I read this book in a day as I just couldn't put it down. It is a dark, but beautifully-written book, and the gradual unfolding of what has actually happened to Louisa is very cleverly written. The scenes set in the school were completely believable, and the characters were all well-drawn. I would thoroughly recommend this rather unusual book.

I got this book confused with another book I was hoping to read and requested it in error, I gave it to my wife to read and she really enjoyed it, good enough recommendation for me

A tale of adolescent passion and jealousy at a catholic girls boarding school, Temple House.
Attended by girls from privileged families and occassionally a scholorship girl from a state school is accepted. One such girl is Louisa.
Louisa forms a friendship of sorts with Victoria, who in her mind has created a relationship with the school art teacher Mr Lovelle.
In the cloistered atmosphere of Temple House passions spiral out of control, leading to one girl`s, Louisa, disappearance and of the handsome art teacher.
Did they run away together or did something more sinister occur.
The mystery has remained unsolved for many years but now a young journalist is determined to discover exactly what happened.
An atmospheric tale filled with suspense, mystery and characters who came to life.
I was drawn in from the start.
An excellent read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Atlantic books for the opportunity to read this as an ARC.

"The Temple House Vanishing" is beautifully sculpted and haunting. Rachel Donohue's prose carries a hint of Daphne du Maurier. The book explores a variety of themes including the confines of Roman Catholicism, the nature of love and obsession. It's a lovely piece of work.

This was unsettling to say the least! A religious school in the 1990s and the nuns are scary! It's hard to pinpoint where the story actually takes place. You would think it was Ireland with the names and the fact there were many catholic boarding schools in Ireland does hint at this. However, wherever the school is , it's one you'd want to avoid in real life! I do think a little more explanation as to where this school was, would have really made this stronger for me even if the town had been fictional. There's something about having a name of a place that helps to ground it for me.

Boarding schools are scary at the best of times in novels. This one is full of creepy nuns, scary girls and a teacher who has seemingly run off with a pupil. What really happened? The story is revealed surely and with a deft hand of touch. Told in the 1990s and the present day, this works well with the school memories and the investigation into the past.

In the present day a journalist who lived near the missing girl narrates the story. Then there's Louisa and Victoria.. Two girls I wouldn't like to meet! The students are all a bit wild but that school is soon going to tame them!

This is a story about hidden passions, hormones and the decisions that result. Jealousy is a school companion throughout and this tale gets dark and gritty pretty quickly..

Religion, schools and religious schools= lots of chills and spills
Very Donna Tartt I thought. A bit of Tana French thrown in. .
.

This is a dark, moody exploration of first love, loyalties and betrayal set very realistically in the claustrophobic atmosphere of an exclusive girls boarding school. A journalist is investigating an unsolved disappearance from many years ago, and uncovers the story which is narrated from different viewpoints.

The book is written beautifully, and takes the reader on a compelling journey to uncover the truths of what happened between a group of people 25 years ago, showing through the various viewpoints that life is only ever a construct of what you can understand and are willing to see and admit to yourself.

The characters are well-drawn, and the nasty atmosphere that lies under the boarding school veneer is portrayed with chilling accuracy, as you follow the fortunes of the new scholarship girl Louisa and her experiences of being 'other' in a very traditional setting.

Less clear is the position of the journalist in the story, and why her obsession is leading her to solve the mystery at the heart of the story that has remained covered up for so much time. The story leads you through to a bitter conclusion, and adds meaning in a way only looking back in time can.

Thanks for the opportunity to read an advance copy, it's a book that makes you think about your own youth and vulnerability at a time of great change.

In 1990 a 16 year old pupil of the respected, snobbish private Temple House School vanished with one of the teachers, neither to be seen again. The story traced back through the eyes of a young journalist 15 years later, who was once babysat by the vanished girl Louisa, and has been curious about the case since. The second narrator speaks from 1990 and is one of the main antagonists, but at first, you’re unsure which one.

Louisa, one of the first ‘Scholarship girls’, anxious to fit in at the prestigious school makes friends with the dreamy and unconventional Victoria, who she is determined to impress. The Head Girl of the school resents the encroachment of these scholarship girls who she sees as beneath her. Victoria idolises the charismatic and vain art teacher Edward Lavelle and thinks this feeling is mutual. Within their triangle teenage angst, love, death, irony and unrequited passion are key themes along with the extremes we go to, to protect others and the prices we ultimately pay.

We find out what happened and it’s just so pitiful and uncomfortable, it stays with you. Other characters around the central triangle conspire to keep the mystery intact. It’s in no-one's interest to tell the truth. I loved the creepy, gothic school and the desolation of its abandonment. I felt jarred by the strength and passion of teenage infatuation and outraged by those whose vanity causes them to take advantage of it; with no regard as to the impact. A really good literary mystery – (Why on earth did it remind me of Malory Towers?!) I look forward to reading more from this author.

This book tells the story of a teenager and her art teacher who disappeared, presumed to have run away together. The story is told in two strands, at the time leading up to the disappearance, and present day through the narrative of a journalist investigating the disappearance at the 25th anniversary approaches. The scenes in the boarding school are like an evil Mallory Towers. None of the characters are likeable, and I didn't bond with any of them. Although the ending explains what happened , I found it unsatisfactory.

There were some beautifully atmospheric scenes in this book,where you could almost feel the longing for the teacher,and the actual angst of being a teenage girl,housed with other teenage girls...
I liked both Louisa as narrator and the journalist... But the whole book just missed the mark for me.
Never fully lived up to some parts of it.
The story slowly unfolded and it was a tangled web. I'm just glad it wasn't left unresolved.

