This is a beautfully written and haunting story that revolves around Applecote Manor in the Cotswolds, brimming with gothic overtones. It has two timelines, set in the 1950s and the present. It begins with an attention grabbing scenario where a body is being dragged, and you are left wondering and eager to know who it is, what has taken place, and what are the circumstances and motivations behind it. In 1959, four close sisters, Flora, Pam, Margot and Dot Wilde arrive at Applecote Manor for a turbulent summer. Affectionately known as the Wildings, they are staying with their Aunt Sybil and Uncle Perry, who are devastated about the disappearance of their daughter, Audrey, five years previously. In the present, Jessie and Will move into Applecote Manor hoping that it proves to be a balm to the spirits for their emotionally troubled family. This is a story of nostalgia, yearnings, family, secrets and lies.

The Wildings mother is off working in Morocco, and the girls get caught up in the mystery of the missing Audrey for their stay. We see things through the perspective of fifteen year old Margot, the sister that fades into the background. Two attractive neighbours stoke up feelings and desires between the sisters leading to friction. Everything falls apart and decisions are made that cement a bond between the sisters that is stronger than familial ties. In the present, an insecure Jess worries over her fraught relationship with her stepdaughter, Bella, who is hostile and still deeply connected with her dead mother. Applecote Manor seems to offer an ideal and idyllic location to ease their family problems. Bella hears the rumours associated with the Manor and cannot resist looking into the secrets of the house.

Eve Chase writes vivid and vibrant prose that reflects the slow pace of life in a rural setting and the long summer days. She evokes the 1950s period well with the sisters coming of age and the excitement of exploring the mystery of Audrey. She connects the impact of past events on the present with the new family with flair. It is a well plotted and character driven book which I found compelling reading. The most gripping part for me was the 1950s aspect of the novel. I recommend this to those who enjoy a slow paced haunting period mystery set around a house with secrets. A great read. Thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for an ARC.

The book begins with a shocking event involving the four Wilde sisters and the mystery of just what happened keeps you guessing to the end. There are similarities here with two books by Katharine Swartz: The Vicar’s Wife Iand The Second Bride (both very enjoyable). As with those books, the story alternates between the present and previous owners of a house. Applecote Manor in the Cotswolds is large, isolated and cold but when Jessie sees it she knows it’s the place she, husband Will, baby Romy and Bella, the stepdaughter from hell (see The Second Bride again) can make a fresh start away from London.

In the summer of 1959 the four Wilde sisters are despatched by their infuriating, adorable mother, to stay at Applecote with Aunt Sybil and Uncle Perry. They don’t look forward to it because their cousin Audrey won’t be there; she disappeared without trace five years before. Margot narrates the events of that long, hot summer, remembering times spent at Applecote with Audrey, meeting local boys, which is disturbing, and coping with her aunt’s increasingly strange behaviour. Alternating with that story is Jessie’s attempt to make a home at Applecote. As soon as Bella explores the house she announces that something bad has happened there. She’s right, of course. People seem unwilling to come to the house to work. There are strange looks from the locals. It’s as though the past won’t leave Applecote alone.

In the end the two stories combine. We have to rely on Matgot’s narrative to find out what happened to the Wilde sisters in 1959 but it’s in the present that Audrey’s fate is finally made clear. I found this very atmospheric and a good read. Ideal for people who like books about old houses and old mysteries.

The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde, also titled The Wildling Sisters will be published in July by Penguin/Michael Joseph and I read it courtesy of the publishers and NetGalley.

After a bit of a slow start I became hooked by Margot and her sisters, Jessie and her family and the whole story of the disappearance. I am still thinking about what happened. It's a bit different from my usual books, but couldn't put it down., once I got going.

An interesting story that shows how one act,belief idea can impact on family life. Set in two different times with two different families the author has wound them together well.

This book keeps you hanging on until the end. Two families who at different times come to the same conclusion. Well written and not difficult to follow as some books are when jumping from different timelines and different families. I would definitely recommend it if you like family drama and mystery

Despite the switches in period, tense, and narrator which can easily disrupt the narrative flow if not handled well, I really enjoyed this beautifully written book and found it hard to put it down. The 'voices' of the narrators sound genuine, the atmosphere evocative, to the extent that the plot seems almost irrelevant - but of course it isn't! I loved it.

