I enjoyed this book, it is the first time I have read this author's work.
It is set in two time periods, the 1950s and present day, and features two unrelated families, who have a link through Applecote Manor where the book is mainly set.
In the 1950s, four sisters (Flora, Dot,Margot and Jessie),go to Applecote Manor to stay with their aunt and uncle, their cousin Audrey (subject of the book title), has been missing for some time. In the present day we meet a family moving from London to the Manor, they are Will and Jessie, their daughter Romy, and Will's daughter Bella by his deceased wife.
The story moves back and forth between the two time periods, gradually revealing what has happened to Audrey. Along side the mystery of Audrey's disappearance, the book explores the often fraught relationships between siblings, step parents and children, and families in general. It also touches on the tensions, insecurities and rivalries of the teenage years. Both time periods are eventually brought together to tie up loose ends.
Overall a very interesting , well written and absorbing book, I like novels which switch back and forth between different periods so this was an ideal read for me.
Thanks to Netgalley, Penguin/Michael Joseph for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A joyous book! It captures a very English form of life in high summer in the 50's, contrasting it with a modern family now living in the same home. The story of the missing girl comes out slowly, with alternating chapters from each timeline, themes and echoes seem to be linking across time and then...
Psychologically believable, true to life and with sufficient twists and turns to keep up the tension and challenge our expectations. A great read, I thoroughly recommend this book.

What a wonderful read. I felt so close to these sisters despite never having one of my own. This is the most beautifully written novel which has everything going for it. Suspense, history, class, tension, nostalgia and just a bloody good read.

Hard To get Started.. But worth sticking it out .************************************************************************************************

This is an extremely enjoyable read. The interweaving of the two stories is well done with beautiful descriptive language.

This is a gripping read and I enjoyed it. The descriptions of Applecote Manor are very good and I particularly enjoyed the parts of the novel set in the past, the modern elements less so. The characters are well drawn, though there are a lot to keep track of and I would have liked the book more with a focus on fewer.
I've given 4 stars rather than 5 as although I was really gripped until the end I found the ending a bit of a let down and wasn't the satisfying conclusion I'd hoped for.
But overall I'm glad to have found this author so thank you Netgalley.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I was gripped from the beginning and to the end. I would recommend this book to everyone

The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde is the first novel I've read by Eve Chase and I was drawn to it by the comparison to novels by Kate Morton who is one of my favourite authors. I totally get that comparison as well, the writing style is equally as beautiful as Kate's and the storyline very similar in that it juxtaposes between present day and the past, as the mystery unravels.

One half of the novel sets us in the summer of 1959 as four sisters; Margot, Flora, Pam and Dot go to stay with their aunt and uncle at Applecote Manor when their mother takes a job in Morocco. But it's not going to be the glorious summers that they remember from childhood, Aunt Sybil and Uncle Perry and even the house itself changed irrevocably when their daughter Audrey went missing when she was only 12 years old.

Back in the present day, Jessie and Will are moving into Applecote Manor for a fresh start. Jessie is rejected by her stepdaughter Bella who craves the return of her own deceased mother. But after moving there they begin to realise there's something not quite right and the mystery begins to unfold.

The novel is gripping but in a wonderfully slow paced way. The setting is beautiful and the reader is pulled into the world of Applecote Manor and it's inhabitants. The romanticism of the missing girl and her cousins journey of coming of age for the four girls tied together by the events that take place in the heatwave of '59.

In the present day we see the turmoil of a turbulent relationship between Jessie and her stepdaughter Bella who can't get on no matter how hard Jessie tries. While Bella is haunted by the ghost of Audrey's disappearance when she unearths clues in the ruins of the garden, Jessie finds herself haunted by the ghost of Bella's dead mother Mandy. And Bella only seems to want to antagonise her further.

This was a really enjoyable novel overall and I'll definitely be reading more from author Eve Chase in the future!

Eve Chase creates an atmosphere that draws you right into the Wildings and the family dynamics, both past and present. At times it feel as though we are lying in a lazy summer breeze. But beneath that there is a gripping plot that challenges us to reflect on our own relationships. Her characters jump from the page.

This book was slow to get into but after a few chapters , i started to get to know the characters.

Poetic, thoughtful, insightful - the author has a beautiful way with words. She weaves the two loosely (at first) connected stories together with consummate skill and care, until she has woven a finely crafted tale of sisters and mothers, wives and daughters, and the complex, volatile, emotional relationships between them.

The summer of 1959 is evocatively described, the carefree lives of the sisters on the surface hiding the dark depths of their burgeoning womanhood and the secrets they are forced to keep. This era compliments and contrasts the present day and those who inhabit it.

