Rating: 3.4/5
With "The Night She Disappeared" Lisa Jewell has produced another captivating novel that is sure to appeal to many people. For the most part I really enjoyed the experience of reading this, but I couldn't help feeling that the overall impact was let down by elements that just seemed too unlikely to really ring true, even after making allowance for dramatic licence.
Young mum, Tallulah, goes for a night out with her boyfriend, Zach. They leave their baby child, Noah, with Tallulah's mother, Kim. The young parents have Kim's blessing to make a night of it and not to worry about rushing home early. But when the morning comes and the pair have still not returned, it becomes clear that all is not well.
The story takes place across a variety of points in time between 2016 and 2018. The time frame does jump around quite a bit, but the particular point when the events are taking place is always clearly signposted. It just means that you do need to pay proper attention and make a mental note as you are reading particular sections.
Lisa Jewell certainly knows how to craft a page turner of a novel that makes you want to keep reading just one more chapter, so that you can find out what happens next. That said, there were a number of elements that, for me, didn't quite bear scrutiny and felt a little slapdash, which is not becoming of Lisa Jewell, who is a better writer than that. I won't mention everything, nor will I go into great detail, because I am always conscious of spoilers, but here is a quick example: Sophie, the new head teacher's girlfriend, is a published author of cosy crime novels ... but she couldn't recall, without prompting, that a significant event in this mystery was borrowed directly from her own debut novel. Really?
Nonetheless, this was still an engaging and captivating read that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend. I just felt that it could have been even better, if a few aspects of the plotting and characterisation had been a little tighter.
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Customer reviews
Thank you to @PenguinUKBooks and @lisajewelluk for this advanced copy of The Night She Disappeared in return for an honest review. The Night She Disappeared was published on 22nd July 2021 and you can get a copy here.Description 🔖Nineteen year old Tallulah has a small baby boy, goes to college and lives with her mother and boyfriend in a small English country town. Her mother Kim watches Tallulah go out one evening (which is a rare occurrence) but Tallulah never comes home.Over a year later, the local boarding school hires a new headteacher who moves onto campus with his girlfriend Sophie. Sophie writes detective novels, therefore has the nose for a mystery. She finds a sign at the back of their cottage saying “Dig Here”; so obviously she does. She is then thrust into a cold case where she ends up playing the role of one of her fictional characters.General Thoughts 🤔This was one of those books where I was dying to know how it was going to end. I was racing through the chapters hoping to find little bits of information that might give me a clue, but it honestly wasn’t until close to the very end that it became obvious to me.I loved the way that Sophie got involved with trying to help solve the case even though she was new to the town, knew nothing about the disappearance and wasn’t officially qualified to do so. It’s something that I imagine I would do if I landed in the same position. She was all consumed by Tallulah’s disappearance and I can see how that would be possible when there isn’t an awful lot else going on in your life.Characters 👫👭👬I really liked Tallulah. She was a teenage mother trying to do the best that she could. But just like all teenagers, she didn’t always make the best decisions and found herself in a life that she didn’t want. I empathised with her hugely and obviously empathised with her mother an awful lot.As alluded to above, Sophie reminded me a lot of myself. She threw herself into the case even though she was worried it was overstepping a boundary. I found it interesting that she kept what she was up to away from her partner. I’m not sure if I would have done the same because I am guilty of indulging in some gossip here and there; especially with my other half.Scarlet was a very troubled character. Almost immediately I knew that she wasn’t going to be a good friend for Tallulah however the further I got into the book I started to doubt my first impressions. I think that she cared for Tallulah a lot, but her past experiences and the lifestyle she had always known hindered her ability to be as good a person as I think she had the ability to be.Writing Style ✍️I really enjoyed how this book was structured. It jumped about between time frames, skipping between pre-disappearance, post disappearance and current day. The chapters were relatively short and snappy so that made it near impossible to put down. Lisa Jewell weaved in just the right amount of tension to make the book engaging but not too much that I was on edge. Sometimes I like that in a thriller so I can just let the mystery unravel around me.Conclusion & Scoring 🎖️I thought that this was a fantastic mystery thriller and would most definitely recommend it. It’s perfect for cuddling up on the sofa under a blanket and speed reading through. You’ll have to speed read because once you get into this story, you won’t be able to put it down.
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