Book review: A Kind of Vanishing

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By Lesley Thomson
Published by Myriad Editions

It is the summer of 1968. The Ramsays are spending the holidays in their majestic country house in Sussex and their youngest child, Eleanor, is introduced to Alice, the daughter of the village postman. Their parents believe that the two girls will enjoy playing together, despite the evident clash of personalities. Eleanor is as adventure-seeking and unruly as Alice is quiet and obedient.

Always polite, Alice shocks herself when she starts taunting Eleanor with a secret that she discovered about Mrs Ramsay. That’s why, despite having been told not to go to there, she follows her companion to the Tide Mills. The ruins of a deserted village, they are Eleanor’s favourite playground and - with all their nooks and intricate vegetation - a perfect place to play hide and seek.

When it is Eleanor’s turn to hide, Alice vanishes without trace.

Lesley Thomson’s engaging writing style skilfully explores the obsession and the sense of guilt, hope and despair, trust and mistrust that - from that moment -will fill the lives of all the people who once knew the girl who disappeared. A masterful exploration of human feelings that is paired with an equally masterful description of the settings that form the background to this gripping story.

Full of unexpected twists, this is a crime story that will leave you wondering until the end whether a crime has, in fact, been committed at all.

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