The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde: The spellbinding mystery from the Richard & Judy bestselling author of The Glass House

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Rich with heat and angst, in this novelthe thrill of first love clashes with the bonds of sisterhood, taking readers on a breathless journey into the darkest secrets of the human heart. The four sisters move to Applecote Manor to live with their Aunt Sybil and Uncle Peregrine when their mother goes abroad. Aunt Sybil has imprisoned herself in the home since the disappearance of her daughter, Audrey, five years earlier. She went down to the river one day and was never seen again. Eve Chase always wanted to write about families - ones that go wrong but somehow survive - and big old houses, where secrets and untold stories seed in the crumbling stone walls. Growing up with three brothers, she particularly loved creating the four Wilde sisters in this novel, a spirited sisterhood that felt like her own. The writing was the best thing of all. It was vivid, it was evocative, and it was impressionistic. I was never really aware that I was reading descriptive passages, that I was reading the narrator’s thoughts, and yet I drew so much about the times, about the places, about the lives being lived, from the two narratives.

The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde: ‘Sisters. Bonded by blood’ The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde: ‘Sisters. Bonded by blood’

Fifty years later, with the memory of her widower husband’s wife constantly surrounding her, Jesse is ready to escape the city. Not only that, her stepdaughter was involved in an ugly incident, which figured into her desire to move. Applecote Manor felt like the perfect place in the perfect setting at the perfect time. When fifteen-year-old Margot Wilde and her three sisters arrive at Applecote Manor in July 1959, they expect a quiet English country summer. Instead, they find their aunt and uncle still reeling from the disappearance of their daughter, Audrey, five years before.As the arrival of two handsome neighbors divides the sisters’ loyalties, Margot finds herself drawn into the life Audrey left behind and the mystery of her vanishing.But when the summer takes a deadly turn, the girls must unite behind an unthinkable choice or find themselves torn apart forever. Discuss the character of Caroline Alton. She admits to Lorna that she found her stepchildren “unfathomable” (p. 168). Do you think she is a bad stepmother? Are her actions ever justified?Beautifully written with superb characters, this is a deeply satisfying novel which glows with texture and emotion -- Elizabeth Buchan * Sunday Times bestselling author of The New Mrs Clifton * In the earlier time period, I found the relationships among the four Wilde sisters, affectionately dubbed the Wildlings by their Uncle Perry, interesting, especially seeing how the dynamic between them shifts over the course of the book. They’re certainly plunged in to a difficult situation. That this is likely to be the last summer which the sisters spend together before their futures start diverging, only adds to its poignancy. Were you surprised by Harry’s confession to Margot? Why or why not? How do you feel about the way Audrey’s story ends?

David Higham Associates Eve Chase - David Higham Associates

In a way, the Finches’ remote Cornish summer home feels like another character in the novel. If the Victorian villa were real, do you think you would choose to live there? Why or why not? The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde is a haunting, richly evocative dream of a novel, filled with suspense and secrets. I’d definitely recommend a visit to Applecote Manor. Why do you think the author chose to set a timeline in the novel in the 1970s? Did it change the way you read the story? If so, how?Beautifully, poetically written and reminiscent of everything from I Capture The Castle to Hansel And Gretel. Eve Chase is a name to watch * Daily Mail * When fifteen-year-old Margot and her three sisters arrive at Applecote Manor in June 1959, they expect a quiet English country summer. Instead, they find their aunt and uncle still reeling from the disappearance of their daughter, Audrey, five years before. As the sisters become divided by new tensions when two handsome neighbors drop by, Margot finds herself drawn into the life Audrey left behind. When the summer takes a deadly turn, the girls must unite behind an unthinkable choice or find themselves torn apart forever. Were there any scenes or instances that you felt mirrored your relationship with your mother or daughter? A dark and dangerous event occurs at the Finch home during the summer of the total solar eclipse. Do you believe in cosmic energy? Why or why not? Do you think the solar eclipse influenced people’s behavior in The Birdcage? 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.