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Then She Was Gone, by Lisa Jewell. Time Frame: 2005 to approximately 2017. Story World: a small town in England. Characters: Laurel Mack. Mother of Ellie, she is the story’s main character who forms an emotional bond with Floyd Dunn after she is divorced from her husband Paul. Paul Mack. Ellie’s father. He plays a small role in the story. Ellie Mack. The young woman who disappears on her way to the library. Noelle Donnelly. Ellie’s tutor, she has a long term affair with Floyd Dunn, but she is missing and presumed dead by the time Laurel meets Floyd. During most of the story, it is believed that she is Poppy’s mother. Floyd Dunn. He is portrayed as Poppy’s father. He and Laurel form a relationship, but Laurel begins to assume he is involved in Ellie’s disappearance. Poppy. A precocious four year old whom the reader is led to believe is Noelle’s daughter. Hannah Mack. Ellie’s sister. Theo Goodman. Ellie’s boyfriend, but late in the story he and Hannah marry. Ellie Mack is a smart young woman about to sit for her college exams(?) and wants a tutor to help her pass the math portion. Enter Noelle Donnelly, a 40ish, somewhat strange, loner. Soon after Noelle is terminated, Ellie disappears on her way to the library. Four years after her daughter’s disappearance, Laurel returns home to find her house burglarized. It is apparent that entry was made using a key; Ellie had a key when she disappeared. Because nothing of real value is taken, it is assumed by the police and Laurel that Ellie is responsible, giving Laurel hope that her daughter is alive. The story picks up when Ellie has been missing for 10 years. Her remains and the backpack she wore are found in a remote woods. There are no suspects and it is believed that Ellie was run over by a car and left along the side of the road where animals have scattered her bones. About this time, Laurel meets Floyd Dunn. We learn later in the story that what appeared to be a chance meeting was actually planned by Floyd. Enter Poppy, Floyd Dunn’s daughter. Laurel and Floyd become emotionally attached. When Laurel meets Poppy her maternal instincts draw her to the child. As the story progresses, Laurel sees more and more of her missing daughter in Poppy. At this point, for me, it becomes apparent that Poppy is Ellie’s daughter and that Floyd is her father. As time goes on, Laurel begins to suspect that Floyd had something to do with her daughter’s disappearance. But then the story takes a twist. It turns out that Noelle was starved for love, and Floyd is fixated on people loving him. The mixture doesn’t work out. In an attempt to hold onto Floyd, Noelle fakes a pregnancy, and she convinces Floyd that Poppy is the result of that pregnancy. When Poppy is four years old, Floyd takes custody of Poppy, thinking she is his daughter and Noelle is not a fit mother. Noelle disappears. The reader is given the answers to all the questions in the story by using the narratives of Noelle and Floyd late in the novel. Noelle, in her narrative, explains the abduction of Ellie, and how she impregnated Ellie by artificial insemination using purchased frozen sperm. Floyd’s narrative shows the reader how he came to have custody of Poppy and explains Noelle’s disappearance. The story ends when Floyd admits, in a videotaped confession he makes for Laurel on Christmas Eve, that he has known for months that Poppy is the result of Ellie’s artificial insemination. He also admits to accidently killing Noelle and burying her in his garden. The story ends with all the characters fulfilling their desires, except for Ellie who died during her captivity and Floyd, who ends his life rather than deal with his guilt and the likelihood of a life in prison for killing Noelle. The story is a real page-turner. The characters are three dimensional, and their actions bring them to life. The story world is well described. Other books by Lisa Jewell: I Found You Before I Met You Watching You After The Party The Third Wife 
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