Review - The Night She Disappeared

Title:    The Night She Disappeared

Author:  Lisa Jewell

Genre:   Psychological Thriller

Publisher:   Atria Books

Format:  Kindle ARC
No. of Pages:  416

Date of Publication:  September 7, 2021
My Rating:   5 Stars

DESCRIPTION:

2017: 19 year old Tallulah is going out on a date, leaving her baby with her mother, Kim.

Kim watches her daughter leave and, as late evening turns into night, which turns into early morning, she waits for her return. And waits.

The next morning, Kim phones Tallulah's friends who tell her that Tallulah was last seen heading to a party at a house in the nearby woods called Dark Place.

She never returns.

2019: Sophie is walking in the woods near the boarding school where her boyfriend has just started work as a head-teacher when she sees a note fixed to a tree.

'DIG HERE' . . .

A cold case, an abandoned mansion, family trauma and dark secrets lie at the heart of Lisa Jewell's remarkable new novel. 

Link to purchase the book

MY THOUGHTS:

Tallulah leaves her baby with her mother then heads to a party. She never came home. When Kim wakes up to Tallulah not being there, she starts calling her friends. None of them have seen Tallulah. Two years pass and Sophie is walking in the woods and sees a note. Could the note that Sophie sees have anything to do with Tallulah's disappearance?

This book has three timelines (2017, 2018 and 2019). The way this story was delivered was like pieces of a puzzle. I did have to play close attention to see where Tallulah went, how the note that Sophie found played into things, and how Kim handled not knowing where her daughter was. Very clever, as is every Lisa Jewell book I have read thus far. It is from this point that I hand the book over to the reader of this review as I am trying to write this book review without any spoilers.

Suffice it to say that the puzzle handed to readers was well worth solving. With incredible tension, expected twists and turns and a riveting conclusion, The Night She Disappeared was another gripping read by Lisa Jewell.

Many thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lisa was born in London in 1968. Her mother was a secretary and her father was a textile agent and she was brought up in the northernmost reaches of London with her two younger sisters. She was educated at a Catholic girls’ Grammar school in Finchley. After leaving school at sixteen she spent two years at Barnet College doing an arts foundation course and then two years at Epsom School of Art & Design studying Fashion Illustration and Communication.

She worked for the fashion chain Warehouse for three years as a PR assistant and then for Thomas Pink, the Jermyn Street shirt company for four years as a receptionist and PA. She started her first novel, Ralph’s Party, for a bet in 1996. She finished it in 1997 and it was published by Penguin books in May 1998. It went on to become the best-selling debut novel of that year.

She has since written a further nine novels, as is currently at work on her eleventh.

She now lives in an innermost part of north London with her husband Jascha, an IT consultant, her daughters, Amelie and Evie and her silver tabbies, Jack and Milly.

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