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

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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. Fifty years later, Jesse is desperate to move her family out of their London home, where signs of her widower husband’s previous wife are around every corner. Gorgeous Applecote Manor, nestled in the English countryside, seems the perfect solution. But Jesse finds herself increasingly isolated in their new sprawling home, at odds with her fifteen-year-old stepdaughter, and haunted by the strange rumours that surround the manor. Fifty years later, Jesse is desperate to move her family out of their London home, where signs of her widower husband's previous wife are around every corner. Beautiful Applecote Manor, nestled in the English countryside, seems the perfect solution. But Jesse finds herself increasingly isolated in their new sprawling home, at odds with her sixteen-year-old stepdaughter, and haunted by the strange rumors that surround the estate.

In a way, the Finches’ remote Cornish summer home feels like another character in the novel. If the Victorian villa were real, do you think you would choose to live there? Why or why not? Or the way in which the bond between Margot and her sisters – so strong in the beginning, almost telepathic – starts to unravel. Margot even starts to envy Audrey her status as an only child, seeing her as ‘ a sweet-sharp cordial undiluted by siblings’. Similarly, Jessie’s hope that the move to Applecote will help the family come together seem precarious, as if the house is determined that the secrets of the past must emerge.In the present day, Jessie and her troubled family move to Applecote Manor thinking it'll be the perfect escape. But the house has an unsettling history. They find their aunt and uncle still reeling from the disappearance of their only daughter, five years before. No one seems any closer to finding out the truth. If the truth had been revealed about the Finch family sooner, do you think The Birdcagewould have ended the way it did? Why or why not?

The house they buy had been the home of Sybil, Percy and their daughter, Audrey, until Audrey's disappearance in 1954. Sybil refuses to accept the possibility that Audrey might be dead and has kept her bedroom as it was when she last slept there. It was during the hot summer of 1959 that the four Wilde sisters arrived at Applecote to stay with their aunt and uncle. Five years previously, their cousin Audrey had disappeared from this same house without a trace.

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Fifty years later, with the memory of her widower husband’s wife constantly surrounding her, Jesse is ready to escape the city. Not only that, her stepdaughter was involved in an ugly incident, which figured into her desire to move. Applecote Manor felt like the perfect place in the perfect setting at the perfect time.

In the earlier time period, I found the relationships among the four Wilde sisters, affectionately dubbed the Wildlings by their Uncle Perry, interesting, especially seeing how the dynamic between them shifts over the course of the book. They’re certainly plunged in to a difficult situation. That this is likely to be the last summer which the sisters spend together before their futures start diverging, only adds to its poignancy. Infused with tension and suspicion as lies are uncovered, I was gripped by the dark mystery that surrounds Audrey's disappearance and desperate to know who might be responsible. This is one novel I won't be able to stop thinking about for a very long time. I really loved it The second timeline features Jesse, a young mother and stepmother, who has fallen in love with Applecote Manor and is trying to make it into a home for her family. Though I was afraid that I would not love the present timeline as much as the sisters’, I was soon won over by this young family, who were (almost) as compelling and interesting as the Wilde sisters. Of course the house is a bit reluctant to give up its secrets, revealing them slowly and gradually, until we finally find out what happened to Audrey all those years ago. I was captivated by each story, because both narratives had the ring of truth as they spoke in their different ways of evolving family relationships, of the ways that the past can haunt the present, and the complications the come with growing up. I'm really in awe of Chase's power of description. It is magical and she sharpens every sense -- Veronica Henry * Daily Express *

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A deliciously intriguing novel whose rich sense of time and place bear more than a few echoes of du Maurier's best Which Alton sibling is your favourite? Why? Which sibling do you most identify with? Are they the same character? It was one of those books that made me think that the author and I have read and loved many of the same books. Chase recreates life in the 1950s quite perfectly, and also does a good job of capturing adolescent longing. There are wonderful lush descriptions of the English countryside and Applecote seems an idyllic setting; yet Audrey's disappearance shrouds the house in mystery, a sense of haunting. There is also that undeniable sense of escalating tension, the reader already prepared for a darker turn of events, just waiting for them to unfold. I did however really enjoy the Wilding Sisters past stories. I loved how they came together as sisters. I found their past storylines to be much more engaging. The search for their missing cousin was intriguing. I would of preferred the story to have been centred around them solely as the Characters alone would of been enough.

After this we move to the present time, albeit find ourselves at the same house, Applecote Manor, where Jess is determined to create a new idyllic life with her family, hoping to put behind past troubles, especially with her difficult teenage step-daughter Bella. I have to say I found the modern day story rather slow, mainly concerned as it was with strained family dynamics, Jess in particular grating on the nerves as she became increasingly insecure about her husband Will's dead first wife Mandy. Too much time was spent for my liking merely following Jess' thoughts, nothing much actually happening; nor did the story really connect very much to the past story. Chase's main strength here for me was mainly in the sense of foreboding she managed to create, and the setting of Applecote itself, a house with a past, the impressions of its past residents still resonating strongly, that atmosphere of mystery, cloaked secrets that refuse to offer themselves up. As children, Amber and Toby are almost inseparable, but after their mother’s death they both change dramatically—Amber reflects that she “no longer feel[s] like a girl inside” (p. 93), and Toby becomes increasingly angry and wild. Why do you think the twins grow apart, instead of together? Do you think they would have stayed close if Momma had lived? Why or why not? The characters were all very well imagined and developed throughout the book, seeming very realistic and true to life. I especially liked Margot who reminded me of me from my childhood slightly geeky (OK I was very geeky!), misunderstood and sufferin I was initially unable to see how these two disparate narrative veins would converge, but enjoyed them both equally and immensely. Each was given a separate voice and a distinct feel entirely of its own, that both suited the time periods and the inhabitants of the story. But once the threads that bound each story began to unveil themselves to the reader, I was enthralled. When fifteen-year-old Margot and her three sisters arrive at Applecote Manor in June 1959, they expect a quiet English country summer. Instead, they find their aunt and uncle still reeling from the disappearance of their daughter, Audrey, five years before. As the sisters become divided by new tensions when two handsome neighbours drop by, Margot finds herself drawn into the life Audrey left behind. When the summer takes a deadly turn, the girls must unite behind an unthinkable choice or find themselves torn apart forever.Present day-The new owner Jessie loves their new home for its historic appeal. Her husband Will thinks its a money pit and needs too many repairs. Jessie's teen-age stepdaughter, Bella says "bad stuff has gone down in this house, I feel it". I truly wanted to love this one more! An atmospheric, character driven, gothic novel set in an aging house in England's countryside. The story weaves past with present as it follows the mystery of Applecote Manor. It is beautifully written in a lyrical way. This is an interesting and compelling read as the author weaves the story between the two time periods. The first is very much of its class and of its time - where, if a man speaks to a woman more than a couple of times, an engagement is expected! And yet here, three sisters find themselves in competition for the attentions of two men. It was never going to end well.

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