The title of Rachel Donoghue's debut novel suggests a mystery and there is indeed the unresolved incident of a student who disappeared from the Catholic girls school 25 years ago. There's another kind of mystery here however in The Temple House Vanishing and that's the mystery of feelings that it's possible only to reflect on and understand to some extent much later and at a distance, but by then of course it's too late to do anything to change what has happened.

There are two parts then or two mysteries to be resolved in The Temple House Vanishing. In one of the sections Louisa recounts her first impressions and experience of arriving at Temple House, a Catholic girls boarding school. It's 1990, but the rather Victorian building and wild coastal location on the edge of a cliff seems to be firmly rooted in the past. It's not just the nuns that run the school according to strict rules, but the prefects also have an authoritarian hand in making Louisa's life uncomfortable.

It was always going to be difficult for Lousia. She doesn't come from a wealthy family like the rest of the students, but is there at Temple House on a scholarship as an exceptionally bright student. When she attends the art class of the rather young, good looking and bohemian Mr Lavelle however, Louisa finds an environment that appeals to her, finding there a like-minded friend or soul-mate in Victoria, a fellow student who seems to have a close easy-going connection with the charming Mr Lavelle.

After reading these impressions of a 16 year old girl on a voyage of self-discovery, it comes as a bit of a surprise to discover suddenly that after only a few months at Temple House, Louisa is the missing schoolgirl who disappeared at the same time as Mr Lavelle. Nothing has been heard about either of them ever again. but 25 years later in 2015, a journalist tries to contact people who knew Louisa and who were at Temple House at the time, of her disappearance to try and understand what might have happened.

After such a long time with no trace of Louisa or Mr Lavelle, it seems like the mystery of their vanishing is unlikely to ever be resolved at least as far as the journalist is concerned. For the reader however, Louisa's story continues and the whole entanglement of feelings and events that led up to her disappearance are all laid out. And there is someone else who knows what happened who can lead the journalist closer to the truth, but after all this time would they?

Although there is very definitely an intriguing mystery to resolve in the disappearance of Louisa, the strengths of The Temple House Vanishing don't lie so much in the conventional thriller genre. It is very much more interested in the mystery of understanding life, feelings, making mistakes and learning to cope or live with them. Donoghue's writing explores this beautifully, without romanticism, using that reflection of making the past present to put everything perfectly into place without losing any of the raw youthful emotions that are overwhelmed by life-changing feelings and events.

I just loved this brilliant debut novel from Rachel Donohue it was full of atmosphere and a story that I was so totally immersed in that I ploughed through the book at a rate of knots. It’s a story set in a boarding school run by nuns and full of full of mystery, teenage love, inappropriate behaviour with a whole lot more besides and I just couldn’t put the goddam book down!!
We know from the beginning that the teacher Edward Lavelle and his pupil Louisa disappeared 25 years ago but what exactly happened, a journalist takes on the story and from here on in we are drawn into a story of passion, religion and it’s intense.
A beautifully crafted read I can highly recommend and I look forward to reading more from the author in the future.
My thanks to NetGalley and Atlantic Books, Corvus for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I found this book a little difficult to get into at first due to the two different narrators - once you push through this the novel gets gripping, however, was not completely to my taste. Enjoyable read for fans of mysteries and thrillers with a slight gothic slant.

Well written and an interesting read, although a little predictable. As a debut novel it was good, and I would be interested in reading more from this author

The title and the cover attracted me, and I’m a sucker for stories set in schools, even if the basic plot - teenage girls, a charismatic male teacher - didn’t sound, on the face of it, all that original.

We open - shockingly - with the suicide of one character, before moving back in time to 1990 when Louisa, a clever sixteen year old, wins a scholarship place - as a weekly boarder - at Temple House, an elite convent boarding school. Set on a cliff top, it’s all “Victorian turreted austerity”. The nuns who run it, Louisa observes, are the opposite of what they should be, favouring the richest girls and requiring adherence to a list of often absurd rules. Basically, the school is not a great place to be, particularly for the new scholarship girls - an “experiment” who are constantly reminded of their lesser position in the hierarchy.

