Symbolic of the desire to move on once closure has been reached, Part Two opens with Laurel encountering, apparently by accident, an attractive eligible bachelor in a neighborhood café. He is American-born anglophile Floyd Dunn, a moderately successful author of scientific books. The two strangers exchange personal information during a leisurely conversation. Floyd is separated from his wife and is the father of two daughters. The older of the two, Sara-Jade, known as “SJ,” is a product of his marriage, and usually lives with her mother. The younger child, Poppy, just nine, is the result of an extended but long-past affair. Poppy was left with Floyd—who is ecstatic to have her—when she was four years old, after which time her mother took off for parts unknown. Floyd is kind and sensitive and has a young daughter named Poppy, who looks inexplicably like Ellie.

Before too long she’s staying the night at this house and being introduced to his nine year old daughter.Mrs. Stacy Shaw has been disappeared from Thursday night after office. She is the last one who left the office that night. The last person who saw her is Betty Robinson; Betty’s husband; Stacy’s boss Leland Chambers, whom she argued that evening and Jeremy; one of the ground workers from office. She has blond hairs, height 5’2”, and aged twenty six, married to Michael Shaw for seven years. The silhouette stood at the edge of the woods like a spider watching a fly enter its carefully crafted web. Only a few more steps and she’d be within its grasp. Ellie was fifteen eager to take her exams. Now that she had been tutored in math she was sure she would do well. On her way to the library one evening, she disappears. Her disappearance takes a huge toll on the family, a family that breaks apart as many families in this type of situations often do. Now ten years later, Laurel is willing to take a shot at having a life and love again a series of events will send her reeling. Would she finally find out what happened to her daughter? Populated with fantastic characters, this was a fascinating and moving story about obsession, loss, and family. Some suspension of disbelief may be necessary, but it didn’t really bother me, I just enjoyed what I found to be a unique and absorbing story.

Jewell is a terrific storyteller, and I raced through this entire book on a flight. While I certainly would have loved a little more surprise, I still thought this was a captivating and compelling read, and if you like thrillers, you may very well enjoy this one. Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books and Lisa Jewell for an ARC to read in exchange for an honest review. Miranda: (talking to Ginger) Man, if I had known you were, like, clinically depressed, I might have gone a little easier on you. I thought I'd be okay but the gruesome murder of Stacy Shaw was sad and hard for me to get out of head. I think it was because Stacy was pregnant and it was just so heartbreaking to me because she had thought she'd never be able to have kids and was so happy. Touching her tummy and such just got to me.

He makes mention about what a schlub he is and how incredible Laurel is just for giving him the time of day. While there are a few key plot twists, there weren’t any that really caught me off guard. There’s a few instances of plot points where seems like the book is pointing in a specific direction, but since it’s a mystery, I kept expecting to be wrong about it. When it turns out it’s exactly what you think it sounds like, that’s a little disappointing.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Lisa Jewell for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book. From the New York Times bestselling author of Invisible Girl and The Truth About Melody Browne comes a “riveting” ( PopSugar) and “acutely observed family drama” ( People) that delves into the lingering aftermath of a young girl’s disappearance. Dr. Leventhal: As heart wrenching as this story is, maybe we could discuss something else like, perhaps, your perpetual need to be the center of attention? I’m on board with her editor on this one. I think the ending that’s in the book is more realistic than the alternative ending. I can see why she’d want to write it that way to give it a happier ending, but I think the ending that her editor steered her towards makes more sense. Read it or Skip it? The police thought Ellie might have run away. But Laurel knew that wasn’t possible. The years went by and although Laurel kept pushing the police to do more…there was only so much they could or would do.Hanna pays Laurel to clean her apartment, so Laurel knows that Hanna has not been sleeping at home. Hanna claims she's out partying, but that's not really her personality. Laurel finds some flowers given to Hanna by someone named "T". Laurel also visits her elderly mom who had a stroke many years ago. Her mother Ruby is old, but seems to be holding on hoping for Ellie to be found. the mystery/thriller stories i have read lately have been really predicable, so im starting a new game with myself where i predict what will happen before i read it, based solely on the synopsis. heres what i think for this one: floyd was involved in ellies disappearance (i dont think it will be a kidnapping, but maybe manipulated to run away?) and poppy is ellies daughter. i also dont think ellie will be dead. i still havent figured out how im going to reward myself for a correct prediction - the game is a work in progress - so suggestions are welcome. lol. I read a Lisa Jewell novel last year and connected immediately with her writing style, tone, and voice. When Then She Was Gone showed up on NetGalley last month, I immediately requested it and added it to my reading queue for April. I really find myself enamored with Jewell's characters, plots, and settings, so much that I've added ten of her other books to my TBR and hope to read a few more later this year. I believe in bad vibes and listening to your instincts but why include a stereotypical hippie dippy character to warn Laurel?

Laurel and Floyd go out on a couple of dates and are soon smitten with each other, and before long she sleeps over at his house. The next morning, they are awakened in bed by young Poppy—who looks almost exactly like Ellie did at the same age. Poppy is smart, charming, precocious, and enthusiastic about Floyd and Laurel’s budding relationship. Poppy and Laurel eagerly go shopping for clothing together, and bond in friendly fashion. For Laurel it is almost like having her own beloved daughter alive again. I have now read the last few books by this author and look forward to reading many more. To prove a point of mine, it is possible to write a good and suspenseful story without blood, excess gore and constant action. This is the kind of psychological thriller I actually enjoy. Did you think Lisa Jewell’s portrayal of Laurel and her journey was realistic? Could you relate to the way she dealt with her grief, or did you find it alienating? All these apparent loose threads begin to be tied to Ellie’s disappearance. Meanwhile, the book explores the reactions of various family members to the tragic event, showing that Laurel was not the only one damaged by the loss. Likewise, law enforcement efforts are summarized: Ellie was last seen on closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage captured the morning she vanished. Though the police are diligent, conducting house-to-house searches and pursuing tips received from the public, they find nothing. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary—beyond Laurel’s insistence that her daughter had no reason to flee home—law enforcement concludes and steadfastly maintains that Ellie was a runaway. They speculate she may be living on the European continent.

The characters are very ordinary people. They are not rich, nor particularly successful. They don't marry millionaires and live happily ever after. They are ordinary people with ordinary worries who have ordinary awful things happen, and who react like I imagine that I, or any of my friends, would react should a child of mine go missing. And in this very 'ordinaryness' Jewell creates compelling characters that we come to love and empathise with, and addictive reads. Blue tells a critical statement related to men and their concept of love in this book. This shows the importance of mutual love. Love is about putting equal effort into relationships. If a person who beholds the concept of unconditional love falls in love with a Narcissist, then the first person's life will be totally destroyed. Even though unconditional love is one of the ideal forms of love, it will be practical only with ideal individuals. Otherwise, we will be able to love unconditionally while others are only ready to accept that love and not to give anything in return. It will turn into a toxic parasitic relationship in no time. The story marveled in every respect and author left no stone unturned to make it a masterpiece. The twists, the suspense, the turn of events and the way they turned. It is not a serious suspense thriller or a wild chase of suspect in every direction possible. It is a story which has its own pauses and run time. It’s is like a smooth walk on a bumpy road. It’s enthralling, humorous, and blood-tingling. Then She Was Gone is, first and foremost, a mystery. Yet many questions are answered quite early on in the book. How soon did you guess what really happened to Ellie, and if you did, did it affect your enjoyment of the book?