A new author forme and I’ll definitely be looking for more. I didn’t realise this was book 5 in The Temple River Series. It didn’t matter I still loved every page.
Full of suspense, love and family values. Couldn’t wait to pick up my book every day.
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

I enjoyed this book and completely understand why it was written the way it is (with Angie reading 1 chapter at a time of the mysterious book because otherwise it would have been a very short novel (!) but I found that approach to anything so interesting to be completely alien!
That said the story is deftly woven between the past and present using the book to draw the reader in to the mystery surrounding Laura's disappearance and how that ties to Angie in the current day.
A good read.

This is a beautiful story told in dual timelines that flow seamlessly together in a tapestry of both stories that capture the reader.
This is a story of a present day divorce, of starting over, of a missing child from the 1950s and a mystery to solve. Of the repression of women in the 50s to present day themes of abandonment. Of family secrets buried and lives long forgotten. It's intriguing thoughout with well crafted characters. I enjoyed this book to conclusion.
Thank you to Net Galley team, the publishers and the author. My review opinion is my own.

The Lost Girl of Seahaven by Phillipa Nefri Clark is a richly woven, emotionally gripping story that beautifully blends past and present in a coastal small-town setting. From the first page, I was drawn into Angie Fairlie’s world—returning home after a difficult divorce, carrying the weight of past losses, and navigating the emotional aftermath of a marriage that eroded her sense of self. Her grandfather Emmett’s move to an assisted living community sets the stage for Angie to confront both her own past and the lingering mysteries surrounding her late grandmother Opal’s research.

The discovery of a box containing an unfinished manuscript and newspaper clippings propels Angie into a decades-old search for a lost girl named Mary. Clark skillfully interlaces Angie’s present-day journey with Mary’s life in the 1950s, highlighting the harsh and oppressive environment Mary endured under her fanatically religious mother. The dual timelines are flawlessly handled, providing a suspenseful, haunting exploration of secrecy, resilience, and the human need for connection.

Angie’s character is beautifully realized—vulnerable yet determined, grappling with grief, healing, and the slow reclaiming of her agency. Her partnership with Jack, a neighbor who brings both knowledge and quiet support, adds depth and warmth to the story. Their subtle chemistry feels authentic and grounded, providing moments of hope and tenderness amid the suspense.

The emotional weight of the story is balanced by Clark’s keen eye for detail, her vivid descriptions of Seahaven, and her compassionate portrayal of the characters. Emmett’s warmth and humor, Angie’s strength, Mary’s longing, and Jack’s steady presence all converge to create a narrative that is both heartbreaking and uplifting. Clark does not shy away from the harsh realities of abuse, loss, and secrecy, yet she also illustrates the redemptive power of courage, family, and human connection.

The pacing of the novel is deliberate and immersive, gradually revealing clues, weaving together timelines, and steadily building suspense. Every revelation feels earned, and the resolution provides both satisfaction and lingering reflection. While the story is emotionally heavy at times, it is also ultimately hopeful, celebrating resilience and the enduring bonds between people across generations.

The Lost Girl of Seahaven is a masterclass in storytelling, blending mystery, emotion, and family drama into a narrative that stays with you long after the last page. Fans of heartfelt, layered mysteries and evocative, coastal settings will find themselves utterly absorbed. Phillipa Nefri Clark has once again proven her ability to craft stories that are as moving as they are compelling.

The Lost Girl of Seahaven
​By Phillipa Nefri Clark
​Chapter Eleven, Page 84
​🌟🌟🌟🌟

​°•. “He's rather dashing with his tweed jacket and white hair, you have to give him that.”

The words drifted from another table and when Angie snuck a look, the speaker was one of three older ladies sharing a plate of pastries. She'd seen them at the assisted living community in passing and two were familiar -people she had probably crossed paths with when she was much younger.

“Once you get past his gruff personality, you mean.”

“I think he's a big softier, Annette. We've both known Emmett for so many years but not ever had the chance to be more than acquaintances through different committees.”

[Emmet! Gramps?]

“If not acquaintances then what do you want to be, Bess? Planning to get married at last at your advanced age?”°•.

​Review

​|:: If you knew the life you were leading wasn't your own and the parents who cared for you weren't the same as the ones you remember...and what if your name wasn't really yours...What would you do?

​We meet and follow lovely Angie, who has a lot of loss in her life. She lost her parents and grandmother all before she hit her late teens and was affected by it more than she realised. Maybe that's why her choice of a husband was wrong.

