Then She Was Gone

Description

Lisa Jewell’s Then She Was Gone is a psychological thriller, published in 2017. Feeling lost and grieving have sent shock waves throughout the story, where someone hardly believes something so terrible could be hidden behind such a happy life; hence, one waits at the edge of one’s seat to know what’s in store.

Summary:

The story is a novel about Laurel Mack, a mother whose 15-year-old daughter, Ellie, simply vanished ten years ago and never returned. At the point of her disappearance, she had broken life, and even after ten years, she still cannot run away from the unanswered questions that surrounded Ellie’s disappearance. This has led to the crumbling of her relationships and the constant haunting by the questions surrounding Ellie’s disappearance.

Years later, Laurel falls in love with a dashing man called Floyd and marries him. In learning about Floyd, she is introduced to his daughter Poppy, who has a creepy resemblance to Ellie. This sparks the old memories and reignites the obsession within her to find out what has happened to her daughter. As Laurel probes further, deep-seated mysteries start unraveling that bring her nearer to the lurking truth behind Ellie’s disappearance.

Key Themes:

Maternal Love: The novel portrays the tie between a mother and her daughter. All along, the action of the story is generated through Laurel’s grief and undying love for Ellie.

Mystery of Disappearance: The disappearance of Ellie forms the crux of the mystery running throughout the novel, in which the readers reconstruct the pieces of clues just like Laurel does.

Grief and Loss: There are a number of incidents of child loss that constantly repeat in the novel. Laurel cannot get over Ellie’s death, signifying that grief is also a long-term issue.

Psychological Depth: This novel revolves around how psychologically troubled these characters are, especially by how trauma and guilt leads them to make decisions and behave.

Summary:

“Then She Was Gone” is an electrifying and emotional thriller about one mom’s dogged pursuit for answers when her daughter disappears. It is a suspense story, half secrets, and more than a few surprises. How the darkest things people do have the greatest consequences on other people’s lives will be told to you as Laurel learns it. This novel strikes through at the heart of this pain of loss almost effortlessly interweaving this compelling mystery- leaving the reader questioning trust, fate, and secret truths in relationships.