\n Dark and unsettling, this novel\u2019s end arrives abruptly even as readers are still moving at a breakneck speed.\n <\/p>\n
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Ten years after her teenage daughter went missing, a mother begins a new relationship only to discover she can’t truly move on until she answers lingering questions about the past.<\/p>\n
Laurel Mack\u2019s life stopped in many ways the day her 15-year-old daughter, Ellie, left the house to study at the library and never returned. She drifted away from her other two children, Hanna and Jake, and eventually she and her husband, Paul, divorced. Ten years later, Ellie\u2019s remains and her backpack are found, though the police are unable to determine the reasons for her disappearance and death. After Ellie\u2019s funeral, Laurel begins a relationship with Floyd, a man she meets in a cafe. She’s disarmed by Floyd\u2019s charm, but when she meets his young daughter, Poppy, Laurel is startled by her resemblance to Ellie. As the novel progresses, Laurel becomes increasingly determined to learn what happened to Ellie, especially after discovering an odd connection between Poppy\u2019s mother and her daughter even as her relationship with Floyd is becoming more serious. Jewell\u2019s (I Found You<\/i>, 2017, etc.) latest thriller moves at a brisk pace even as she plays with narrative structure: The book is split into three sections, including a first one which alternates chapters between the time of Ellie\u2019s disappearance and the present and a second section that begins as Laurel and Floyd meet. Both of these sections primarily focus on Laurel. In the third section, Jewell alternates narrators and moments in time: The narrator switches to alternating first-person points of view (told by Poppy\u2019s mother and Floyd) interspersed with third-person narration of Ellie\u2019s experiences and Laurel\u2019s discoveries in the present. All of these devices serve to build palpable tension, but the structure also contributes to how deeply disturbing the story becomes. At times, the characters and the emotional core of the events are almost obscured by such quick maneuvering through the weighty plot.<\/p>\n
Dark and unsettling, this novel\u2019s end arrives abruptly even as readers are still moving at a breakneck speed.<\/p><\/div>\n
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Pub Date:<\/b> April 24, 2018<\/p>\n
ISBN:<\/b> 978-1-5011-5464-5<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Page Count:<\/b> 368<\/p>\n
Publisher:<\/b> Atria<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Review Posted Online:<\/b> Feb. 5, 2018<\/p>\n
Kirkus Reviews Issue:<\/b> Feb. 15, 2018<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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