​This cost her her relationship with her grandfather, and only now has she seen what her husband is like. He has become an ex, divorced, and fearing he would ruin her reputation because all she wanted to be was a teacher, she went back to Seahaven, a house that had been in the Fairlie family forever, passed down from generation to generation.

​Gramps [Emmett] has decided to move on and has requested the help of Angie to go through and scale down the items and belongings he has acquired over the years so he can decide what he will be taking with him to the assisted living facility he is moving to.

​This is how Angie finds a box of research her infamous grandmother was working on for an upcoming book she intended to write. But this is different. The book she has found is like nothing she has read before. And it was written by an unknown author. But the story is harrowing.

​Now Angie is up against the clock to try and find the anonymous author and the other people talked about in the book. Deeply affected by the vivid recollection of a long-ago little lost girl, Angie must try and finish what her grandmother started, with only the clues left for her in a little box.

​Can she find the mystery author in time?

​My Thoughts

​This book struck a chord with me. I was so heartbroken for the little girl who was thrown into a life she shouldn't have had, especially with such a strain as religion is used for the wrong reasons.
Instead of love and kindness, she was shown punishment and fables for her curiosity and intellect.

​She was taught not to stand out. To remain quiet, to sink into the shadows. She must become a wallflower, watch and not participate. The little girl was so lovely that she had to befriend chickens.

​And then there is beautiful Angie, who had been through the most horrific emotional abuse by her husband. Sometimes emotional abuse can hurt more because physical scars heal easily. But, a testament to Angie and her strong link to family, she finally began to emerge from the shadows she was pushed into so long ago.

​Jack I loved, even from the first meeting. He gave off a certain appeal, and I knew he was going to be good for Angie. Xavier boiled my blood, I'm not going to lie. I thought he was going to come back for Angie as some sort of revenge, so not hearing about what happened to him seemed like a loose thread.

​Emmett was my favourite. He reminded me of my Bamp and I could see him doing and saying the things Emmett did. I didn't really like Marge originally, and quite early on I had suspicions of her.

​She seemed like a straightforward person, so why didn't she ask Emmett earlier? I did love this book though. The way it traced through the past and even though Opal has gone, I loved her too. I loved hearing about the memories and Shane?

​Did he manage to hunt her down? You know what this means? We need a second book! ::|

​Title: The Lost Girl of Seahaven
​Author: Phillipa Nefri Clark
​Publish Date: 28/7/25
​Publisher: Storm Publishing
​Review Score: 4/5

​A huge thank you to Phillipa Nefri Clark, Storm Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and relay my honest feedback.

I loved this book.

The Lost Girl of Seahaven pulled me in from the first page and didn’t let go. There’s something so compelling about a story that weaves together past and present, and Phillipa Nefri Clark does it beautifully. The coastal town setting was so vivid I could practically hear the waves and smell the salt air—and Seahaven had that perfect small-town charm with just the right hint of mystery.

Angie was such a relatable character. Her return home after a painful divorce felt raw and real, and I was completely hooked as she uncovered the mystery hidden in her grandmother’s house. That old box, the anonymous book, the decades-old disappearance—it all unfolded like a perfectly paced puzzle. I loved how the fictional novel within the novel (The Loneliest Girl by the Sea) became this haunting echo of real life. Chilling and heartbreaking in the best way.

And then there’s Jack. Quiet, brooding, kind. The chemistry between him and Angie was subtle and believable—no insta-love, just two people slowly letting their guards down and learning to trust again.

This isn’t just a mystery—it’s about grief, healing, and the long shadow of family secrets. I felt every twist, every reveal, deeply. Some moments gave me goosebumps, others made me tear up. By the end, I was equal parts heartbroken and hopeful.

Highly recommend to anyone who loves emotional mysteries, coastal settings, and stories that stay with you long after you’ve finished the last page. I’ll definitely be reading more from this author.

In the latest book from Phillipa Nefri Clark, readers follow Angie Farlie as she returns to her coastal home town of Seahaven after a difficult divorce and in search of a fresh start. While clearing out her grandmother’s home, she discovers a box, an anonymously written book, and newspaper clippings about a child that vanished decades ago, from a family picnic in 1952. With the help of her new and enigmatic neighbor Jack, Angie starts to uncover this shocking secret and the truth of this girl’s disappearance without knowing the impact it will have on the community. Alternating between multiple characters’ perspectives, readers will discover this detailed and interesting mystery from multiple sides in this brilliantly written new novel. The characters are well-written and detailed, and the mystery elements add a great level of suspense to the novel and depth to the characters’ backstories. The setting is eerie yet whimsical and is a fantastic backdrop for this moody and emotional narrative. Readers will love the emotional storyline and the depth of detail in this fascinating and immersive new book, and Phillipa Nefri Clark has done a brilliant job bringing this unique and complex novel and its many characters to life.