A captivating story, told with a rich voice.

This book reminded me of The Oaks Trilogy on TV - different time periods within a house and the stories of how life was then. Set in 1959 and modern day, the story follows the lives of those residing at Applecote Manor, a house which holds onto the secrets it has witnessed relating to the disappearance of a young girl named Audrey. I could really visualise the two times - imagine that residual feeling in the house that something had happened there. A really intriguing book with a gripping storyline and good twists and turns. Good characterisation. Really enjoyable.

This is a dual time story from the 1950s and present day - in the 50s the four Wilde sisters are at Applecote Manor the family home belonging to their aunt and uncle - where they haven't been to stay for five years since the disappearance of their cousin Audrey. This part of the story is told by Margot the sister that was closest to Audrey and also looks most like her. Audrey's mother however gets a bit obsessed with Margot and wants her to wear the clothes that should have been Audrey's but to everyone else Audrey's name is not mentioned and her bedroom is kept as a shrine. The mystery of what happened to her is continued through the book as no body was found and no-one knows if she is alive or dead. As the summer progresses and they meet two boys the rivalries between the sisters start to come out but can they get back the closeness they once had and pull together when they need to?

In the present time Jesse wants to move out of London with her husband and stepdaughter - she is currently living in what was the marital home of her husband and former wife who died and she feels that everything there is perfect and her stepdaughter Bella is constantly throwing in her face how wonderful her mother was and that her father doesn't love Jesse like he did her mother. When she sees Applecote Manor she falls in love although it is dilapidated and needs load of work doing to it - is she doing the right thing by buying it though especially when her husband has to go back to London so much to work and she is left alone with Bella and the ghosts of the past........and who is the woman with the dogs that she keeps getting glimpses of?

A great atmospheric story which works well between the two timelines and although I did get a bit bogged down in one part it is worth persevering with

I enjoyed reading this book and liked the twists and turns within the story.

Thanks Netgalley. I read Eve Chase's first book and really enjoyed it but this one was not so good (in my opinion)

A thoroughly enjoyable dual time phase read with a mystery that spans decades and centres on a beautiful old country house that hides a tragic history..
The story opens to a short scene in which a bloodied body is being dragged by fours sisters through the grass and then leaves the reader questioning what has happened as we are catapulted through time fifty years forward to the present day where Jessie and Will are viewing a beautiful old country house, Applecote Manor, in need of renovation. The viewing, undertaken with their daughters, Romy and the teenage Bella - daughter to Will and his first wife, tragically killed in a traffic accident several years earlier - goes well despite a reluctance on Bella's part, and the family move in.
Moving back through time we build up a picture of the Wilde sisters, who come to stay at Applecote in the summer of 1959 when their bohemian mother takes a job abroad for the summer. The manor belongs to their uncle and aunt who tragically lost their daughter Audrey, who went missing from the family home several years before.
The house has turned into a sort of mausoleum by their aunt and uncle, both lost in memories of their lost daughter but for the four sisters Applecote presents a scorching hot summer and a coming of age. One of the sisters, Margot however is wrapped up in what became of cousin Audrey and begins to delve and question events which leads to a terrible discovery and embroils all four sisters in a frighteningly horrible situation which binds them together.
Present day Bella begins to uncover what has been hidden all these years and her somewhat patchy relationship with Jessie begins to heal as the house begins to uncover its secrets. I love dual time frame stories and this one didn't disappoint.

Sorry, but I just didn't get on with this book at all. I really disliked the writing style, full of pompous try-hard phrasing ('narrows her eyes to glossy pupil-filled cracks', a world 'reduced to something more intense and salty, like a sort of gravy', 'we're dealing them torturous knowledge') and it constantly got between me and the story being told. The start is intriguing but then the switch to present-day Jessie is packed full of clichés from the mutinous step-teen to the let's-leave-London-for-a-lovely-house-in-the-country trope: in fact, the whole present-day story felt redundant.

I'm sure readers more firmly in the 'women's issues' category will get on better but this wasn't for me - apologies!

Set in two timelines, this is an expertly crafted, beautifully written murder mystery. Brimming with well chosen prose and an intrigingly complex group of characters, this book is hauntingly atmospheric and instantly drew me in. Absolutely loved it!

I loved this book, and would recommend it to anyone who likes a good mystery. The two time frames, although not too far apart, add to the story and provide plenty of cliff-hangers as we move between both periods. The writing here seemed so strong and assured, and I am now very keen to read Black Rabbit Hall by the same author. Brilliant!