, is a bit unbelievable. An all-girls boarding school run and monitored by forbidding nuns, and overseen by vigilantly strict senior pupils, suggests the languid, free form liaisons described might have been harder to achieve on the premises.

Overall, I think this book is best suited to a YA audience who might be able to relate more easily to the raging teenage hormones, jealousy, passion, bullying and angst that occurs. I’m not sure where to place the genre because it gives hints of the gothic, romantic, psychological thriller and mystery. Although it is cleverly executed, I actually guessed the potential ending a long way off. Grateful thanks to Atlantic Books/Corvus and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve been looking forward to reading this one for a while because I’ve heard some really good things about it. The story takes place in two timelines. One in the 90s at the elite Catholic girls school, Temple House, where a student, Louisa, and a young male teacher both mysteriously disappeared. The other takes place in the present day and follows a journalist investigating the disappearance whilst writing a series of articles on the subject.

If you’re looking for an action-packed or fast-paced read then The Temple House Vanishing is not it. This book is much more of a slow-burn kind of character study that creates a fantastically atmospheric mood as you read it. There is an immediate and creepy sense of foreboding to Temple House itself which coupled with the author’s lovely descriptive prose manifests an otherworldly and haunting feeling. This book really captures the drama that only teenage girls can really find in their lives. There is a definite sort of need for extremes and turning every interaction into a loaded one which works perfectly for this kind of story. There is also a sadness present in this book which I felt really strongly but can’t quite explain.

The Temple House Vanishing uncovers the elitism that can be so damaging, especially to young people and which is inherently present in the expensive Temple House education. Louisa is at the school on a scholarship and this is something made very clear in the actions of her enemies at the school but also in the people she starts to care very much for. There is a sort of ‘them and us’ divide that even in a religious institution which supposedly reveres humble living shows itself through it’s hypocrisy. I loved all the twisted and thorny relationships and found myself genuinely chilled by something in the tone of this book. There is something hauntingly beautiful about it and I would definitely recommend it if a strong atmosphere is something that appeals to you! I’ll definitely be looking out for Donohue’s next book.

The Temple House Vanishing is one of those books that is full of atmosphere, mystery with an underlying feeling of tension and unease. There is always something salacious about a student and teacher going missing, imaginations go into overdrive, conclusions are drawn without fact, and this forms the basis for this book. The book is set in 1990, when Louisa started at Temple House, and in 2015 when the journalist, unnamed but female, starts to look into the case, and the characters of the people involved. It is the air of difference, otherness, that brings Louisa, Victoria and Mr Lavelle together. Victoria may come from a rich background but she has an etherial air about her, and doesn’t mix with the other girls, which is what draws Louisa. Louisa, being on a scholarship, is made to feel different, not having the correct ‘indoor shoes’ not being from an important family she is looked down on. Mr Lavelle, is very modern in his outlook, charismatic, good looking and an antithesis to the strictness of the nuns. He allows the girls to express themselves, treats them as adults, enabling a toxic mix of teenage hormones, adoration, and a heightened sense of emotions; a dangerous combination.

Rachel Donohue doesn’t shy away from the difficult issues of class, religion, privilege, family, difference, sexual tension, and catholic guilt. These are all very decisive issues and mixed together prove to be a toxic cocktail. This isn’t a fast paced read, but the characters are well developed and as a reader we get a detailed insight into their psyche, you feel you really know and understand them. Rachel Donohue writes with such skill and ease, the prose is lyrical and poetic making this book such a joy to read. There is a sense of inevitability in parts of this book, fate playing its hand as its all building to that one night. It reminded me in part of the brilliant classic Picnic at Hanging Rock.

The Temple House Vanishing is a stunning debut from Rachel Donohue. It is atmospheric in its setting of this isolated boarding school and story of Louisa, Victoria and Mr Lavelle. The air of mystery is kept throughout, and you can’t help but be drawn in to Louisa and Victoria’s world, where the lines are blurred and loyalties tested. Beautifully written and compelling to read, this is an impressive debut novel and I can’t wait to read Rachel Donohue’s next book. A simply sublime reading experience.

This has all the ingredients for a mesmerising story. Male teacher and female student disappears from convent boarding school. Years later a journalist investigates and uncovers intense relationships amidst a hotbed of teenage hormones and religious fervour. At times poetic, deeply moving and through the viewpoints of both past and present the truth unfurls. Brooding, disturbing and uplifting. .

4/5 stars. The Temple House Vanishing is set 25 years ago in a girls’ boarding school run by nuns and follows the friendship of two of the girls, Louisa and Victoria, and their relationship with the young male art teacher. You can feel the tension and atmosphere building until the climax when one of the girls and the art teacher appear to suddenly run away together. The story is picked up years later by a journalist who is intrigued by the unsolved story and sets out to discover the truth.

This is a great debut novel by Rachel Donohue whose very accomplished writing sets the scene and characters well. I would happier read more titles by this author. Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for providing an advance copy in return for my honest opinion. I have also published this review on Goodreads.

'Some people were not meant to be together. They weren’t good for each other. They cancelled each other out. And everything that once was good became twisted.'

The Temple House vanishing is a story that hit me harder than I was expecting. It’s a nicely written novel which has some good quotable lines in it. The plot is split over two perspectives – Louisa’s story set in the past which details her life at a new school, and a journalist trying to find out what happened to her. The story doesn’t jump too often between them so you get a solid chunk of 5/6 chapters written in each perspective which means you have a chance to really get to know and empathise with each character before moving on.

