This was an interesting book with the house central to the story and two stories overlapping across the decades. The story starts with 4 sisters dragging a body across the land in Applecote Manor in 1959, then we fast forward to the new present day owners of the manor, a new blended family with a stepmother trying her best to create a relationship with her teenage stepdaughter who is missing her deceased mother. As the story evolves we find out the sequence of events which led to the opener. The writing style was very descriptive and this is a coming of age story which focuses on the Wilde Girls journey into womanhood, whilst trying to solve the mystery of their missing cousin. I liked the writing style and enjoyed the unfolding of the story and solving of the mystery.

There's something about an old house, nestled amongst nature, that immediately conjures up an air of mystery. Applecote is the house at the centre of this story of love, jealousy, pain, innocence and desire. Told in alternating timelines, Jessie and her stitched together family have bought the house in the present; Margot's aunt own the house in the hot summer of 1959, but there is a shadow cast over everything by the disappearance of her cousin Audrey. Margot and her 3 sisters spend their final summer there and become embroiled in the mystery of Audrey.
This is easy to read and enjoyable. The descriptions of the house and gardens are vivid, and I liked the characters, particularly Margot, Dot, Flora and Pam. I found Margot's narrative to be the most interesting as the mystery of Audrey slowly unravels whilst the tension ramps up to the big reveal. That's not to say I didn't enjoy Jessie's part of the tale, although I did find Bella annoying! Typical teenager... The ending was satisfying and I liked how the two narrative strands came together. I'll watch out for the author's next book.

The Wildlings, affectionately called by their uncle Peregrine, are four sisters who spend the summer with their aunt Sybil and uncle Peregrine five years after the vanishing of their daughter Audrey. The story of the Wilde sisters is set in the 1950s with the descriptions of fashion and imagery of the era creating a vivid setting for the mystery novel. Margot is the one sister who cannot forget her beloved cousin and wants to find the truth. But, in order for her to do so, the sisters become bonded by blood.

The prologue, dated August 1959, ties in neatly with the end which is fifty years later. A family from London comes to live in Peregrine’s and Sybil’s abandoned house with their two daughters. They are a complicated family with a history of the tragedy of their own. Jessie is Will’s second wife, after tragically losing his first wife. Bella is Will’s teenage daughter and Romy is Will’s and Jessica’s toddler.

Bella and Jessica have a sense in the house that there is a tragic history. The house itself reveals hidden secrets until the truth finally appears. But is it the truth?

This book is an exciting page-turner with many interesting characters that have been well developed. I look forward to another book by Eve Chase.

BonnieK

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

This is the first book i have read by Eve Chase and definitely wont be my last. The story is haunting and very addictive. Glad i was on holiday to read in a couple of sittings. I love the way the book transported me to the 1950's, then back to recent years, the stories of families flowing together through lifes twists and turns. A must read, many thanks to Netgalley for letting me read this 📚

A wonderfully written tale, seamlessly integrating two storylines of the eery country house with a dark secret. Read it in nearly one sitting!!

This was an interesting period peace about family dynamics. I like books that flit between past and present until the two collide, and this was one of them. A very enjoyable read.

From the opening chapter, there is an absorbing atmosphere of mystery that the author skilfully maintains throughout the book. Alternating between past and present, there are subtle links, echoes and common themes in both stories. Often, in a dual time narrative such as this, I find myself more drawn to the parts set in the past. However, in this case, I felt equally engaged in both stories.

Despite her unexplained disappearance five years earlier, Audrey is a constant, silent, almost ghostly, presence in the story set in the past.

‘There’s a patter of small footsteps. A swing of plait. A flick of yellow ribbon. Something pulls at the edges, a darkness that no one dare name.’

Similarly, Will’s first wife, Mandy, exerts a similar influence on the story set in the present. There are with echoes of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca in Jessie’s fixation with her predecessor, so much more stylish and accomplished she imagines than she is.