Things soon look up for Louisa when she meets art teacher Mr Lavelle (young, handsome and charismatic - what were those nuns thinking?) and intense fellow student Victoria. The two girls form an almost immediate, powerful friendship which becomes the only thing sustaining Louisa through the many challenges of life at the repressive Temple House. However, things will come to a dramatic end when one of the girls and a teacher inexplicably disappear.

In the present day, an unnamed journalist becomes fascinated by the unsolved mystery and determines to find out more about what happened.

It’s beautifully written with many evocative phrases and descriptions - the atmosphere of the school and its often overwrought inhabitants powerfully rendered.

For a story largely set in a school, there are really rather few characters here: Louisa, Victoria, head girl Helen and Mr Lavelle are the only ones with a significant role to play, along with “the journalist” in the present day. (I’m mildly annoyed that we never learn her name.)

Ultimately the somewhat weak and vain Mr Lavelle is rather irrelevant; this is Louisa and Victoria’s story. And the end, when it comes, feels unusual and in some way beautiful.

An entrancing read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for an honest review. I was intrigued by the gothic setting of this book.
The opens with a compelling prologue scene. Told from the POV of a journalist who is outside Victoria’s building after her story has been published in the media. The journalist is investigating a story that took place 25 years ago when an art teacher ran off with his student and both disappeared. Shockingly Victoria responds by jumping off her office building.
Rewind 25-years before when Louisa arrives at Temple House, a boarding school run by strict nuns, where she meet Victoria and Mr Lovelle, their young and bohemian art teacher... Both timelines meet as we try to figure out the answer to the disappearance.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of this book. It was a real page turner. I loved the setting and the switch from present to the past. I did, however, enjoy the present narrative slightly more as that had the most suspense and thriller element to it. Louisa’s narrative was gripping, too, with echoes of The Secret History, but her storyline just doesn’t get there, and then there’s the ending, which was disappointing and stretched plausibility. Thus the 3/5

The Temple House Vanishing drew me in immediately upon reading the plot line. Donohue writes beautifully, and though I initially found the story a little slow, I quickly became captivated by the characters, particularly Victoria. Victoria is such a wonderfully written character and I felt it easy to relate to Louisa being drawn in by her intensity, passion and mystery. Similarly, Lavelle was written incredibly well, and I was able to view him both from 16 year old Louisa's perspective of the charming, well travelled teacher, but also my own adult perspective (which needless to say, felt a little differently about his manner and relationships with the students). I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will recommend it on.

A convent school for adolescent girls employs a good looking young arts teacher, giving him free rein to teach as he pleases and surprise surprise there is trouble! What were those nuns thinking! A trio of infatuated girls cause intrigue and mayhem resulting in the suicide of one and the accidental/intended death of another. The narrative is shared between a nameless journalist, who for some unknown reason takes an interest in the story 25yrs later and Louisa who we finally discover is telling her story from the grave! The story is slow moving, flowery, full of ambiguity and sadly a bit of a waste of time!

Shades of Malory Towers for adults, and Picnic at Hanging Rock. Louisa gets a scholarship to attend a Catholic boarding school for girls, she is the outsider but is soon befriended by Victoria, one of the privileged girls. They are taught by a charismatic young art teacher and the girls are drawn to him. What is going on? Is he having a relationship with one, or more of the students? This novel is full of twists and turns, and when Louisa and the art teacher go missing, we are not told immediately what has happened to them. An intriguing mystery that has the feel of a ghost story. It is atmospheric and well worth reading.

A strange tale of live and love in an all girls boarding school. Lots of twists and turns especially towards the end.

An experiment by an “Elite” catholic girl's school to offer scholarships to bright but poor students leads to Louisa taking up a place.
Probably typical of such and experiment, the scholarship girls are looked down on and not made to feel at all welcome by the other pupils or by the nuns.
Louisa is befriended by Victoria and almost becomes besotted by her and also by their charismatic art teacher, Mr Lavelle. I did find it quite strange in such a cloistered environment that he was allowed to teach them unsupervised.
One night Louisa and Mr Lavelle disappear and no trace of them is found.
Fast forward 25 years and a Journalist sets about writing some pieces about the disappearance and finally manages to interview Victoria and one of the other girls. The journalist just happens to have lived opposite Louisa's father's house and was once babysat by Louisa.
The book switches between the Journalist's narrative and that of Louisa. Sometimes I found it confusing with Louisa's narrative as to who was saying what to whom.
As the story unravels, it becomes obvious as to what has happened, but the epilogue is something else and is quite cleverly done.
A rather dark read especially as it is set in Autumn/Winter and it is by the sea and it is always cold. I didn't find any of the characters particularly likeable or felt I had any empathy with them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC in return for an honest review.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This was a good first novel that was full of suspense and intrigue. Well done author.