My first Phillipa Nefri Clark novel but definitely not my last. This one grabbed me from the get-go. An emotional roller coaster ride with twists and turns galore. The characters suited themselves perfectly and kept me burning the midnight oil. Great read.
Thank you NetGalley, Phillipa Nefri Clark and Storm Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.

After a disastrous failed marriage to a controlling man, Angie Fairlie has returned home to Seahaven. She has a job as a teacher at the locally primary school lined up, starting after the summer and in the meantime will help her grandfather, Emmet, pack up and move to a cottage in an assisted living facility.

While packing up her grandmother’s office Angie finds an intriguing memoir about a little girl who was lost in the 1950s as well as some correspondence she thinks might be from the author. Her grandmother died before meeting the author, so Angie becomes determined to solve the mystery of who she is. Emmet doesn’t want to discuss it with her but his good looking neighbour Jack, an ex-policeman, offers to help.

This is a suspenseful and moving story about a little girl lost in the bush and what became of her. I loved all the characters and especially the heart-warming resolution to Angie’s search for answers.

Rounded up to 3.5 stars!
This is the fifth book in a series. However, i have not read any others, and this can be read as a stand alone.

Angie Fairlie is returning to Seahaven after a traumatic divorce, and to help her beloved grandfather pack up the family home so that he can move into a senior living center. Her grandmother passed away when Angie was 15, and her grandfather is still grieving the loss of his beloved Nan. While she is cleaning out Nan's writing room (Nan was an author), Angie discovers a box of letters, and a small book. She begins reading, and discovers that it is a story of Mary, a child with a distant mother and absent father. There are secrets in Mary's life, and she is trying to figure them out. Nan had been corresponding with the anonymous author of the book via letters, and was on the verge of meeting her and telling her everything she discovered, but she died before they could meet. Angie then decides to finish what her grandmother had started, and starts looking into the lost girl.

I found that when the story focused on Mary (through the book), Nan's investigation, and Angie's continued investigation I was completely engaged. Reading Mary's story in the book-within-a-book style, with clues and pieces dropped in throughout the story really drew me in. I wanted to know what was going to happen to her, were her suspicions correct? And then when you tied this narrative in with Angie's investigation, it was really impactful.
i also liked Emmet- Angie's grandfather. I liked the building up of their relationship that had been a little fractured. The fear, anxiety and yearning were palpable in the scenes as they were getting to know each other again, and each had anxiety about whether the other would accept them. There were many heartfelt, sweet moments here.

Where I did not connect as much was with the Angie and Jack romance. Jack, by himself is a really great character. However, I felt this was a very rushed romance, which at times seemed a bit immature. While I understood why Angie struggled with the idea of someone wanting her, I got tired of the inner dialogue about that! I wish that the author had chosen to focus on Angie and her grandfather, and Angie focusing on herself for a while!

Overall a pleasant read, and I really, really liked the whole part of the book that involves the mystery from the past that is connected to the present.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the ARC. This is my honest and voluntary review.

The Lost Girl of Seahaven
by Phillipa Nefri Clark
Pub Date: Jul 28 2025

The Lost Girl of Seahaven is book #5 in the Temple River series. It's a heart-shaking, tender and moving story filled with family secrets, mystery and drama. This is a very powerful story that blends past and present, love and loss, secrets and healing. I highly recommend it.

Synopsis: When Angie Fairlie returns to her coastal hometown after a devastating divorce, all she wants is a fresh start. But then, while clearing out her beloved grandmother’s home, she stumbles upon a mysterious box. Inside, is anonymously written book and newspaper clippings about a child who vanished decades ago. As Angie digs deeper, she discovers that the heartbreaking novel, The Loneliest Girl by the Sea, may hold clues to the fate of the little girl who disappeared from a family picnic in 1952. But she never expects that revealing the tragic story will force her to confront the pain in her own past.

Many thanks to #TheLostGirlofSeahaven #NetGalley and #StormPublishing for providing me an E-ARC of this 5 star book!

