Clever and atmospheric. I didn't like any of the characters - but I don't mind that. It's always interesting when there are flawed main characters. The school setting is eerie and creepy, only just within the bounds of believable, but forms such a perfect backdrop for the weird behaviour.

This is Donohue's second novel and a departure from the first.
It evokes a familiar storyline: Catholic school set on a cliff; students intruiged by the young art teacher; scholarship student caught in a web of neglect....but Donohue moves away from cliche and creates a beautiful tapestry told by two characters.
Louisa is the scholarship girl, smart but not savvy in the ways of the rich and powerful, who seduce the nuns with their money and influence. Victoria, wealthy and privileged, becomes her friend and intellectual peer. Headgirl, Helen is part of this power suite. Mr Lavelle, the young and seemingly hollow art teacher attracts them all. It feels earlier than 1990 but then these issues are timeless.
The journalist tries to unravel the mystery of the disappearance of Louisa for a newspaper series but also to appease her own knowledge of Louisa.
Haunting and curious, the story is hard to forget. We hear the young voice of Louisa and the older, but still youthful voice of the novice journalist as the two stories move closer to intersection and some kind of resolution.
Donohue's prose is spare and makes the reader work hard but the result is very satisfying indeed.

I came close to giving up on this book. It is such a slow simmer of a story. I'm glad I didn't though as it 5urns into a fantastic one later. I found It to be thought provoking too. How intense teenage life is. As though they make a solid foundation of how life will pan out. Between the ages of 16 and 18 we feel so adult.

I read an advance review copy of the book. This review is voluntary, honest and my own opinion.

What a delightfully written thriller of a book, and an excellent debut novel. The Temple House Vanishing draws you into the mystery immediately, and the beginning sets the premise for an intriguing story of mystery, unrequited love -or is it- and passion, intertwined with an overrated Catholic girls' boarding school with the expected mean girl, horrid nuns, a maverick teacher and the two central characters, two odd girls who gravitate toward each other in an oppressive setting. And the perspective of both a 16 year old victim and the articulate journalist determined to uncover the truth a quarter of a century later is a page-turning style to contend with. It's not fast-paced, but it kept me engaged right until the climax.

It's nearing the 25th Anniversary of when a pupil and teacher disappeared from their elite Catholic Boarding school.. A journalist with vague links to the sixteen year old Louisa feels there is more mystery to unravel and seeks to research and write about the main players including Louisa's best friend Victoria, now a high flyer in the City and former Head Girl, the flinty and obnoxious Helen.

Louisa is a scholarship girl who finds the rules and regulations difficult and bonds almost instantly with gorgeous rich girl Victoria. They quickly form a deep friendship and spend most of their free time together. Victoria believes their dashing Art Teacher, Edward Lavelle is her destiny and she's head over heels in love and he with her. It's a tale of unrequited love and teenage angst set in the drafty old school and amongst the overgrown and rambling grounds.

It's a exquisite debut with interesting characters, twisty storylines, secrets, lies, love, friendship and that twist left me absolutely reeling! I absolutely adored the story and would highly recommend.

Twenty five years ago a scandal hits a Catholic girls boarding school. What happened between Mr Lavelle, Louisa and Victoria? What are the nuns hiding? Are the prefects actually perfect? After Mr Lavelle and Louisa mysteriously disappear the infatuation, obsession and unrequited love emerge after being investigated by a journalist during the 25th anniversary. A guessing game to the end leading up the actual events of the night kept me turning the pages towards the end.

This was a slow starter and a dark, brooding tale that took a while to get hooked but I thoroughly enjoyed it In the end.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC copy. I would highly recommend.

