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The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone
A compulsive, note-perfect debut for fans of The Virgin Suicides and Picnic at Hanging Rock.
'We lost all three girls that summer. Let them slip away like the words of some half-remembered song and when one came back, she wasn't the one we were trying to recall to begin with.'
Tikka Molloy was 11 and one-sixth years old during the long hot summer of 1992, growing up in an isolated suburb in Australia surrounded by encroaching bushland. That summer, the hottest on record, was when the Van Apfel sisters - Hannah, the beautiful Cordelia and Ruth - mysteriously disappeared during the school's Showstopper concert, held at the outdoor amphitheatre by the river.
Did they run away? Were they taken?
While the search for the sisters unites the small community, the mystery of their disappearance has never been solved.
Now, years later, Tikka has returned home and is beginning to make sense of that strange moment in time. The summer that shaped her.
The girls that she never forgot.
Brilliantly observed, spiky, sharp, funny and unexpectedly endearing, The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone is part mystery, part coming-of-age story - with a dark shimmering unexplained absence at its heart.
'We lost all three girls that summer. Let them slip away like the words of some half-remembered song and when one came back, she wasn't the one we were trying to recall to begin with.'
Tikka Molloy was 11 and one-sixth years old during the long hot summer of 1992, growing up in an isolated suburb in Australia surrounded by encroaching bushland. That summer, the hottest on record, was when the Van Apfel sisters - Hannah, the beautiful Cordelia and Ruth - mysteriously disappeared during the school's Showstopper concert, held at the outdoor amphitheatre by the river.
Did they run away? Were they taken?
While the search for the sisters unites the small community, the mystery of their disappearance has never been solved.
Now, years later, Tikka has returned home and is beginning to make sense of that strange moment in time. The summer that shaped her.
The girls that she never forgot.
Brilliantly observed, spiky, sharp, funny and unexpectedly endearing, The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone is part mystery, part coming-of-age story - with a dark shimmering unexplained absence at its heart.
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First published April 1, 2019
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July 23, 2019
look who came all the way from australia and braved a biblical downpour just to sign books for our book club!
"they" are three australian sisters; cordie, hannah, and ruth van apfel, who go missing one summer in 1992. "us" is the small community left rocked by the girls' disappearance, most specifically tikka malloy and her sister laura, who were eleven and fourteen that summer; close friends and neighbors of the van apfel girls.
twenty years later, tikka is living in baltimore, still haunted by the unresolved questions surrounding the vanishing, still obsessed with this defining dramatic event of her childhood. returning to her hometown to visit her cancer-stricken sister, her memories of the time and events leading up to the girls' disappearance resurface, mixing with laura's own corroborations and contradictions, picking apart what she knew, what she suspected, what she witnessed but couldn’t fully understand or interpret as a child.
it’s both a coming-of-age story and a work of suburban suspense; one where the past is unpacked, examined, and relived. the writing style is vivid and immediate, but the scenes, through tikka’s eyes, have a gauzy, hazy quality to them that has as much to do with the porousness of memory as it does with that summer’s heat wave.
i became completely engrossed in it, i loved the structure, i responded very favorably both to the characters and the fully-realized atmosphere made up of small-town gossip, ambiguity, and adolescent-girl secrecy; a cocktail that anyone who enjoys the work of megan abbott will appreciate.
as a related aside, i am someone who often scoffs at dust jacket readalikes and how frequently off-target they are; name-dropping best-sellers with little actual relevance to the book’s beating heart to lure unwary consumers. some of my scoffing is tinged with jealousy, since i yearn to be the queen of readers' advisory in charge of all readalike declarations, but in this case? The Virgin Suicides meets Picnic at Hanging Rock is both a great hook and also great matches. and while it is true that i have only seen the film-version of Picnic at Hanging Rock (which may be why i am not yet the queen of readers' advisory), the tone of this is exactly how i remember the tone of The Virgin Suicides being: at once detached and voyeuristic, chronicling the bravado and charisma and vulnerability and emotional weight of adolescent girlhood.
an impressive debut, and i'm looking forward to more from her in the future.
come to my blog!
