Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Twenty-five years ago, a sixteen-year-old girl and her charismatic teacher disappeared without a trace from an elite Catholic boarding school in Ireland. Power...
Jealousy...
Desire...
It's a school at which the pupils live under the watchful gaze of the nuns who control virtually every move the young girls make. Seeking a reprieve from the stodgy, cloistered atmosphere, two sixteen-year-olds, best friends Victoria and Louisa, quickly become infatuated with their young, bohemian art teacher who encourages their flirtation, but finds himself unable to control the emotions he has stirred up in them. Then suddenly he and Louisa disappear. Now, with the approach of the twenty-fifth anniversary of their vanishing, a young reporter is assigned to go back and research the case, with the goal of finding a resolution.
Told in alternating first-person voices of Louisa and the unnamed reporter, the reality of life at Temple House is revealed as stories of jealousy and revenge and the struggle for power surface thanks to the reporter's dogged pursuit of the truth. And in the end, the truth becomes inevitable.
The Temple House Vanishing is a stunning, intensely atmospheric novel of unrequited longing, dark obsession, and uneasy consequences.
Synopsis
At Temple House, nothing is ever as it seems. Louisa is the new, brilliant scholarship student. Finding most of the other students at the all-girls Catholic boarding school as icy and unfamiliar as the drafty mansion, she forms a fierce bond with the intense and compelling Victoria, an outlier and student provocateur.
Their close bond is soon unsettled by the young, charismatic art teacher, Mr. Lavelle--igniting tension and obsession in the cloistered world of the school. Then one day, Louisa and Mr. Lavelle disappear.
There is no trace of either one. It's the unsolved mystery that captivates the whole country. Year after year, the media revisit it, and the conspiracy theories persist. Now, on the twenty-fifth anniversary, a journalist--a woman who grew up on the same street as Louisa--delves into the past to write a series of articles and uncover the truth. She finds stories of jealousy and revenge, power and class. But will she find Louisa and Mr. Lavelle, too?
Because remember--at Temple House, nothing is ever as it seems.
Told through alternating points of view, Rachel Donohue's debut novel skillfully, gradually, lets the reader into the hearts and minds of both Louisa and the determined reporter. This page-turner is perfect for fans of Elisabeth Thomas's Catherine House or Kate Elizabeth Russell's My Dark Vanessa.
Synopsis
An Irish Bestseller Finalist for the Irish Book Awards' Newcomer of the Yea Perched high atop a seaside cliff in Ireland, a lonely Victorian mansion is home to Temple House School.
At Temple House, nothing is ever as it seems.
Louisa is the new, brilliant scholarship student. Finding most of the other students at the all-girls Catholic boarding school as icy and unfamiliar as the drafty mansion, she forms a fierce bond with the intense and compelling Victoria, an outlier and student provocateur.
Their close bond is soon unsettled by the young, charismatic art teacher, Mr. Lavelle--igniting tension and obsession in the cloistered world of the school. Then one day, Louisa and Mr. Lavelle disappear.
There is no trace of either one. It's the unsolved mystery that captivates the whole country. Year after year, the media revisit it, and the conspiracy theories persist. Now, on the twenty-fifth anniversary, a journalist--a woman who grew up on the same street as Louisa--delves into the past to write a series of articles and uncover the truth. She finds stories of jealousy and revenge, power and class. But will she find Louisa and Mr. Lavelle, too?
Because remember--at Temple House, nothing is ever as it seems.
Told through alternating points of view, Rachel Donohue's debut novel skillfully, gradually, lets the reader into the hearts and minds of both Louisa and the determined reporter. Th is page-turner is perfect for fans of Elisabeth Thomas's Catherine House or Kate Elizabeth Russell's My Dark Vanessa.
Synopsis
An Irish Bestseller and finalist for the Irish Book Awards Newcomer of the Year 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.
Synopsis
"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