Lisa Jewell’s mystery novel Then She Was Gone follows Laurel Mack in her search for answers regarding her daughter Ellie’s disappearance. Through a series of flashbacks and differing points of view, Jewell gradually unfolds the details of the past and looks inside the mind of the psychopath who kidnapped Ellie, all while chronicling the steps Laurel must take to heal from the sorrow that has consumed her.

This novel was originally published in 2017, but this guide refers to the Atria paperback reprint edition from 2018.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide contain instances and discussions of miscarriage, suicide, and sexual violence.

Plot Summary

When Laurel Mack’s daughter, Ellie, disappeared 10 years ago, Laurel’s life fell apart. Her marriage to her husband, Paul, ended; she doesn’t have a close relationship with either of her two remaining children, Jake and Hanna; and she struggles to find purpose in her life. When the police find Ellie’s partial remains, and Laurel says goodbye at the funeral, she thinks she will find closure, but instead, she finds a mystery.

Laurel meets Floyd Dunn, and for the first time since Ellie’s disappearance, feels a sense of happiness and hope. However, when she meets Floyd’s nine-year-old daughter Poppy, Laurel is struck by the similarities between Poppy and Ellie. Throughout her relationship with Floyd, Laurel begins to heal the wounds of the past. She seeks forgiveness from her ex-husband, Paul, shares happy moments with her elderly mother, and finds herself taking an interest in daily routines such as cooking and getting dressed up. She even begins to heal her relationship with her daughter Hanna, realizing that she has always seen her as a “consolation prize” to Ellie (301), rather than as a brilliant daughter in her own right.

Along her journey of healing, Laurel also discovers strange coincidences. For example, Noelle Donnelly, Poppy’s mother, disappeared when Poppy was four. Laurel soon realizes that Noelle was Ellie’s tutor in the months before she vanished and wonders at the connection between their disappearances. Furthermore, Floyd’s other daughter from a previous marriage, SJ, tells Laurel she saw Noelle naked at eight months pregnant, and she didn’t have a baby bump. Laurel follows the clues to Noelle’s house, where she sees Noelle’s creepy basement “guest room” full of hamster cages and secured with three locks on the basement door. While investigating Noelle and her connection to Ellie, Laurel also begins to notice peculiarities about Floyd and Poppy. Poppy’s self-assuredness, while impressive at first, strikes Laurel as strange and wrong, as if Floyd coached her on what to say and do. She also catches Floyd lying about Noelle, and she alternates between suspicion of Floyd and love for him as she tries to solve the mystery.

Meanwhile, in flashbacks, Noelle chronicles her obsession with Floyd and the ups and downs of their relationship. Convinced that having a baby will help her keep Floyd’s affection, Noelle feels desperate after repeated miscarriages. Then she meets Ellie, her bright and beautiful new tutee. She becomes obsessed with Ellie, thinking that being around Ellie will make her happier and will solve all the problems in her relationship with Floyd. Noelle lures Ellie into her house, drugs her, and keeps her captive in the basement. Noelle then impregnates Ellie using sperm from a donor, and Ellie gives birth to a little girl, Poppy. However, Noelle’s plan does not help her win Floyd back the way she had hoped. Floyd is enamored with Poppy, but he still breaks up with Noelle. Ellie develops a post-partum infection, and Noelle, unwilling to take care of her, leaves her to die in the basement.

When Poppy is a toddler, Floyd recognizes that Noelle is an unfit mother, and he plans to take Poppy away from her. Unable to cope with the idea of losing her last link to Floyd, Noelle blurts out the truth—that Poppy is not their child; she’s the daughter of a girl named Ellie. Filled with horror and rage, Floyd attacks her and accidentally kills her.

Flashing forward to the present, on Christmas day, Laurel goes to Floyd’s house, and he leaves while she watches his taped confession. He admits to killing Noelle and explains that he truly loved Laurel and wants to do what’s best for her and Poppy. He entrusts Poppy to Laurel, her biological grandmother, and shortly after leaving, Floyd kills himself. Despite the trauma of learning the details of Ellie’s disappearance, Laurel finds new meaning for her life. She renews a close relationship with her family, particularly Hanna, and now gets to be a mother to Ellie’s daughter, Poppy. Uncovering the details of the past have led Laurel toward healing and have given purpose to her life.