I have read Black Rabbit Hall, which I did enjoy, although it had faults. This is similar in that it has a mystery disappearance from the past, solved in the present, It mainly tells the story of the hot summer of 1959 and the life-changing events that some young people experienced when they stayed with their aunt and uncle. The present day family also have their problems to solve. The four sisters were rather indistinguishable in my mind, although I did read the beginning rather quickly and may have skipped over some of the details. I think 2 or 3 sisters would have been enough! The present day family's characters were all well -developed. All of the minor characters all had a part to play and were not forgotten at the end. I love this type of story - We Were Liars by E.Lockhart is one of my favourites. This has fewer twists than BRH but has a tighter plot and characterisation. The ending has all the loose ends tied up nicely, past and present coming together in a satisfactory conclusion.

I struggled with this book. I was really excited by the blurb and couldn't wait to read it.

The prologue was amazing, it set up exactly the story i thought it was going to be. Full of intrigue, mystery and excitement. However, the story slowed down considerably after this and I really struggled to get through the first five chapters. It did start to pick up around half way through but I'm not sure the struggle to get there was worth it.

I'm usually a fan of split timeline stories but I'm not sure it worked for this book. I found the 50s storyline much more captivating and had more of an interest in those characters.

I found Jessie to be annoying and I couldn't connect with her or the modern storyline at all. Nothing of real interest happened in the modern storyline until the very end of the book when things from the 50s were finally being revealed.

All in all, after reading through both the timelines I found the ending to be a bit lacklustre. From the prologue and blurb, everything sounded considerably more exciting but the story seemed to build and build to suddenly plateau with a resolution that wasn't all that surprising or interesting. I almost feel let down.

I am very grateful to have been given the chance to read the book early but unfortunately it was not for me.

I loved this book. It kept me enthralled throughout as the story moved skilfully between the four sisters at Applecote in 1959 to the new family moving in half a century later. Little did Jessie and Will realise how the events facing the Wilde sisters so long ago would have such an impact on their lives. And just when you think it is all sorted, there is another twist to the tale. The author gives us brilliant characterisation, including a modern day moody teenager and four 1950's adolescents trying to find their place in the world, plus a plot that keeps you guessing right to the end. What more can you want? Well, I would love to read more of Eve Chase's work!

This was a good tale set in two time periods (1959 and now) in the one house. I felt the 1959 story was far stronger and was indeed the point of the narrative - what happened to the young girl Audrey Wilde who disappeared 4 years prior to the start of the story. The narrative is held together by the strong women who have lived in Applecote Manor (as reflected on by Jessie, the contemporary owner of the house) and the males in the tale play, for the most part, only a peripheral role: Will, Jessie's husband, works away in London for most of the time; Uncle Perry appears to have given up since the loss of his daughter; Jack, the philandering lover of Ma, is barely present.
Four sisters go to stay with their aunt and uncle in the long hot summer of 1959 while their mother goes to work in Cairo for a period. In the current setting Jessie buys Applecote Manor to try to knit together her new family, including her previously widowed husband and her stepdaughter Bella. I found Jessie a rather naive and irritating character and was not particularly interested in her or her family. I would have enjoyed the story just as much if the current setting had not had the amount of focus it did. If the author had to have two side by side narratives I would much rather have had an insight into what the delightful Ma got up to in Cairo, perhaps by viewing her letters to her daughters which amazingly turned up in the current period but at which we got no look.

Eve Chase wrote Black Rabbit Hall which built a very idyllic yet gothic mansion deep in the English countryside. Here we have Applecote with secrets within its walls and what went on there all those years ago made me shiver.

I do love a good dual time line novel and this just sang to me. The opening chapter was one of the best and suspenseful I’d read in a while. The time line stories really fitted with the themes and setting but I did prefer the story in the past. The house was at the centre of a deliciously hidden and evocative time - the secret which broke that all apart, and made the house what it is today.

I felt part of the scene - sitting in the hot summer grass, the grand house behind me.There’s some lovely writing in this book “We move away but we live for ever where we were most alive”. A novel to read with a glass of something cold and the promise of a sunny escape with clouds of intrigue and darkness on the horizon

There is lots of scene setting , some intriguing characters, a weaving tale and the result is a captivating read.

I will post on the booktrail on july 13th and on GR

An intriguing prologue set in 1959. What had the sisters done?

Then the same location 50 years later. Jessie and her family arrive at Appleton Manor.
Jessie is telling the story. She is married to Will, who is a widower.
Bella is the teenage daughter of Will and his dead wife, Mandy.
Jessie and Will have a baby daughter, Romy.

Then back to 1959 for the back-story of Bunny Wilde and her four daughters.

The dual time-frame continues as the mystery of the missing cousin, Audrey is unravelled.