But of course, the second Mrs de Winter never had to deal with a rebellious step-daughter. 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. Every set back, Jessie interprets as a sign of Mandy’s ‘triumph’ from beyond the grave.

There is lovely descriptive writing about the countryside that conjures up an idyllic summer that seems somehow frozen in time: ‘The river drifts lazily ahead, twisting gently, wide as a country lane, willow trees kissing the cloudy green surface.’ However, beneath the idyll there are hints of danger, secrets and mystery.
I enjoyed the way the book explored themes of identity. For instance, how Audrey and Margot looked similar, could be mistaken for each other even and the effect this has on Margot and others around her.

‘I ask myself, what would Audrey do right now if she were me, and I her, and our fates had been swapped, like straw boaters, as they so easily might have been in the jumble of the last days of summer?’

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.

‘She wonders about the other thing lying dormant at Applecote, waiting for the right conditions to come alive.’

In the slow unveiling of the facts behind Audrey’s disappearance, the author certainly sent this reader up a few dead ends. I enjoyed the author’s previous book, Black Rabbit Hall, but thought this was even better.

In 1959, 5 years after the disappearance of their cousin Audrey the Wilde sisters visit their aunt and uncle at Applecote Manor. As they adapt from London to Cotswold life the once close sisters begin to drift apart as secrets and temptations are revealed.

In the present Jessie falls in love with Applecote Manor, despite how dilapidated it has become. But as she gets to make a new life there for her husband, daughter and troubled stepdaughter the secrets of the past threaten her dream of idyllic country living.

The book starts (so not too much of a spoiler) with the sisters panicking as they lug a body across the grounds of Applecote. The story then back tracks to the begining of a long hot summer when all the girls think they only have to worry about been bored. We then move seamlessly between the two timelines as the story of how Audrey disappeared and its aftermath are revealed and Jessie's story as she tries to build a new life away from London and memories of her husband's first late wife.

There's a sort of languid slowness to this book that's just perfect. As you read you feel you should be sat with your face to the sun, a condensation dripping glass in hand as the Wilding girls swim. For me those characters were that alive. The story of what happened to Audrey almost feels secondary but it's always there...a vaguely threatening undercurrent, a summer storm of revealations on the horizon.

So get your mint julep, hope for a sunny day and read this book. It really is quite fantastic.

This was provided to me by Netgalley.

Although a genuine mystery book, I found this rather disturbing. The characterization of the sisters and aunt was well described. However I found them to be people who I could not warm or relate to and there in lies the reason why I cannot claim to have really enjoyed this read. Try it for yourself as it's a good story, and then decide if you would have been friends with these girls!

Sybil has never recovered from her daughter Audrey's disappearance five years ago in 1954 when her sister's four daughters came to stay. They have not visited Applecote Manor for five years but since their wayward mother is leaving for Morocco the girls are staying with their aunt and Uncle once again.
This story is told from Margot's point of view as she was the cousin closest to Audrey. Sybil acts very strangely towards her as she sees the similarity between Margot and her missing daughter.

Fifty years later and Applecot Manor has lay empty for a while and fallen into disrepair. It is bought by Jessie and Will. Jessie is Will's second wife and mother to their toddler Romy. Will has a teenage daughter Bella who can't get on with her step mum or her new sister. Jessie picked a house in the country to give the girls a better upbringing and to get Bella away from the bad company she has fallen in with in London. Jessie has lots of worries, jealous of first wife Mandy, Bella not liking her and she just isn't sure Bella is kind to Romy and doesn't feel she can trust her.
I don't want to give too much of the story away but both timelines grabbed me and both are good.
Sometimes stories with two timelines make me feel a bit sad because while reading the present day part I know that the characters from the old timeline are no longer here but with this being fifty years apart there's a chance that some may still be alive.
A good family mystery.

During the hot summer of 1959, Margot and her three sisters are dumped at Applecote Manor by their feckless mother - and into the care of their aunt and uncle, whose own young daughter disappeared five years previously. It is unsettling for them, not least because their cousin Audrey still 'haunts' the house; her bedroom is as she left it, her parents have obviously never got over the shock, and the villagers regard the family with deep suspicion.

