Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
Quick Synopsis: Laurel’s daughter, Ellie, has been missing for 10 years. The police finally find what remains of Ellie and her backpack, giving Laurel some closure and the courage to move on. She strikes up a friendship with a man she meets in a cafe, Floyd, and they quickly become romantically involved. Everything is almost too good to be true, especially when Laurel meets Floyd’s daughter—Poppy. Poppy has an eerie resemblance to Ellie, and Laurel can’t shake the many, many connections between Poppy, Floyd, and the life she knew 10 years earlier.
Why I Like It: Especially in the summer, I will just browse the shelves of the book store to find books that are both easy reads and able to entertain me tremendously. Then She Was Gone is one of those books. I read it in just a few days, and the story line, while somewhat predictable, was still extremely entertaining. The characters were well-developed and purposeful, the story-line itself was cleanly organized, and the plot twists were believable. And, on top of all that, it’s suspenseful and full of things you “didn’t see coming.” Even my common practice of relieving suspense by reading the ending didn’t work for this book—they must have known my trick. I read the ending, and thought I knew everything that would happen, but I didn’t. Upon reading the last few chapters I realized even more happened than what I thought, and to me, that sealed the deal on it being a good book. It knew my tricks, kept me reading until the end, and didn’t waste my time with fluffy or overblown language.
Why You Might Like It: If you are looking for a beach read, or one that you can throw in your bag and take with you to the ball field while your kids are practicing, try Then She Was Gone. It has just the right amount of romance, intrigue, and deviousness to keep you reading and reading quickly. You won’t have to expend a lot of effort, and the way Jewell weaves the past with the present keeps you wanting more from “beyond the grave” characters, such as Ellie. Also, it has extremely short chapters; which I love. If you have a few minutes, read one chapter. If you have half an hour, read 10. It’s also, and this is a definite benefit, one of those books you could pass among your family members on a beach trip. Several of you could read it in one week and you’d have something to discuss other than politics, coronavirus, or who is cooking dinner :)
Publishing Information: The copy of Then She Was Gone that I read and is pictured on this website was written by Lisa Jewell and published by Atria of Simon and Schuster in 2018. It was copyrighted in 2017.
