Since She Went Away by David J. Bell

 Paperback, 432 pages

Published June 21st 2016 by NAL

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. 

My Thoughts…

Since She Went Away has two storylines.  I was intrigued on how these lines would criss and cross.  I had ideas, I had hopes, I had thoughts…boy was I wrong.    Well, at least mostly wrong.      

My heart went out to those who had lose people due to bad circumstances, it can never be easy to lose someone much less when it is unexplained and unexpected.    Jenna and Jared were the two characters that I felt the most for.    Jenna as a mom was trying to do right by her teenage son yet she was dealing with so much.   The guilt over losing her best friends, not keeping in touch with Ciela’s daughter, and so much more going on was just too much for one person to handle.   I felt like at times she was too into herself to see what was happening with Jared and there were many times I was worried about both of their safety.      Both of them seemed to be honorary police officers and were way too involved with all the crimes happening in the town. 

David Bell did an amazing job twisting and turning the story to pull the reader in.    There were so many different ways this story could have gone and I was so surprised at the ending.   I had kind of seen where it was heading, I then thought no way… not going to happen and then it did.    OH MY GOSH!   

I certainly recommend picking up a copy.   I can’t wait for another David Bell book. 

Thank you Tara O’Connor, Publicity Assistant at Berkley, Penguin Random House for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. 

Book Links

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About the author

David Bell is an associate professor of English at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He received an MA in creative writing from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and a Ph.D. in American Literature and creative writing from the University of Cincinnati. Visit him online at www.davidbellnovels.com