I absolutely loved this book! Really not an enormous plot! But beautifully written and the characters were so colourfully described that I could envision them as if they were real! Wonderful read!

Compelling mystery.

Teenaged schoolgirl, Louisa, disappears with her charismatic teacher, Mr Lovelle, from Temple House, the catholic girls’ boarding school. They are never seen again. Twenty-five years on, a journalist attempts to unlock the mystery.

Donohoe writes with an understated style that captures the intensity of adolescent passion and jealousy, the darkness of the bullying, Hitleresque ‘Vestal Virgin’ prefects, and the desperation of the outsider wanting to belong in a world of privilege. Her characterisation fully engages the reader: Louisa, the scholarship girl; Victoria, privileged and not entirely in touch with reality; Mr Lovelle, the art teacher with movie-star glamour; Helen, the bitchy, scheming head girl.

With two narratives in the first person, the early pages are a little confusing.

Keeps the reader guessing to the end. You will not want to put this book down.

My thanks to NetGalley and Atlantic Books for the advance reader copy.

A little bit Shirley Jackson, a little bit <i>Virgin Suicides</i>, a little bit <i>Lovely Bones</i>, a little bit <i>Rebecca</i> … I’m not sure; there was a lot that felt familiar about this one, but definitely not derivative. I really enjoyed it.
Some of the blurb for this one feels a bit misdirecting, but maybe that is better for the reader; it leaves room for twists and other reveals to be effective.
We meet Louisa as she starts at Temple House, a moody Catholic boarding school. She’s like many teenage girl protagonists; insecure, lost, a little emo. But she’s better wrought than most. Through her we meet Victoria and Mr Lavelle. The characterization of Mr Lavelle is perfectly done, from the start he is enigmatic in an uncomfortable fashion and a perfect trope for what comes later. Victoria … I’m a little more torn about. I guess I wanted to see more of what was to come, but as Louisa is our narrator we share her blind spots even if we sense the danger earlier on.
The Journalist’s frame narrative really worked for me – breaking Louisa’s reverie with a divergent but sympathetic adult voice puzzling along with the reader.
The prose is atmospheric and a touch bracing – truly in keeping with the narrators’ characters. The setting is painted incredibly well except in one aspect. I wish it geographically located more specifically. Excluding a few word choices so much of this could be US, UK, Ireland… A little more specificity there would have helped ground it for me.
This same story in the hands of a lesser writer would have been very cheap thrills and teen melodrama, but instead – the narration at the end, the enigmas of Victoria and Mr Lavelle – they work great here. The whole thing just comes together beautifully.
And, happy surprise – the Epilogue is absolutely awesome.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the arc to review.

This is a beautiful book. It has a compelling storyline with elements of mystery within it
This book is filled with detailed details which adds to the story
An excellent read

Found it very difficult to get into this book. Couldn't follow the story of chatacters.

Didn't complete.

This is everything I love in a book. Campus novels and thrillers are my favourite genres so to have both wrapped up in one, written by a new female voice, is basically my dream come true! I loved this - it's a mixture of Donna Tartt, Tana French and Kate Atkinson (probably my three favourite writers). Really atmospheric, immediately drawn into the story, plenty of threads and twists to keep you hooked and just gorgeously evocative of life at a girls' boarding school back in the 90s. Really enjoyed it, hope we hear a lot more from Rachel Donohue in the future.

The Temple House Vanishing is a one in a million book that takes you right into the story, you can visualise the setting so well. It’s absolutely magical and I haven’t read a story this fantastic in a long time!

Completed in one sitting so make sure you don’t start reading when you have plans! (I did and I cancelled them since I couldn’t tear away).

The writing style is poetic, romantic and you get a real feel for the characters. Throw in some darkness and this is my kind of read!

Don’t bother wasting your time reading anymore reviews just get it bought and read ASAP!

The Temple House Vanishing is a beautifully atmospheric and involving novel, written in a lyrical literary style with a mysteriously compelling story.

Louisa and her art teacher disappeared one night many years ago. In a case that engaged the nation, neither of them were ever found.

Through the voices of Louisa and a journalist writing a case study 25 years later, we learn about Temple House school, the cliques and the friendships, the social divide and the slow burn of an obsessive relationship.

This is the sort of story I fall into, the past haunting the present in this case almost literally. The truth about what happened back then is revealed in slow, delicious detail where you can almost see what’s coming, a book where at several points you stop and consider, wishing different choices were being made. The author allows you to see her characters with their flaws in full view, their own personality affecting how they interpret words and actions.

Really thought this was terrific. It’s just the kind of literary mystery I look for these days and highly recommend you consider adding it to your 2020 reading lists.

Intelligent, insightful and intriguing.

Remember those old Malory Towers (which gets a name-check) books? This seems to revisit the school while adding in sex, a handsome male teacher, nuns, and some The Secret History-style gothic atmosphere. It definitely has a YA vibe as new girl Louise falls foul of the dress code (indoor shoes, please, for the priceless parquet flooring!) and gets some serious telling off from posh head-girl Helen. But the atmosphere darkens with death, lusty triangles and the mysterious disappearance of teacher and pupil...

This is a fun switch-off read, though the opening would have been more shocking if we hadn't seen it many times before. And it's huge fun going back to a boarding school setting where morality is off the rails. Characterisation isn't deep but it's a likeable page-turner of a tale.