They had six femurs, ninety-nine vertebrae, three skulls and thirty fingernails. Six kneecaps, forty-eight carpal bones, and more than three million strands of blonde hair, all tinged alien-green by the chlorine in their pool which, up until the day they went missing, we’d swum in almost every single day that summer.
And yet all of these things vanished—just evaporated in the heat. Not a single sign was left for us.
"they" are three australian sisters; cordie, hannah, and ruth van apfel, who go missing one summer in 1992. "us" is the small community left rocked by the girls' disappearance, most specifically tikka malloy and her sister laura, who were eleven and fourteen that summer; close friends and neighbors of the van apfel girls.
twenty years later, tikka is living in baltimore, still haunted by the unresolved questions surrounding the vanishing, still obsessed with this defining dramatic event of her childhood. returning to her hometown to visit her cancer-stricken sister, her memories of the time and events leading up to the girls' disappearance resurface, mixing with laura's own corroborations and contradictions, picking apart what she knew, what she suspected, what she witnessed but couldn’t fully understand or interpret as a child.
it’s both a coming-of-age story and a work of suburban suspense; one where the past is unpacked, examined, and relived. the writing style is vivid and immediate, but the scenes, through tikka’s eyes, have a gauzy, hazy quality to them that has as much to do with the porousness of memory as it does with that summer’s heat wave.
i became completely engrossed in it, i loved the structure, i responded very favorably both to the characters and the fully-realized atmosphere made up of small-town gossip, ambiguity, and adolescent-girl secrecy; a cocktail that anyone who enjoys the work of megan abbott will appreciate.
as a related aside, i am someone who often scoffs at dust jacket readalikes and how frequently off-target they are; name-dropping best-sellers with little actual relevance to the book’s beating heart to lure unwary consumers. some of my scoffing is tinged with jealousy, since i yearn to be the queen of readers' advisory in charge of all readalike declarations, but in this case? The Virgin Suicides meets Picnic at Hanging Rock is both a great hook and also great matches. and while it is true that i have only seen the film-version of Picnic at Hanging Rock (which may be why i am not yet the queen of readers' advisory), the tone of this is exactly how i remember the tone of The Virgin Suicides being: at once detached and voyeuristic, chronicling the bravado and charisma and vulnerability and emotional weight of adolescent girlhood.
an impressive debut, and i'm looking forward to more from her in the future.
come to my blog!
May 7, 2019
3.5 Stars!
The Van Apfel girls grew up with an extremely strict religious father.
Tikka Molloy can't forget the summer of 1992. It was the summer that the Van Apfel sisters disappeared, all three of them. The story is set in Australia, in an eerie river valley suburb with an awful unexplained smell.
The night of the Showstopper concert by the river was the night that the Van Apfel girls disappeared. They vanished without a trace.
This was a very sad story that kept me intrigued and kept me turning the pages. This is a slow burn mystery. I did love the atmosphere. It did have some surprises, dark secrets, and It was a little disturbing. I wouldn't call this one a thriller. I am more of a thriller fan than a mystery fan.
The setting takes place in Australia. I did have some questions at the end that were unanswered.
I loved the descriptive writing style and I did connect with the characters. My heart went out to the sisters, Hannah, Cordelia and Ruth, and I really felt sorry for Tikka.
This story is part mystery and a coming of age genre and would recommend this one to those that enjoy this genre.
I want to thank Algonquin Books for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The Van Apfel girls grew up with an extremely strict religious father.
Tikka Molloy can't forget the summer of 1992. It was the summer that the Van Apfel sisters disappeared, all three of them. The story is set in Australia, in an eerie river valley suburb with an awful unexplained smell.
The night of the Showstopper concert by the river was the night that the Van Apfel girls disappeared. They vanished without a trace.
This was a very sad story that kept me intrigued and kept me turning the pages. This is a slow burn mystery. I did love the atmosphere. It did have some surprises, dark secrets, and It was a little disturbing. I wouldn't call this one a thriller. I am more of a thriller fan than a mystery fan.
The setting takes place in Australia. I did have some questions at the end that were unanswered.
