"Steamily atmospheric . . . A twisted Gothic tale, emotional in its language and febrile in its atmosphere, and it will appeal to readers who love to hear about obsession, repression . . . and poetic justice.”
—The New York Times Book Review
Louisa is the new scholarship student at Temple House, a drafty, imposing cliffside boarding school full of girls as chilly as the mansion itself. There is one other outsider, an intense and compelling student provocateur named Victoria, and the two girls form a fierce bond. But their friendship is soon unsettled by a young art teacher, Mr. Lavelle, whose charismatic presence ignites tension and obsession in the cloistered world of the school.
Then one day, Louisa and Mr. Lavelle vanish without a trace, never to be found. Now, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the disappearance, one journalist—a woman who grew up on the same street as Louisa—delves into the past, determined to uncover the truth. She finds stories of jealousy and revenge, power and class. But might she find Louisa and Mr. Lavelle, too?
Told in alternating points of view, The Temple House Vanishing is tense, atmospheric, and page-turning . . . with a shocking, ingenious conclusion.
An Irish Bestseller and finalist for the Irish Book Awards Newcomer of the Year
Genre: Literary Fiction
—The New York Times Book Review
Louisa is the new scholarship student at Temple House, a drafty, imposing cliffside boarding school full of girls as chilly as the mansion itself. There is one other outsider, an intense and compelling student provocateur named Victoria, and the two girls form a fierce bond. But their friendship is soon unsettled by a young art teacher, Mr. Lavelle, whose charismatic presence ignites tension and obsession in the cloistered world of the school.
Then one day, Louisa and Mr. Lavelle vanish without a trace, never to be found. Now, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the disappearance, one journalist—a woman who grew up on the same street as Louisa—delves into the past, determined to uncover the truth. She finds stories of jealousy and revenge, power and class. But might she find Louisa and Mr. Lavelle, too?
Told in alternating points of view, The Temple House Vanishing is tense, atmospheric, and page-turning . . . with a shocking, ingenious conclusion.
An Irish Bestseller and finalist for the Irish Book Awards Newcomer of the Year
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"Beautifully written in the same chilling vein as a Daphne du Maurier novel, The Temple House Vanishing promises to be the outstanding debut of 2020." - Christine Dwyer Hickey
"With clean prose, subtle characters and intrigue to keep the pages turning this is a hugely promising debut." - Mike McCormack
"An exquisitely written novel. Absolutely beautiful. So evocative for me of all those school greats - The Secret History, Dead Poets Society, Picnic at Hanging Rock. It was such a slow build of tension but simmering with that sinister under-layer the whole time. This is some debut." - Jo Spain
"Atmospheric, creepy, tense and utterly absorbing - a great literary thriller set in a Catholic girls' boarding school. Loved this." - Harriet Tyce
"With clean prose, subtle characters and intrigue to keep the pages turning this is a hugely promising debut." - Mike McCormack
"An exquisitely written novel. Absolutely beautiful. So evocative for me of all those school greats - The Secret History, Dead Poets Society, Picnic at Hanging Rock. It was such a slow build of tension but simmering with that sinister under-layer the whole time. This is some debut." - Jo Spain
"Atmospheric, creepy, tense and utterly absorbing - a great literary thriller set in a Catholic girls' boarding school. Loved this." - Harriet Tyce
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