Gripping story about a lost girl. She had been out for a walk with her parents and her brother. But then she was lost and they never found her again.

It's also a story about Angie, who has returned to the family home of several generations. Her marriage has failed. She has a shattered ego, no money, and she needs a place to stay until she can start earning money in a few months, as a teacher. Her grandfather is moving to a cottage in a senior community and he wants Angie to stay for as long as she likes, but he asks her to go through her late grandmother's office and help him with sorting and packing for the move. A youngish man, Jack, has been renting the house nearby. He has befriended "Gramps" and likes Angie. He's a retired detective, having had a devastating injury in the line of duty.

And lastly, it's the story of a girl, Mary, growing up with her mother in an isolated cabin with a super-religious mother, and without a father, who had been washed out to sea. Life was difficult and lonely for the girl.

As Angie starts going through her grandmother's things, she finds a book and a box of clipped newspaper articles. Both seem to be related stories and she gets emotionally involved as well as intellectually curious. Jack joins her in trying to fit pieces of the puzzle together.

This book is well written and keeps the reader wanting to learn more and then even more...until the surprising ending.

This book was so interesting, and multi-layered. Imagining the trials everyone in the book went through to get where they were, and where they were meant to be, was gripping.

It was a hard read at times, so dark and fraught with pain, but wow, the journey to the end was well worth the pain.

Please read this book!!

Thanks to Netgalley, and the publisher, for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which is very cleverly written, The two time lines woven in, the budding romance, and the mystery involved kept me wanting more. I loved the characters, each dealing with separate issues, who have their own secrets and healing journeys, including being inspired by their beautiful surrounds. It is very heart-warming and overall a great read. Well done Phillipa Nefri Clarke.

This was an amazing book! What interesting storytelling, the setting, heartfelt characters, dual timelines with plenty of mystery, adventure and details to make it all very much alive. It's the story about "The Lost Girl of Seahaven."
Angie Fairlie is back at Rivers End where she's not been for a long time. Angie has had her difficulties and comes back home to help her Grand dad. Emmett is packing to move to another place. Angie is also to go through her Gran's books and her research papers etc from the past. The packing and going through Gran's stuff takes Angie out on a long research to continue the search her Gran had done before. Angie also meets Jack who's helping out during Angie's investigation. The Looking for the lost girl who went missing all those decades ago. A book and letters to lead them the way written by someone wanting to be anonymous. There is the dual timeline story where, the girl Mary who lives with a woman was forced to do as she was told. A life very much secluded from others a long time. Mary remembers fragments of her past and wants to find her past. Secrets from the past that in time will be linked to each other. The storytelling has quite a bit of twists and turns and will keep you guessing and eager to go on reading. Angie finds the way to conquer her past, and it leads her to get a family reunited, not knowing where it will lead her. The title of the book does give a special meaning to the story.
I truly enjoyed reading the book! I'm so grateful to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Charlotte N

A great story full of twists and intrigue and a bit of romance thrown in. Angie is a great character returning to help her grandfather after a marriage breakup and finding herself in the middle of a mystery when clearing out her grandmother's office. The pace of the book is good and I love Angie's growing friendship with Jack making it a book well worth reading

This was a deeply intriguing and often moving mystery about lost identity. I really enjoyed the way the author knitted all the details together and revealed the truth bit by bit. The romance was an added pleasure. There are serious themes too, around loss, indoctrination and childhood trauma/abuse, which were skilfully handled. As always, Nefri Clark’s writing is atmospheric and beautifully crafted.
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC which I received in exchange for an honest review.

The fifth book in the Temple River series which could be read as a standalone.

Angie Fairlie returns to Seahaven after a painful divorce and also because her grandfather is preparing to leave the family home and move into assisted living. Angie helps him in cleaning out years of collected items including her grandmother's papers. Among these she discovers the tale of a little lost girl and when she follows this up she opens up and solves an amazing mystery.

This was an enjoyable read. I especially enjoyed the visits by characters from other books by this author. Daphne in particular added a nice little side story.

This was a very wonderful read! And a very emotional one. The mystery is there, but the relationships portrayed have stolen my heart; the characters are just lovely.

The balance of it all is what makes it so great, I believe. There’s lots of sadness, but also hope and warmth, along with loss and trauma, but then lots of healing and strength.

A heartbreaking, emotional read about a girl moving back to her hometown. I loved the strong connectikn with her grandparents. This is a story of strength and courage, secrets and love. A fascinating read with lots of twists and turns
Would recommend