The Van Apfel Girls are Gone

loved this.

Beautifully atmospheric, a snapshot in time that is utterly gripping, The Van Apfel Girls are Gone is a tense and character driven psychological thriller in the classic sense of the word.

Our narrator Tikka guides us, first through a child’s eyes then through the filter of adulthood, through the friendships and drama of her youth leading up to the disappearance of three sisters. A small community searches and mourns but not all questions can be answered.

This is a multi layered tale where understanding grows, emotional trauma lies just underneath and the beauty of the writing immerses you into Tikka’s world so you feel everything right along with her.

This is all about familial relationships and the things that hide beneath the surface. All the characters are stunningly vivid, Tikka, her sister, the three Van Apfel girls and the adults that define their choices, every one intriguingly authentic. A melancholy story yes but compelling for the entirety of its telling.

Australian fiction has it at the moment. I’m loving the novels coming from there and this one is another example of why.

Highly Recommended.

1992, and a searing Australian summer. In a small river valley town outside of Sydney, the three Van Apfel sisters – Hannah, Cordelia and Ruth – disappear during the yearly outdoor “Showstopper” concert organised by their school. All the community is marked by this disturbing occurrence, and none more so than eleven-year old Tikka – the narrator of this novel – and her older sister Laura, close friends of the Van Apfel girls. Twenty years later, back home from America where she now works, Tikka recalls the fateful events of that hot summer, and rekindles old doubts which have never really gone away.

The premise of this novel is not terribly original. The “disappearing person” has now gone beyond being a “trope” and could well be considered a thriller sub-genre. Some readers have compared this novel to Reservoir 13, others to Picnic at Hanging Rock, not least because of its Australian context. Given the particular details of the narrative – three sisters from a religiously conservative family who (possibly?) meet a tragic end, the coming-of-age element, a narrator revisiting memories of a terrible occurrence – one would be forgiven for suspecting that the author was inspired also by The Virgin Suicides.

So, did we really need this new novel? In my view, yes. First of all, it is very well crafted and intelligently paced. I’ve read some very good books over the past months, but this is the one I would most comfortably describe as a “page-turner”. This is no mean feat, considering that we are made aware from very early on that we’ll never fully know the solution to the mystery.

Besides, despite its parallels to other novels, The Van Apfel Girls are Gone has got its own idiosyncrasies. In this respect, it’s interesting to compare it to The Virgin Suicides. The latter novel is narrated by one of a group of young men besotted with the “virgins” of the title, and as a result, it has an underlying aura of decadent (and slightly disturbing) eroticism expressed in text of a febrile, poetic intensity. On the contrary, McLean’s novel is both darker and also more down-to-earth. Its narrator is endearing – it is clear that it is the older Tikka who is speaking, channeling memories of her younger self. Despite the traumatic events described and the collective guilt which seems to have affected all the community, there is also a palpable sense of nostalgia particularly in the scenes between Tikka and her parents, a stark contrast with the Van Apfels. These ‘homely moments’ and a playful sense of humour surface against the odds, but the novel is also edgy, consistently evoking feelings of menace and dread. Some plot details seem to have crept in from a Gothic novel – a Bible-thumping violent father, the continuous oppressive heat, an unexplained stench coming from the river. There are also little flourishes which are not central to the story, but which serve to raise adrenaline levels – in one particular scene Tikka injures her foot and soon after, a search dog dies on the spot after being bitten by a snake. In another, a group of girls are spooked out after a Ouija board session. Dangers – human, natural and, potentially supernatural – seem to lurk everywhere.

What I liked best about this novel however is that it gave me a sense of total immersion. I have never been to Australia, and yet during the time I spent reading the book, I felt a part of this community, sharing its fears, guilt and hope and, like busybody Mrs McCausley, playing the amateur detective. I will miss the Van Apfel Girls now that they’re gone.

Tikka returns to Australia, from her new life in Baltimore, as her sister, Laura, has cancer. Returning home triggers all sorts of memories and, for Tikka, it throws her back twenty years, to when she was eleven and Laura was fourteen. Their neighbours were the Van Apfel girls – Hannah, who was Laura’s confidante, thirteen year old Cordelia, who Tikka looked up to, and six year old Ruth.