An atmospheric novel reminiscent of Picnic at Hanging Rock, but a later era
Told alternately by Louisa and twenty five years later by an investigative journalist , it’s a slow burner but an engaging mystery.
Louisa is sixteen and very clever when she wins a scholarship to a catholic boarding school run by nuns. She’s flattered when she is befriended by Victoria, another student and they both become in awe of the young and charismatic art teacher, Mr Lavalle. With petty jealousies and raging hormones it’s almost inevitable that disaster will strike- and indeed it does. Louisa disappears as does the young art teacher.
Twenty five years later we eventually find the answer

Temple House is a second rate girls boarding school that thinks it’s first rate or at least some of the incumbents do, especially the nuns that run it. In September 1990 Louisa, a very clever 16 year old girl, is offered a scholarship at Temple House which she accepts but she is looked down on particularly by the girls who are fee paying. In her art class she meets fellow student Victoria and her art teacher Mr Lavelle. Victoria mesmerises Louisa and it appears as if she is her only friend. They become an ‘army of three’. Lavelle is 25 and handsome in a movie star way and so of course with young feminists hormones raging several girls including Victoria fall for his bohemian charms in this well depicted school setting. What unfolds is dramatic at times and certainly mysterious as by Christmas Lavelle and Louisa have disappeared. Together? Maybe. Dead? Possibly. The case is investigated and unsolved until a journalist ex neighbour of Louisa’s becomes involved and the truth emerges. This is a story of lies and silence, love and obsession, of insiders and outsiders, of doomed friendship and loss, of sacrifice and haunting, dominated by class snobbery and delusion. The story is told from the time by Louisa and from 2015 by the journalist.

This is a well written debut by Rachel Donoghue and I’m sure we’ll be hearing her name a lot in the future as her writing is very powerful. The characters are well created although not all are likeable. Helen the Head Girl is cold, a snob, she is cruel and judgemental with a rod firmly stuck up her backside. Victoria uses people and is delusional, Louisa is a shape shifter, desperate to fit in but so uncertain of herself and unsure of what the rules are. She is very likeable as her feelings seem to be true. Lavelle is the shaman who exerts control over his fawns, then pulls back if they try for more than he is prepared to give. He is naive and probably despicable. The novel is full of atmosphere created by the coastal setting with the backdrop of the school with the nuns in their garbs and ceremony but with sharp tongues and piercing eyes. The season of autumn to winter adds an extra dimension too. The ending is very good - it is tragic, shocking and also ghostly with redemption denied by those responsible.

Overall, a very good book which is well written and which unfolds effortlessly. The emotions of the central characters comes across strongly and gives you a whole range of emotions. Highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atlantic Books for the ARC. Publication date 20/2/20.

The story itself is a little tried and tested, but Donohue has executed her ideas with beautiful, atmospheric writing.

The title is intriguing; the blurb captivating. It’s a shame that this novel didn’t really take off - for me, anyway.

Louisa wins a scholarship to a Catholic boarding school somewhere in Ireland. There, she is befriended by the elusive Victoria and gets caught up in the strange world of art teacher Mr Lavelle and his summer-house lessons. Louisa isn’t popular; she’s bullied by Helen, a prefect, and all she really wants is Victoria - and Mr Lavelle.

The novel’s structure changes - later on, the viewpoints change to include a journalist, who is investigating the disappearance of Louisa and Mr Lavelle from years before, and then from Louisa’s perspective herself. I’m not sure that the switching really works.

The premise behind the novel is strong. However, even though the Temple House is menacing and creepy, there’s no real sense of this being an Irish novel - I think being more rooted in the country would help. Towards the end, when we discover the truth behind the ‘vanishing’, it’s quite implausible that Louisa’s body lay undiscovered near the school for all those years. Surely, a ledge near the swimming pool would have been an obvious place to look?

I really wanted to like this novel more. However, the thriller conventions fall quite flat for me. Part of it reminded me of The Secret History but the plot seems to reach too many dead ends and could have been more exciting. Having said this if does capture the claustrophobic atmosphere of a stuffy, nun-led boarding school at a time not that long ago that wouldn’t have been particularly pleasant for anyone..