In the present day, Jessie and Will are hoping for a new start in the now ramshackle Applecote Manor, along with their young daughter Romy, and Will's rebellious teenage daughter Bella.

I loved everything about this book. It ticked every box for me: family secrets, an old mystery and a spooky house. I found the 1959 timeline authentic and totally absorbing. By contrast, it was the present day part that felt more dreamlike - but in a good way! This concentrated on the increasing tensions between Jessie and Will, and the never-that-great-to-begin-with relationship between Jessie and her step-daughter, whom she can never quite bring herself to trust. When Bella becomes obsessed with the history of the house, and the teenage girl who disappeared sixty years previously, Jessie feels own her grip on reality begin to unravel. Will the sinister atmosphere of the house destroy them? And will the tragic events of sixty years ago start to repeat themselves?

The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde* is part coming-of-age, part gothic mystery/romance, and part psychological suspense. It's brilliantly written, with memorable characters, and is very cleverly plotted. I loved the relationships between the four sisters, the sibling rivalry over the village boys, and the way they ultimately looked out for each other. For fans of Kate Morton, Daphne du Maurier, and perhaps Shirley Jackson too. One of my favourite reads this year.

My full review can be found here:
https://foxtrevert.wordpress.com/2017/07/20/the-vanishing-of-audrey-wilde-the-wildling-sisters/

Here is a quick preview of some of what I have said:

This book is AMAZING.

The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde serves as a mystery, thriller, romance, and historical novel all in one. There are twists at every corner and just when you think everything has been revealed, a new twist occurs. It keeps you on edge and unable to stop reading. My heart was in my mouth all the way through and Chase perfectly ends the chapters so that you MUST keep reading or you will burst with anticipation. The storyline is fantastic. It is thrilling and engaging, and whilst the idea of a missing child in these times has been used before, Chase writes the story in such away that it stands out from anything you would have ever read.

There are two timelines in this story. In 1959 four sisters visit their aunt and uncle for the summer. They stay at Applecote Manor, while their mother is abroad. Five years previously their cousin Audrey had vanished and has never been seen again. The present day timeline shows Jessie who is married to Will, who have a young daughter Romy and Max's teenage daughter Bella. They buy dilapidated Applecote Manor. Almost immediately there are a few problems for the couple and Max has to stay in London five nights a week, working. Jessie, Bella and Romy are left to stay in the Manor, where unhappiness lingers. What happened to Audrey Wilde and can the Manor hold the key?

When I first started reading this book I thought that it was as if the author had over used a few adjectives and it was a bit forced but as the story progresses the narrative flows a lot better.
The story is told in two periods of time, the present day and 1959. Jessie and her family, husband Will daughter Romy and step-daughter Beth move from a busy life in London to a run-down house in the home counties which has many secrets to tell. We know from the title that Audrey Wilde, a young girl vanished from her home in 1959 but what happened? Shuttling between the past and the present we slowly find out just what went on all those years ago?
After a slow start this book picks up pace to become a great read and one which I would recommend to those who have read Kate Morton or Katherine Webb's novels

There is a sense of mystery and intrigue as you turn the pages to find out what happened to Audrey - a delightful read that flicks between past and present day at Applecote Manor.

This is a beautifully written story and well detailed. The characters and their individual traits have been well described giving them an easily identifiable presence. The plot has been worked very well into the threads and topics that appear in the story. The disappearance of Audrey has a devastating affect on her parents, Sybil and Perry, and deals with how the parents live with the aftermath of this awful scenario. I really enjoyed the way the story came together from two different eras into a final conclusion in the present day. There were a couple of very good plot twists at the end that I didn't expect, and have to say, really enjoyed.

