Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

[TossDaily]

Not my usual sort of thing, but am reading through some popular fiction for work (I have a bookshop).

What a nasty little book this is. I'm left feeling a bit shocked by it. I can read anything, The Road, The Underground Railroad, etc - but such a dark story marketed as light fiction has left me a bit discombobulated.

Anyone else read it?

I've read it. I enjoyed it. I don't think it was marketed as light fiction, was it? (Except that it is written by a woman and generally women's fiction is dismissed as being frothy and without substance of worth.)

I’ve read it and found it very disturbing - very different from anything else she’s done. Bits of it stuck in my head for weeks afterwards. I’d disagree that it’s marketed as ‘light’, though - the cover design suggests a Gone Girl/girl on the train-type thriller.

Sorry, I didn't mean it was marketed as a frothy read - just that the content was far grimmer than I would have expected.

I really didn't expect the girl to be forced to go through what she did and then be left as she was - and the cages of dead gerbils

I've read plenty of hard-hitting stuff by women - it's not that at all. But it was very far removed from her usual style, and it took me by surprise - not in a good way.

I was expecting 'Gone Girl'. This reminded me of The Bunker Diary - another horribly grim read.

I've recently finished this book, I really like LJ as an author but this was darker than I expected although I had guessed the ending quite soon into the book. I couldn't put it down though which is a good thing.

Gone Girl was a pile of wank imo. A nasty, badly written hyped up load of shite. As was the dull as ditchwaterfilm.
Then she was gone Is a classic in comparison. I really enjoyed it. The synopsis was clear that this wasn't her usual style

I read this in the summer and found it dark and extremely compelling - in fact it stayed with me so much I skim read it a second time! It is s departure from some of her previous stuff, but I think a progression, and some of her other recent books have also been quite dark. I think she is a great writer, often dismissed as chick-lit - her descriptions are spot on, and although the plot in this one was far fetched I thought she portrayed the villain really well!

she portrayed the villain really well!

I've just read it, it's our new bookgroup read. Who is the villain?

Er, I thought it was obvious ...,maybe not then! I meant the slightly psychopathic female character though perhaps there is more than one villain! Don't want to put any spoilers (though as mentioned elsewhere the plot is not exactly unguessable).

Yes, I hated Gone Girl.

Ohhh, I’m reading this now. Nearly finished it.
It is compelling but also disturbing.
I will see if there are any shocks in the last few chapters but I think I guessed what happened halfway through. At the moment I’m struggling to accept the coincidence of Lauren coming across Poppy through a chance meeting with her father in a cafe.
Lisa Jewell has definitely moved from chick lit towards psychological thrillers. I enjoyed I Found You even though it was dark in parts. I can’t really say I’m enjoying Then She Was Gone but I have to finish it.

Just to clarify, when I say I’m reading this at the moment, I mean Then She Was Gone, not Gone Girl! Haven’t read Gone Girl.

@Dontrocktheboat thanks, I thought you probably meant the female I'll-get-me-baby-from-somewhere. She wasn't painted in any kind of pleasant light, was she. A bit of a pantomime villain in my view. The male make-my-self-up to appeal to Poppy's grandmother wasn't exactly blameless either, was he?

It seemed to me to be written to be picked up as a film or tv series. Mostly plot driven characters none of whom I cared much for, more telling than showing the inner workings of each character and nothing for me to work out for myself.

Was very interested to read the note at the end thanking the editor for the radical suggestion ... would •love• to know what difference it made. Sigh

Might read it! I find her usual books TOO light.

Before I met you and the house I grew up in were just too light for me and I decided never again, but I loved Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins.

Finished it. It was a bit weird for me.
Ok, so not a coincidence that Lauren met Poppy.
I found the characters didn’t really draw me in. Poppy became relatively normal after starting out so annoying I wanted to slap her, without any explanation for this transformation.
Felt sorry for Hanna who was painted as a moody cow, before it became clear that Laurel had made it clear all her life that she was second best.
I’d like to know what the editor’s radical suggestion was too!

I like Lisa Jewell normally, and enjoyed ‘I found you’, but didn’t really enjoy this one. Hated ‘the girls’ though.

Finallyhere Papergirl1968
blog.whsmith.co.uk/rjsp18-lisa-jewell-ending-envisaged-gone-warning-contains-spoilers/

I thought their advice was good and, although an uncomfortable read, I did find it hard to put down.

@Rockybulldozer thank you very kindly, so good to get a niggling question answered

Thanks Rocky that’s really interesting.
The editors’ suggestion was better but still not sure it was the right ending.

I read this recently and thought it was ridiculously far fetched - I just couldn't suspend disbelief as she piled one improbable thing on top of another. I read it for my book club though and I was a lone voice - everyone else liked it.

I enjoyed it. Very dark though, I had the audio version and the narration was well done.
Hated gone girl, didn’t finish it.

I've just read this. I loved it, couldn't put it down. To be fair I'd read The Goldfinch & Gordon Brown's autobiography last and so a quick page turner was what I needed.

ridiculous and misogynist, particularly the portrayal of the villain.