2.5 stars.


Bags of atmosphere,interesting characters and set up... ultimately I felt a bit frustrated by the book,as by the end I felt no closer to knowing what happened to the girls.
It was too slow in parts too.

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.