The summer was unbearably hot and the televisions were full of the story of Lindy Chamberlain, released, after being charged with the murder of her baby – the infamous ‘dingo’ story, which many of us remember from the time. Tikka and Laura spend most of the summer with the Van Apfel girls but, one night, after a talent show, the girls vanish…

To be honest, there is much about this novel which you feel you have read before. There is Mr Van Apfel, wielding religion as a means of control, the edgy, out of control feel of him, whenever he appears on the page. Then there is the teacher, whose appearances seem a little inappropriate and, at the centre of the story, Cordelia, who seems to create strong feelings in those around her.

Although this is not the most original novel, it is very well written. It had a good sense of place and time and Tikka is an excellent narrator; her childhood self allowing the reader to half glimpse things that she may not quite have understood. A thoughtful exploration of a childhood mystery which would make for an excellent reading group choice, as there is lots to discuss. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

An incredibly beautiful story. I enjoyed the writing and setting and also found the book rather funny at times. A brilliantly atmospheric story full of emotion. Great read xx

Sometimes, you don't need all the answers at the end of a book. Sometimes, the journey is thrilling enough. This is certainly the case for The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone. A brilliant coming-of-age tale set in Australia, touching upon important issues without giving everything away. I for one enjoyed this book; the writing was exquisite, and it felt very much like sitting down and listening to someone tell a story. Because in life, sometimes we don't have all the answers.

A slow-paced, beautifully written book in the vein of The Virgin Suicides. While it won't be to everyone's taste - I know some reviewers have been frustrated by the many loose ends left at the end - I loved it. Perfect summer reading.

Very much enjoyed this book, found it similar in tone to The Virgin Suicides. I was unclear as to why Tikka was in America at the start of the book as this seems to have little bearing on the plot and I was a little bit unsatisfied with the unresolved fate of Hannah and Cordie but I suspect that was the point. Real life if often without answers.

"That valley had smelled bad long before any of the Van Apfel girls ever went missing there...the stench would waft up the gully and smack us in the face on a hot, dry day..."

This book fizzes with nostalgia, heat and tension: the new Aussie gothic novel.

I have recently had to drag myself through a few books and this was a breath of fresh (hot) air! As an expat Aussie who grew up in a suburb rather like the one described here, on the outskirts of Sydney, I just felt this book captured my childhood. I KNOW those neighbours - everyone from the intriguing Van Apfel girls to the Tupperware-selling, nosy Mrs McCausley. The characters are so well-drawn here and the attention to their turns of phrase, with sentences ending in "but", absolutely reflects the time and place in Australia.

Tikka, a somewhat unreliable narrator, has a romantic view of these beautifully mysterious young Van Apfel girls whose father is a fervent follower of their local church's teachings. A brutal and dangerous man, he stands in contrast with Tikka's own gentle father. Then there's the enigmatic Mr Avery, a teacher who is new to the school and behaves suspiciously in relation to the young women.

A missing persons case is not a new premise, but this book is so well-written and really keeps things on the boil, so it just feels different. To those people who are looking for a neat conclusion, the books sets out very early that: "The Chamberlain case was resolved, while what happened to Hannah, Cordie and Ruth is still a mystery" so we know from the beginning that as the reader, we'll have to work to find out what we think the best or most realistic solution might be and that Tikka isn't going to wrap this all up for us. For me, that was one of the strengths of the book.

A top-notch read that I would highly recommend.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Oneworld publications, Point Blank books and Felicity McLean for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sometimes it's the subtle thrillers that hit you the hardest, and that indeed was the case with The Van Apfel Girls are Gone. At its heart, this is a complex, multi-layered psychological family drama set in the humid heat of Sydney, Australia circa 1992 and it simply oozes tension and an ominous atmosphere runs for the whole duration. It follows three sisters as they come-of-age and their disappearance and the surrounding circumstances, as well as suspicions, are voiced by narrator and friend of the three sisters, Tikka. I won't spoil it for those who may read it by revealing the plot in deeper detail, but it is exquisitely written and packed with a gently simmering suspense.