The story spans two different eras, the first is set in 1959, the second is set in present day with the arrival of Jessie and Will. Will has a daughter Bella, her mother, his wife, was tragically killed, leaving the two of them to deal with her death and their lives. Jessie met Will at a party of a friend, they eventually marry and together have a daughter, Romy. So in this modern setting there is the telling of how two separate families have come together to make one. The problems that are encountered along the way, and how Jessie believes she has to be sensitive about Bella's mother, watching what she says during conversation. Bella is a teenager who doesn't feel that she quite fits in. Their only common ground is Will, loving father and loving husband.

So as the story develops, we are told the story of the sisters' stay, during the summer holidays at Applecote Manor, five years after Audrey's disappearance. The sisters are Flora, Pam, Margot and Dot Wilde. Their Aunt Sybil and Uncle Perry are dealing with life, never leaving the house or grounds, just in case Audrey should ever return. Also how Jessie, Will, Bella and Romy move from London to start afresh in Applecote, how they discover the mystery of the past, but more importantly how, as a slightly nervous and edgy family work through problems and find common ground.

I would highly recommend this book to readers of historical fiction, mystery and fiction genres. I also think there are some very good discussion points for Reading Groups and Book Clubs. I would like to express my thanks to Netgalley, Michael Joseph and the author for my eARC of this book. My opinion is my own, it is honest and unbiased.

very Gothic with a gripping plot, really hard to put down

The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde is a lovely story set in the 1950s and present day. It's beautifully written and I read it in just over a day.

In present day, Jessie and her family move to Applecote Manor but it appears that the house has secrets from the past and some unsettling rumours that everyone seems to know except them.


In the heatwave of 1959, Margot and her sisters are sent to live with their Aunt and Uncle for the summer but find they are still affected by the disappearance of their daughter Audrey. Slowly Margot and her siblings are drawn into trying to find out what happened before the summer is over and they have to head back to London.

The characters in this book both past and present all work well together and it was a joy to read. Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin UK Michael Joseph and the author for the chance to review.

It's been a while since I've read one of these dual timeframe, buried secrets in an old country house type of novels. They were getting a bit formulaic and I needed a break, so it was with fairly fresh eyes and an open mind that I read The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde by Eve Chase, and I'm pleased to say I enjoyed it.

The two timeframes are 1959, when Margot Wilde and her three sisters are sent to stay with their aunt and uncle in Applecote Manor, their rambling Cotswolds house, and the present day when Jessie Tucker and her family buy the dilapidated, neglected manor house as a bolt hole from their busy and stressful London lives. Back in 1959 the Wilde family was still reeling from the disappearance of Audrey, Margot's teenage cousin who went missing one summer's day and hasn't been heard of since. Jessie's life is far from idyllic too - she has a constant fear that her husband has never really got over the death of his first wife and her resentful teenage stepdaughter Bella doesn't help matters by turning her new bedroom at Applecote Manor into a shrine to her beautiful and much missed mother.

As Jessie and Bella start to explore their new home and find out about its tragic history from the superstitious and gossipy villagers, several clues emerge as to what might have happened to Audrey and back in the 1959 thread Margot too is getting closer to uncovering the mystery of her cousin's disappearance.

For me both stories were equally enjoyable; the hazy 1950s summer days were beautifully conveyed and the modern dilemmas faced by Jessie and her family gave the story a more relevant and contemporary edge. Highly recommended for fans of Kate Morton, Katherine Webb, Lucinda Riley etc, and I'm pleased that I've got my dual timeframe/buried secrets mojo back!

Let me start by saying that The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde is haunting, charismatic and totally immersive story telling. I was drawn in to the mystery right from the start and it's a story that lingers.

The settings are superb; the story weaves seamlessly between past and present. The heat of a summer in August 1959 feels truly oppressive and adds to the claustrophobic atmosphere. The plotting is intricate as layer after layer of secrets and lies are revealed. It's a difficult book to describe without spoilers, but it reminded me of a Kate Morton book I enjoyed some years ago. The writing is wonderful and there's a real sense of suspense that builds until the final secret is exposed. I really enjoyed book; thanks to Penguin for an early review copy via Netgalley.