Atmospheric and intriguing, The Temple House Vanishing was a very enjoyable read!

In an elite Catholic girls' boarding-school the pupils live under the repressive, watchful gaze of the nuns. Seeking to break from the cloistered atmosphere two of the students - Louisa and Victoria - quickly become infatuated with their young, bohemian art teacher, and act out passionately as a result. That is, until he and Louisa suddenly disappear.

This is a book that makes you evaluate, and re-evaluate any choice you've made in life, how they can all add up and result in something you never planned. The characters are flawed, relatable and interesting, with Donohue unafraid to make you dislike them at certain turns in the road. You'll want to tear through this book in one sitting, but try and take your time!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atlantic Books for the ARC!

Rachel Donohue has written a powerful story about teenage insecurities, jealousy, angst, love - and cruelty. I found the story slow to get started but the writing is very good and pulls the reader along. The sense of place was well wrought although dark, gloomy, brooding houses on clifftops are standard fare in such tales. The way the story moved from character to character with each written in first person was compelling. I liked the ending very much and feel as though this is a story that will stay with me. Five stars. And thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Found this a bit slow and didn’t really go anywhere. Not fast paced enough for me. A bit predictable too!

Pleasant but forgettable. The tale of 2 girls and one teacher, nothing new here. The writing is pleasant but the story slow and unoriginal. It is a shame as the epilogue is actually really good.

I thought the book started off very well but it lost me halfway through. I did read to the end wanting to find out what had happened but was disappointed by the ending.

The mains characters, Louise and Victoria, albeit teenage girls, were irritating and unlikeable. This wouldn't normally be a problem for me but I had no sympathy for either of them, even Louise coming from a poor background and finding her way in a snobbish unfriendly environment such as Temple House.

The Temple House Vanishing is evocatively written and will appeal to readers of similar mysteries set in spooky atmospheres. Suspect it might be a Marmite book, readers will either love or hate it. Many thanks to NetGalley and

I found this difficult to warm to and I hoped that if I continued with it, I would become more interested in the mystery. The story wasn’t holding my attention due to the fact that I found the main characters of Louisa and Victoria irritating. Overall this was a underwhelming reading experience.

I really, really struggled to finish this book but press forward in the hope it would turn around. Sadly that was just not the case. There's no doubt the author is a great writer, poetic, almost, but the plot is simply awful. Absolutely nothing of interest or excitement happens and all of the characters are incredibly dull. I just simply did not care what happened to them in the past, present or future.

A newspaper journalist comes across a story, the twenty- five-year-old unsolved mystery of the disappearance of a pupil and her male teacher from an elite convent school. She does some research on Louisa and Mr Lavelle, looking for an angle for a series of articles.
Sadly, when an ex-convent girl approaches a novel like this with a head full of her own memories and of Antonia White and Kate O’Brien, then liking it was always going to be a tall order. The opening is closer to confusing rather than successfully blurring the lines as a device, and this probably provides too many clues as to whom the voices in the chapters actually belong.
But there are a lot of good things in this read. The descriptions of the elite but run-down boarding school feel authentic and atmospheric, the polished tables and dark wood in the receiving rooms, and the grainy pink marble of the altar in the chapel. Louisa and Victoria with rampant repressed teenage emotions, rebelling against religion and making the search for love and romance their only aim is well done. I liked Helen, the head girl and the misplaced authority and jealously provided by her, and the revelation of Mr Lavelle as a guy way way out of his depth worked.
It is difficult to imagine that Mr Lavelle with his uncertain history could even be teaching in such a place, and the pupils just seemed to be left to their own devices too much.
There is somewhat too much philosophising from Louisa, but you can understand why. A good gothic thriller.