One of the most incredible aspects of the plot, the Aussie setting, was wonderfully rich and vivid and despite never having visited the country I felt it came across as highly authentic. The characters come alive on the page and every detail has been thought about and projected to readers perfectly. It's a sad and poignant story but one that is compulsively readable all the same. It certainly isn't the most original premise — the family ties that bind us all and the dark secrets lying just below the surface — however, it is done well. Recommended to those who enjoy slow burn suspense. Many thanks to Point Blank for an ARC.

Tikka and Laura Molloy spend the summer of 1992 with the Van Apfel siblings; Hannah, Cordelia and Ruth. The five girls are inseparable, spending the heatwave that is sweeping Australia lazing in the shade of trees, swimming in the pool at the Van Apfel house and devouring ice lollies in a bid to keep cool. By the end of the summer Hannah, Cordelia and Ruth will be missing.

Our protagonist is Tikka. We meet her as a grown up, living in Baltimore in a ‘rundown row house’ which ‘leaned on its neighbours like crutches’. Working in the lab at a hospital she is a long way from the long lazy days of an Australia summer. She is in a taxi moving through the streets of Baltimore in a storm when she sees Cordelia Van Apfel walking down the street. Tearing from the cab she gives chase to find that, like all of the other times she has convinced herself that the blonde woman up ahead is Cordie, it is a complete stranger. Cordelia hasn’t been seen since 1992, what happened to her? And so begins the tale of the summer of 1992 and the events that led up to the disappearance of the three Van Apfel girls.

The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone is a mesmerising read which transported me from rainy North East England to the searing heat of an Australian summer. The weather is instrumental in the book with the incessant beam of the sun permeating every moment. It is omnipresent and builds like a pressure cooker replicating the building tension surrounding Hannah, Cordie and Ruth. This combined with the descriptions of a chorus of cockatoos and kookaburras singing from the trees creates a wonderful backdrop. The constant heat and noise reads like the tick of a clock, there in the background measuring the time until the lid of the pressure cooker comes off.

These three girls are being brought up in a religious household, headed up by their imposing father. He is a ‘big man with big hands. Thick shoulders and neck’ whose stature combined with his God-fearing attitude create a toxic and uncomfortable atmosphere in the house. He holds Bible studies for his daughters; intimidating, upsetting sessions where they are questioned and interrogated and ultimately punished if they don’t respond in the way he believes is correct. Bible passages are quoted by all three of the girls and the message of sinning is prevalent, with Ruth, the youngest seeing sins in all things, even white lies and cheating in a game, causing her to dole out her own punishments.

We view the events of 1992 through the eyes of Tikka, who at 11 is still a child. She constantly questions and misunderstands and so the perspective we see is through the prism of a child’s eyes. A child who doesn’t quite understand what she is seeing. We are always just on the periphery of what is really happening. Her older sister Laura is best friends with eldest Van Apfel sister Hannah and she is jealous of their relationship and doesn’t understand why they would have conversations that wouldn’t concern her. Being present at one of Mr Van Apfel’s Bible study sessions is terrifying but she can’t articulate why. There is something rotten at the core of the Van Apfel house but Tikka, in her naivety and innocence doesn’t realise it. Being kept on the edge of what is happening is at once infuriating (in a good way) and compelling. I found myself trying to fill in the blanks and getting increasingly frightened about what was happening in the Van Apfel house.

This is one of those books where you sit down to read a page and before you know it you’ve read the whole thing. The writing is pin-sharp with a literary feel. There are gorgeous descriptive passages and a sense of otherness to the prose which kept me turning the pages. Dark without being explicit, things are alluded to and hinted at which made it all the more terrifying. Tikka’s innocence and naivety reigns in the darkness, balancing it with enough light to guide us to our own conclusions. It is great stuff and is highly recommended.

Loved this book - a real tense mystery but also very comedic as told from the point of view of a young girl. A great family drama, set against the searing heat of an Australian summer.