Then She Was Gone

By Lisa Jewell

A mother meets a girl eerily resembling her missing daughter, reigniting a decade-old mystery.

4.0/5 Goodreads · 1,076,100 ratings

384 pages· 81,707 words

$16.00Save 5%

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Bookroo's summary

Ten years after her daughter Ellie vanished, Laurel Mack's life is still in pieces. A chance encounter with a charming man named Floyd and his daughter Poppy, who looks strikingly like Ellie, reopens old wounds. As Laurel delves deeper, she questions if Ellie truly ran away or if something more sinister occurred. Who is Floyd, and why does Poppy remind her so much of Ellie? As past and present collide, Laurel must confront the haunting mystery of her daughter's disappearance and the unsettling connections that emerge.

From the publisher

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 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. Ellie Mack was the perfect daughter. She was fifteen, the youngest of three. Beloved by her parents, friends, and teachers, and half of a teenaged golden couple. Ellie was days away from an idyllic post-exams summer vacation, with her whole life ahead of her. And then she was gone. Now, her mother Laurel Mack is trying to put her life back together. It’s been ten years since her daughter disappeared, seven years since her marriage ended, and only months since the last clue in Ellie’s case was unearthed. So when she meets an unexpectedly charming man in a café, no one is more surprised than Laurel at how quickly their flirtation develops into something deeper. Before she knows it, she’s meeting Floyd’s daughters–and his youngest, Poppy, takes Laurel’s breath away. Because looking at Poppy is like looking at Ellie. And now, the unanswered questions she’s tried so hard to put to rest begin to haunt Laurel anew. Where did Ellie go? Did she really run away from home, as the police have long suspected, or was there a more sinister reason for her disappearance? Who is Floyd, really? And why does his daughter remind Laurel so viscerally of her own missing girl?

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