This is an amazing book. I absolutely loved it as it was so cleverly written because it made me feel that the characters were relating the tale directly to me.
The story is of two 16year old girls, Louisa and Victoria and how their friendship with their 'charming' unconventional Art teacher Mr Lavelle at an elite Catholic boarding school develops to such a degree that Louisa and the teacher disappear overnight never to be seen again.
The story is told by Louisa and a young journalist who is reviewing the case 25 years later. It swaps between the two but at a comfortable, leisurely pace which slowly reveals tiny parts of the mystery and the answers to it as the book goes on. The ending definitely didn't disappoint and the answers were revealed in an emotional yet gentle way.
To use a cliché I literally couldn't put this book down and had to finish it in one go as the clever writing along with the slowly unfurling story made for a wonderfully addictive read.
This will definitely be a bestseller!
Thank you so much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to review this book.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Atlantic Books - Corvus, for the ARC.
This was just such an absorbing and intriguing read - really couldn't put it down.
Told from the points of view of Louisa - a 16yr-old who was a scholarship girl at an elite Catholic girls boarding school, and a reporter, Laura Palmer who, 25yrs after Louisa's disappearance at the same time as her 25yr-old bohemian art teacher Edward Lavelle, intends to investigate the story again.
The story explores the repressive - the stifling, restrictive, atmosphere within the school and the animosity shown to the scholarship girls by the 'elite' fully-paying students. But Louisa finds a kinship with Victoria, who appears to have an intimate friendship with Edward Lavelle, revelling in his laid-back attitude to life, love and art, and with which Louisa easily identifies - adaption is the key to survival.
On the eve of Christmas Break Louisa and Edward disappear. Not long after, the school closes and now, 25yrs later, it is derelict and awaiting development.
The reporter uncovers long-held secrets as Louisa's narrative provides background, atmosphere and the intimacy she experienced.
"There are no heroes in this story" - it's a sad opening and a very poignant and shocking conclusion.
This is indeed a sad and reflective story of young lives and aspirations; of a girl who has everything and demands more; of a girl who has little and would like to fit-in.
Beautifully written, thoroughly engaging.

I really enjoyed this book right up until the end where in my opinion it all falls apart horridly. Even though the plot itself is nothing new it is well written and the charaters are well built and you can get a real sense of who's who. It was a real shame to see such great writing come to sucha sub par finale. I think that ultimately it could have been much more than what it was.

A bit of a slow start, but once I got into it I could not put it down.

The story revolves around a scandal in a school when a teacher & a student disappear. A reporter picks up the story & the book flips between the story told by the reporter & that of the missing girl.

The characters are interesting, especially the best friend who features in both elements of the story. And also the teacher.

Well written and a good ending.

A 25 year old mystery concerning a former neighbours disappearance from the boarding school she was a scholarship pupil at intrigues a journalist and inspires them to write a series of articles about the mystery in a bid to find new evidence. Louisa is a very gifted pupil however feels out of place both at home where her parents have just separated and at school where as a scholarship pupil she feels out of place and unwelcome except by her friend Victoria who she meets in art class which is taught by the charismatic but unconventional Mr Lavelle. Just before Christmas both Louisa and Mr Lavelle vanish however what happened that night remains a mystery for decades.

I felt sorry for Louisa however I found it hard to like either her, Victoria or Mr Lavelle. There is a lot of teenage angst and confusion however the mystery itself compelled me to keep reading. This is a well written book and the ending was worth it.

Oh, I really enjoyed this book! It engaged me straight away, the narration was on point, engaging, tonally just right (sometimes they can be *too* all-knowing and foreshadowing, etc.) and the mystery was brilliantly done. The relationships between the girls, the school, the teacher ... great! Definitely recommended.

From the premise, I was convinced this was my kind of book - intrigue, jealousy, teenage passions - but I have to confess to being extremely disappointed. It was incredibly slow and I just kept waiting for something to happen. I didn't really connect to anyone of the characters and almost gave up at one point. There was some beautiful writing but overall I found it average in its genre.

Sadly this book was not for me, I tried to stay with the storyline but just didn't enjoy it, I found it difficult to engage with the characters and also found it was too slow to keep my interest so unfortunately didn't finish the whole book.

What an excellent story. It reveals the lives of two young girls, interwoven with love, jealousy and revenge. There is nothing like the intensity of feeling when a teenager and this book captures that so well. As the story unfolds there is nothing given away as to how it will end. It wasn’t an ending I saw happening. .
The Epilogue - the best chapter of the book. After the hurt and pain of the ending, it reveals what happened to the life of the girl left behind to grow up alone with sadness and regret.
I had not guessed at the ending at all and it was both moving and sad.
A lovely book that I feel sure I shall certainly revisit.

This is a good read overall. I guessed the ending fairly early but this did not spoil my enjoyment of the story. It is predictable in places but I liked the writing style and the setting.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.