Book Review: "Then She Was Gone" by Lisa Jewell

Lisa Jewell was an author I was introduced to through a book club as the read of the month was her novel The Family Upstairs. Deciding to participate less out of the fact that I wanted to read the particular book and more out of the fact that I needed something different to read - I ended up really enjoying it quite a bit. I was actually surprised how addicted I became to that particular book. It would be another year or so before I would read another book by Lisa Jewell, this time entitled The Night She Disappeared. I am not going to lie, but Lisa Jewell books never disappoint. I can definitely say the same about this one. A blend of psychological thriller, horror and domestic tragedy, Lisa Jewell explores the deep intricacies of what makes us human - whether we are good or bad.

This is about a woman who's child has gone missing and with flickers between the past and the present - it makes for a brilliant nonchronological slow burn reveal of events. Going through the old life of the daughter who disappeared, making everything fit quietly into place whilst the present parts go through the investigation that has been reignited ever since they found another person's passport in her abandoned and buried backpack. After a back and forth of past and present, we finally find out what is really going on here. None of it is anything pretty and it twists and winds around just like Lisa Jewell's book The Family Upstairs did.

This is not your run-of-the-mill paperback thriller, instead it weaves a deep portrait of each individual member of the family. We have the overgrown child which is Hanna who can not look after herself despite living on her own in the present day story. She is portrayed as someone her mother adores and would do anything for but there are confilcted emotions about her. For example: there is a point in the story where the mother expresses her opinions in her own head as wishing it was Hanna who went missing and not her other daughter. This hits the reader pretty hard but ultimately it does make the mother look far more human for expressing these thoughts in her mind.

Another character we get to know very well is the mother, Laurel. Laurel is a mother who both cares a lot for her children and also wishes they would be able to get on without her - but then again, she is also scared of that. After the disappearance of her daughter, her character shifts and changes from a mother who does things without very much thought as it could 'never happen to her' to a mother who goes over an over analyses and over thinks every moment of her life. Lisa Jewell writes this character as a hyper-realistic protagonist who is conflicted about the fact she knows her daughter may not come back, the fact that her husband is no help whatsoever, the fact that her other daughter is not 'perfect' like the one who disappeared, the fact that her son is still very much requiring of her time and attention no matter how old he is (and whether he states he needs it or not).

Her special ability has always been with these storylines that weave the past and the present together with hidden clues which bring us ultimately to the strange and shocking ending. You can honestly try to guess what the ending might be but you probably won't get it right. Lisa Jewell makes sure that she litters the book with clues and hints as to where the book is going and at the end, it is all tied together but really, it is almost impossible to actually guess how the ending will go. Why? Well, because the ending actually takes time to get going - it isn't just a few pages, it is like a resolution that is deeply explored, bringing all of those loose ends you thought weren't important together.

In conclusion, I think this book is one of Lisa Jewell's most intricately woven novels and I would urge you to read it if you want a different kind of thriller.