I particularly liked the parts which were set in the 1950s.

On the strength of this book I will certainly look out for future novels by Eve Chase.

My thanks to Netgalley and Penguin (Michael Joseph) for a copy in return for this review.

A book that grabbed my attention from the very first chapter. Told from the perspective of two women, Margot and Jessie, the story unfolds about the mysterious Applecote Manor. Margot's story is set in the late 50s, Jessie's modern day. The two stories are equally engaging and make you want to find out where the connection comes between the two women. I like the way family relationships are described and the dynamic between all the members of each family are explored. I found myself wanting Jessie and Margot to meet somehow and for the stories to be interlinked. I was not disappointed. I would definitely recommend this book.

Followers of Kate Mosse will lovel this novel. Set in 1959 and present day it is evocative and atmospheric. I could almost feel the heat from the long hot summer of 1959 and the squelchy winter of the present day. A great holiday read. Review placed on Amazon

A wonderful novel. I was gripped from beginning to end by this beautifully written novel, which tells the story of two families, who for the most part of the story live fifty years apart, but whose stories are linked by a house - Applecote Manor, in the Cotswolds.

The reader follows the events that took place in the summer of 1959, when four girls - Margot, Flora, Pam and Dot - somewhat deserted by their bohemian mother, are staying with their aunt Sybil and uncle Perry in their home, Applecote Manor. It is a house full of grief, owing to something that happened a while before, and the events relating to the house seep into the lives of the four girls and have a profound effect upon their future. Fifty years later, Will and Jessie, Will's second wife, and their children, teenage Bella and three-year-old Romy, move into a very run-down Applecote Manor, and feel the weight of its past.

Both strands of the story - the story of the four girls and Will and Jessie's story - are gripping, and I found myself reading far later into the night than I'd intended as I didn't want to put the novel down.

Eve Chase has an acute eye for detail and a wonderful way of conveying that detail to the reader. It's a case of less is more - the reader is never hammered over the head with slabs of description; rather, with exactly the right word or phrase, the scene is brought vividly to life for the reader.

I highly recommend this novel, and I'm grateful to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy in return for an honest review.

Flora, Pam, Margot, Dot. Four sisters sent for a summer at Applecote with their aunt and uncle. slowly piecing together the story of the disappearance of their "vanished" cousin, Audrey - and forever after linked together by the secrets and shared history they hold.
Applecote passes on to Jessie, and her new family. The strain of the relationship with Bella, her step daughter, is chipped away as Audrey's story reappears to a new generation.
This is an compelling story, set in enchanting scenery, with lovingly crafted characters. An exciting mystery which you can never quite grab hold of before another element appears. Highly recommended.

Reading this book was like eating a very large, indulgent cream cake. Each bite was utterly delicious and when you got to the end you wanted another. I loved everything about this book, the two stories that ran in tandem (thankfully without the usual heading of who was the narrator at each juncture) the wonderful Wilde girls and Jessie's fractured family. The prologue really wasn't necessary, like the title, I felt these were a bit unworthy and did not entice me into reading the book but once I started, that was it, I could hardly put it down. A maginficent read, I would have loved a follow up but at least one of the main characters had an important place in both timelines. I highly recommend it.

What a fantastic book! The first couple of chapters were a bit slow but then I was gripped. The story is told in 2 eras. 1959 and present day. The transition from one to the other was seamless. Sometimes you have to backpedal to keep up with characters but not this book. I couldn't guess what the ending would be. Would give this 10 stars if I could. Must now read Black rabbit hall!

This was an enjoyable read, perfect for my holiday shelf - easy to read and the story unfolded nicely. I didn't feel too much suspense, and could feel the conclusion from earlier on in the book , otherwise would be a 4 star.

Thanks to Net Galley & Penguin UK for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
A story moving between the past and the present, the story of an old country house and a missing girl, Audrey.
In the present Will, Jessie their daughter Romy and Will,s daughter Bella have left London and moved to their new but very old house, Applecote Manor
In the past four sisters, Pam,Flora,Margot and Dot are staying at Applecote Manor with their Aunt Sybil and Uncle Perry. Their aunt are sad following the mysterious disappearance of their only daughter Audrey some years ago. The sisters bring some life back to the old house, they are curious to find out more about their cousin Audrey and what happened to her.
In the present Belle is also curious regarding the mystery of Audrey and the secrets Applecote Manor holds
A lovely story which as it unfoldedbrought the four sisters even closer together and as the story is unfolded to the new owners of Applecote Manor it brings them closer to one another and helps them see a new future