2021 - Blog Tour - The Temple House Vanishing; Rachel Donohue

TITLE/AUTHOR:  The Temple House Vanishing;  Rachel Donohue

PUBLISHER:  Algonquin Books

YEAR PUBLISHED: 2021

GENRE: Fiction / Thriller

FORMAT:  eGalley / LENGTH: 320 pp 

SOURCE:  NetGalley

SETTING(s):  Ireland

ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY:  An atmospheric story about the disappearance of a sixteen year old student and her handsome young teacher some twenty-five years earlier.

BRIEF REVIEW:  In 1990 Louisa, a scholarship student,  enters an elite Roman Catholic boarding school perched high on a seaside cliff in Ireland. She comes from a troubled family and is uncomfortable and lonely in her in her new environment.  She doesn't dress like the wealthier girls and she doesn't like the strict rules either.   Things get better when she meet Victoria, another girl who dislikes conformity under the watchful eyes of all the nuns.  Then there is Mr. Lavelle (Edward), a handsome young teacher that is just the type of man that many teenaged girls will easily fall for.  He's encouraging and full of compliments and Louisa and Victoria quickly become rather obsessed by him and each girl feels that Mr. Lavelle is attracted to them as well.  As the end of school approaches and Louisa and Mr. Lavelle disappear on the same day, lots of unanswered questions remain.

Twenty-five years later, a journalist, who knew Louisa as a child, becomes intrigued by the unsolved disappearances. She is determined to dig deep and believes that Victoria, Louisa's old friend from school, may be the only one who can fill in some pieces of the puzzle, providing much needed insight into her time at Temple House.  

This is a debut novel that was quite suspenseful and had a Gothic vibe as well. I loved the former mansion turned into into a boarding school, the cold winter setting and the sense of foreboding as I read.  There are lots of themes running through this story: wealth, jealousy, lust, secrets, lies and revenge. Readers who enjoy stories that take place on a campus or in a cloistered environment might want to add this one to their list.  The epilogue, which sometimes can be a hit or miss for me worked well in this story IMO.

RATING:  4/5 stars

Release Date - July 6, 2021 - Algonquin Books

(Author Info) Rachel Donohue is a graduate of  University College Dublin, where she studied philosophy and politics. She lives in Dublin, where she has made a career in communications and media relations. In 2017 she won the Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year Award for her short fiction. The Temple House Vanishing is her first novel.

NOTE: A download of this book was provided to me at no charge in exchange for my unbiased review.

The Personal Librarian; Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray - First Chapter First paragraph Tuesday Intros

Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews. 

Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book we are reading or plan to read. This week's pick is part of a book tour. The book releases today!

The Personal Librarian; Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray

Berkley (The Penguin Group) - June 29, 2021

Chapter 1

November 28. 1905

Princeton, New Jersey

"The Old North bell tolls the hour, and I realize that I'll be late.  I long to break into a sprint, my voluminous skirts lifted, my legs flying along the Princeton University pathways.  But just as I gather the heavy material, I hear Mama's voice: Belle, be a lady at all times.  I sigh; a lady would never run.

I release the fabric and slow down as I weave through Princeton'a leafy Gothic landscape, designed to look like Cambridge and Oxford.  I know I must do nothing to draw any kind of extra attention.  By the time I pass Blair Arch, my stride is quick but acceptable for a lady."

What do you think? Read more or pass on this one?  

Here's more from the book's description:

Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than ten years' experience as a litigator. A graduate of Boston College and the Boston University School of Law, she is the New York Times and USAToday bestselling author of The Only Woman in the Room, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, Carnegie's Maid, The Other Einstein, and Lady Clementine. All have been translated into multiple languages. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family.

 

Victoria Christopher Murray is an acclaimed author with more than one million books in print. She has written more than twenty novels, including Stand Your Ground, a NAACP Image Award Winner for Outstanding Fiction and a Library Journal Best Book of the Year. She holds an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business.

The remarkable story of J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, the Black American woman who was forced to hide her true identity and pass as white to leave a lasting legacy that enriched our nation, from New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict, and acclaimed author Victoria Christopher Murray.

In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture in New York City society and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps create a world-class collection.

But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a well-known advocate for equality. Belle’s complexion isn’t dark because of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white—her complexion is dark because she is African American.

The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths she must go to—for the protection of her family and her legacy—to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives.