A review by lauraspages
The Vanished by Celia Rees
3.0
At first this book appears to be an intimate exploration of a marriage, from day-to-day mundane routines, to the special moments, to suggestions of an extramarital affair. Keep reading and you'll find you have been just as duped as the characters in the book; everything is not as it seems. Nearly every character has lied or been lied to for almost two decades.
After eighteen years of marriage, Leo finds evidence that his wife Emma is not who she claims to be, Certain biographical details aren't correct and, suspecting she has been having an affair, he starts to dig a little deeper. But Emma can't tell Leo the full truth about her past because she doesn't know the truth herself.
The book quickly becomes an exploration of consent, mental health issues and the unreliability of an unstable singular perspective. It's got some sad moments and some nice observations about married life. However, there were quite a few plot points that felt a little far-fetched and some of the decisions the characters make about their lives are unfeasible.
It was an easy read and the twists in the tale did make for a more interesting story than 'married woman has an affair' but each outlandish development conjured an image of the author rubbing her hands and saying 'Ho ho - they'll never see this coming!'
My favourite character was Leo because he was just as baffled as I was. I'll never read this book again BUT I have to hand it to the author - she did keep me reading. The characters were human, flawed and easy to sympathise with. I cared about what happened to them and that is the reason I gave it 3 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
After eighteen years of marriage, Leo finds evidence that his wife Emma is not who she claims to be, Certain biographical details aren't correct and, suspecting she has been having an affair, he starts to dig a little deeper. But Emma can't tell Leo the full truth about her past because she doesn't know the truth herself.
The book quickly becomes an exploration of consent, mental health issues and the unreliability of an unstable singular perspective. It's got some sad moments and some nice observations about married life. However, there were quite a few plot points that felt a little far-fetched and some of the decisions the characters make about their lives are unfeasible.
It was an easy read and the twists in the tale did make for a more interesting story than 'married woman has an affair' but each outlandish development conjured an image of the author rubbing her hands and saying 'Ho ho - they'll never see this coming!'
My favourite character was Leo because he was just as baffled as I was. I'll never read this book again BUT I have to hand it to the author - she did keep me reading. The characters were human, flawed and easy to sympathise with. I cared about what happened to them and that is the reason I gave it 3 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.