ReView: The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell

"She has seen this before. But she cannot for the life of her remember where."

Lisa Jewell's The Night She Disappeared is a gripping, pulsing ride which takes the reader on a journey to discover the truth behind a mysterious disappearance.

When we first meet Kim, she is home happily babysitting her grandson (her daughter Tallulah’s child). But when Tallulah, and her boyfriend, fails to return home that night, Kim immediately knows something is off and sets off on a journey, propelled by a mother’s love. Meanwhile, we also meet Sophie (a novelist) who has moved into a cottage on the campus of a school where her boyfriend is the new head teacher. The school’s proximity and connection to Tallulah and her boyfriend’s mysterious disappearance pull Sophie into the orbit of the unsolved case. Soon after arriving, Sophie finds a sign behind their cottage which says “Dig Here”, setting into motion events that connect Kim, Sophie, Tallulah and another connected character (I won’t spoil it) and bring the reader closer to the truth.

Told through alternating perspectives of several fascinating women, the story moves briskly and deftly along, so that the reader can easily pick up where they left off with each of their stories.

I appreciated how different the story was from her other stories, but still with all the elements that make her books so thrilling. The twists and turns feel natural and earned, and exciting. And, as always, Jewell creates an environment that is as full of life as the characters which inhabit it. You can practically hear the spaces breathe along with the people navigating them. Her use of space to convey the atmosphere is always top-notch. And there is always such a beautiful touch of humanity and heart, of broken people trying to make sense of the most intense situations.