The story itself is actually quite sad and the epilogue really hit me and also tied everything together nicely. Although the novel itself doesn’t feel very pacey as there’s no stakes to finding out what happened, you do get a sense of foreboding and suspense as the perspective switches back to the present. This leaves you room to guess what might conclude from the events you have ‘witnessed’ in the past before it switches back again to show you if you were right.

Overall I enjoyed Temple House Vanishing, it’s a sad story but a beautifully written read. Thank you to NetGalley & Atlantic Books – Corvus for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good book, albeit that I thought there wasn't much of a plot compared to what I'm used to. Highly descriptive and atmospheric, this is regardless of my personal preferences, a well written book.

The Temple House Vanishing is a dual timeline mystery/thriller about the disappearance of a student and teacher from a catholic girls school in the 1990s. It follows the events leading up to the disappearance and the ongoing investigation into the unsolved case by a journalist 25 years later.

The book has a tragic but unexplained opening epilogue, leaving you knowing where the story is going but with absolutely no idea how you are going to get there.

It was a very enjoyable read that kept me guessing at exactly what had gone on right up to the end. Like every classic whodunnit, suspicion falls onto more or less everyone at some point in the story. While it is ultimately a fairly dark tale, The Temple House Vanishing is quite a fun read, like a sort of 90s gothic version of Mean Girls or Cruel Intentions. Recommended.

1990 and scholarship girl Louisa arrives at the forbidding and elitist boarding school, Temple House. Based in a mansion beside the sea Temple House is run by austere nuns and with a strict hierarchy where poor but clever girls such as Louisa are at the bottom and the beautiful, rich prefects are at the top. Louisa struggles to fit in until she meets the glamorous Victoria and the enigmatic art teacher Mr Lavelle. Twenty-five years later and a young journalist is assigned to uncover the mystery of Temple House, how a teacher and a pupil disappeared and have never been seen again.
In many ways, this is a very formulaic story. A poor but clever student arrives at a gothic mansion to a high school populated by cliques and run by the Catholic church where rebels are forced to pay. The ending is also very obvious. However, Donohue is adept at creating tension and violent passions of adolescent girls in a febrile atmosphere are well imagined. It's not as good a book as many say or even as much as it thinks but it is a decent stab at a modern gothic tale.

An atmospheric tale of an unsolved disappearance. In dual narratives, one in 1990 and one in 2015 the story unfolds of a scholarship girl at an old-fashioned school in this story of dangerous obsession and secrets.

I found the 2015 timeline more compelling, and I daresay that's because I'm closer to the age of the character we follow there. I'm not sure the voice of the other narrative was as convincing, or perhaps I just found the conversation she was so enamored with to be a bit cringe worthy, although I think that may have been intentional?

I'm not sure that the epilogue quite landed for me but overall,I think this was an accomplished novel that steered clear of some of the clichés I was expecting.

I'm going to start by saying I really can see why people would enjoy this, I unfortunately am not one of those people.

I didn't connect with any of the characters, especially in Louis's story, I found everyone a bit unrealistic and this point of view reminded me a little bit of The Furies (which I also didn't like). My personal taste as opposed to badly written books.The journalist chapters were slightly better and I was interested in how things would end.

Actual rating: 3.5 Stars

Mild spoilers ahead due to trigger warnings at the end of the review (although you can really figure out what to expect from the blurb)


The Temple House Vanishing is a good gothic mystery with an excellent setting and great ambience. I figured out the mystery pretty early in the book, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it, thanks to the charismatic, pretentious (in the best possible way) characters and beautiful writing. I think the author did a particular great job at separating the voices of Louisa and the journalist, with a YA vibe to the first one, and a more jaded and desperate tone for the second (by the way, I would have loved to know more about her!!). I loved Louisa, her pain and isolation were heartbreaking and at the same time I wanted to shake her and make her snap out of it because she clearly deserved so much better. I didn't love how the epilogue turned the whole story into some sort of supernatural revenge tale, but at least it provided some needed closure.

With regards to the child abuse themes in the background of the whole book, Mr Lavelle is so charming and pathetic that it's very easy to forget that he is a monster, but I still read the whole thing with a sense of deep discomfort, even though there is nothing graphic or explicit in the book. Still, it should be mentioned that the topic features heavily through the whole book.

Highly recommended for fans of gothic mysteries, I will definitely check Rachel Donohue's future books!

Due to her excellent exam results Louisa gets a scholarship to the once elite Temple House. This comes at a time when her parents are separating & she is working out her own personality.. Scholarship girls are not exactly treated as equals by the students or the nuns. The only people she relates to are Victoria, the laid back rebel & the bohemian young art teacher. She becomes more embroiled in their world. even if she feels she doesn't belong.

Twenty five years later a journalist wants to unravel the vanishing of Louisa & the Art Teacher- where did they go? How come nobody spotted what was going on? Why were they never heard of again?

The story is told from the past perspective by Louisa & in the present by the journalist. The atmospheric descriptions of Temple House are brilliant & it is easy the imagine the claustrophobic atmosphere of the place. It was an enjoyable read. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

This is a story about a catholic school, two girls and an attractive Art teacher. The repressions by the nuns, the rampant hormones of the teenagers, leads to disaster. A very Gothic story.