First Impressions of The Temple House Vanishing by Rachel Donohue:
This novel is set against the backdrop of a dark academia mystery of the past while a journalist in current times is intent on unravelling the secrets of the past.
I like the choice to use dual perspectives with chapters from current-day Louisa who disappeared years ago and chapters from ‘The Journalist’ who is trying to piece together what happened 25 years ago. It gives more opportunity for different mysteries to be revealed in tandem. It’s interesting to have Louisa’s voice in the present, rather than seeing the events of the past as they happen we see them through the lens of Louisa’s memory.
The descriptions of Temple House provide a fitting atmosphere. The boarding school run by nuns seems an almost mythical place of horror and suppression. From the very beginning you get the sense that Temple House is haunted in some way or that something terrible could happen at such a place; as Luisa states, “It began with death, my time in Temple House.”
From the very beginning, readers will find themselves asking questions and trying to muddle through Louisa’s memories in this twisty tale of longing and mystery.
This novel is set against the backdrop of a dark academia mystery of the past while a journalist in current times is intent on unravelling the secrets of the past.
I like the choice to use dual perspectives with chapters from current-day Louisa who disappeared years ago and chapters from ‘The Journalist’ who is trying to piece together what happened 25 years ago. It gives more opportunity for different mysteries to be revealed in tandem. It’s interesting to have Louisa’s voice in the present, rather than seeing the events of the past as they happen we see them through the lens of Louisa’s memory.
The descriptions of Temple House provide a fitting atmosphere. The boarding school run by nuns seems an almost mythical place of horror and suppression. From the very beginning you get the sense that Temple House is haunted in some way or that something terrible could happen at such a place; as Luisa states, “It began with death, my time in Temple House.”
From the very beginning, readers will find themselves asking questions and trying to muddle through Louisa’s memories in this twisty tale of longing and mystery.