Since She Went Away
Three months earlier, Jenna Barton was supposed to meet her lifelong best friend Celia. But when Jenna arrived late, she found that Celia had disappeared—and hasn’t been seen again. Jenna has blamed herself for her friend’s disappearance every single day since then.
The only piece of evidence is a lone diamond earring found where Celia and Jenna were planning to meet, leading the national media to dub Celia “The Diamond Mom.” And even though Jenna has obsessively surfed message boards devoted to missing persons cases, she is no closer to finding any answers—or easing her guilt.
But when her son’s new girlfriend—who suddenly arrived in town without a past—disappears, a stricken Jenna begins to unwind the tangled truth behind Celia’s tragedy. And as long-buried secrets finally come to light, she discovers how completely lives can be shattered by a few simple lies.
Praise for: Since She Went Away
Target Emerging Authors selection
“[A] tantalizing thriller…Bell keeps readers on edge throughout.”
—Publishers Weekly
“The totally unexpected ending alone is worth reading this thriller…an exciting read.”
—RT Book Reviews
“[A] twisty, realistic thriller… [Bell] is a skilled storyteller who knows how to zoom his writer’s lens in on a character’s subtle insecurities, giving readers a sense they are in a character’s mind… The pacing of the story is in line with Jenna’s search for answers – that is, sizzling at the beginning, moving steadily while traversing obstacles throughout the middle and back to a breakneck speed at the end.”
—Houston Chronicle
“David Bell may well have redefined, or even reinvented, the postmodern gothic tale in Since She Went Away. But his latest is also a beautifully crafted crime thriller… Bell is a brilliant craftsman as well as storyteller, parsing his words perfectly and packing every page with pathos that turns the haunting Since She Went Away into a mesmerizing, angst-riddled tale.”
—The Providence Journal
Writers in Cars Getting Books: Since She Went Away
Domestic Publisher
New American Library, an imprint of Penguin Books USA