The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde: The spellbinding mystery from the Richard & Judy bestselling author of The Glass House

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Growing up with three brothers, she particularly loved creating the four Wilde sisters in this novel, a spirited sisterhood that felt like her own. Bella gives her stepmother, Jessie, a rough time by continually making hurtful comments to Jessie about how she isn't her mother. I especially liked Margot who reminded me of me from my childhood slightly geeky (OK I was very geeky! The Glass House/ The Daughters of Foxcote Manorportrays the subtle nuances of the relationships between mothers and daughters.

Book Review: The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde by Eve Chase Book Review: The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde by Eve Chase

There’s nothing I like more than dual timeline Historical fiction that orbits around a crumbling country manor harbouring dark secrets. Not only does she have to deal with this but she must deal with her rebellious stepdaughter, who creates all kinds of issues.That being said, the beauty of the writing, and the Easter egg hunt that starts from the very first page, was amazing. I was never really aware that I was reading descriptive passages, that I was reading the narrator’s thoughts, and yet I drew so much about the times, about the places, about the lives being lived, from the two narratives. For how can she tell Will that she’s never felt comfortable in his dead wife’s smart house, a domestic life that was never hers?

The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde: Chase, Eve: 9780718180096 The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde: Chase, Eve: 9780718180096

I enjoyed it so much that I've already decided to pick up this author's other book, Black Rabbit Hall! The Vanishing Of Audrey Wilde is utter bliss: lyrical, enchanting and bewitching with flavours of the Mitford sisters and I Capture The Castle which add to the charm. She evokes the 1950s period well with the sisters coming of age and the excitement of exploring the mystery of Audrey.I had a very difficult time engaging in the story until about the halfway mark when things started to pick up. The description of those seemingly endless summer days of childhood, discovering new friends and creating mysteries everywhere was brilliant. I can easily forgive some things that felt improbable, some things that fell into place too easily, because there were so many more things in this book that I loved.

David Higham Associates Eve Chase - David Higham Associates

Eve Chase’s second novel The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde is a dual timeline story about mothers and daughters, sisters, secrets and grief, which switches between 1959 and some fifty years later when new owners move in to the house at the centre of a tragic local mystery.The plot was beautifully and thoughtfully constructed; and there were times when I saw exactly where the story was going and there were times when my expectations were very cleverly subverted.

The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde by Eve Chase | Goodreads

In fact, Jessie’s sense that she can never live up to Mandy in the memories of her step-daughter and husband, form a barrier and blind her to what is really going on. There is no one, of course, nothing at all, just a magnesium lick across the pool that dazzles momentarily, leaving behind her own wavering reflection, and something that makes Jessie lean forward, heart racing, and part the slurry of leaves with her fingers to check that the submerged smudge is not a body bobbing at the bottom of the pool, just a trick of light. Applecote Manor in 1959 was home for Perry, Sylvia, and Audrey as well as the summer vacation place for the Wildling sisters Margot, Flora, Pam, and Dot until the summer Audrey disappeared. Yes, there are a few Gothic elements, but I didn’t feel they were as strong or pure as many others have.Her face soft, opening, Jessie tracks the paned glass as it climbs to its geometrical peak, a feat of Victorian engineering that promises tangy Mediterranean fruit in the English climate among the woolly pippins.