I loved the descriptive writing style and I did connect with the characters. My heart went out to the sisters, Hannah, Cordelia and Ruth, and I really felt sorry for Tikka.
This story is part mystery and a coming of age genre and would recommend this one to those that enjoy this genre.
I want to thank Algonquin Books for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
April 27, 2019
My initial impression of this book was quirky. Tikka returns home from Baltimore to the suburbs outside Sidney, Australia. The trip brings on an onslaught of memories from the year she’s 11, the year her neighborhood friends, three sisters, disappear. And what’s apparent and obvious to an adult is not to an eleven year old. So her impressions are just a tad off, leading to a slightly offbeat telling. And the secondary characters are not your average folks either. There’s Mr. Apfel, a religious fanatic who leads the girls in Bible study and prayers and punishes those that don’t get the message correctly. There’s the teacher whose actions just don’t seem appropriate.
McLean does a wonderful job of getting the kids just right - the weird discussions, the picking on siblings, the not quite understanding how things work.
But as the book goes on, it gets more and more poignant. My heart just ached for those girls. All of them. Even as adults, when Laura and Tikka still wonder if they did the right thing. I had no idea how this would play out. It’s a wonderfully ambiguous story. Don’t go into this story expecting answers or you’ll be disappointed.
My thanks to Algonquin Books for an advance copy of this book.
June 25, 2019
This was a different sort of mystery crossed with coming-of-age, and I loved it! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Tikka Malloy’s playmates, the Van Apfel sisters, disappeared when she was eleven years old. It’s a mystery haunting her and her sister, Laura, for years.
Ruth, Hannah, and Cordelia have harsh, religious parents, and it’s never been known if they ran away or were taken.
Tikka has now returned home as an adult to try to grasp just what happened to the sisters that summer.
If you are looking for a fresh take on a suspenseful read, this is your book! The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone is an engaging mystery, as well as a campy coming-of-age story. It’s a compelling page-turner, and I’ve read nothing remotely like this premise or the way in which it was executed.
The story has a melancholy tone, and the writing is lush and descriptive. I loved the Australia setting. Tikka and Laura shoulder some blame, as children often do, when things like this happen, whether it’s warranted or not. McLean captures the poignancy in their emotions, as well those as rippling through the small community from which these girls are lost.
Overall, The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone is uniquely its own story. It’s captivating, original, and keeps you guessing. There’s a haze of ambiguity, and my mind was spinning. This is just how I like my mysteries!
I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
My reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com
Tikka Malloy’s playmates, the Van Apfel sisters, disappeared when she was eleven years old. It’s a mystery haunting her and her sister, Laura, for years.
Ruth, Hannah, and Cordelia have harsh, religious parents, and it’s never been known if they ran away or were taken.
Tikka has now returned home as an adult to try to grasp just what happened to the sisters that summer.
If you are looking for a fresh take on a suspenseful read, this is your book! The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone is an engaging mystery, as well as a campy coming-of-age story. It’s a compelling page-turner, and I’ve read nothing remotely like this premise or the way in which it was executed.
The story has a melancholy tone, and the writing is lush and descriptive. I loved the Australia setting. Tikka and Laura shoulder some blame, as children often do, when things like this happen, whether it’s warranted or not. McLean captures the poignancy in their emotions, as well those as rippling through the small community from which these girls are lost.
Overall, The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone is uniquely its own story. It’s captivating, original, and keeps you guessing. There’s a haze of ambiguity, and my mind was spinning. This is just how I like my mysteries!
I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
My reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com
July 3, 2019
This book is so rich and lush in atmosphere. I could feel the heat wave of this Australian summer as the hot sun kissed my skin. I could hear the birds chirping and the insects buzzing and I almost felt as if I was walking hand in hand with Tikka as she told me the story about the Van Apfel girls.
"We lost all three girls that summer. Let them slip away like the words of some half-remembered song, and when one came back, she wasn't the one we were trying to recall to begin with."
Hannah, Cordie, and Ruth Van Apfel live under the thumb of their strict, and often cruel, religious father so Hannah and Cordie make a plan to runaway during the schools Showstopper concert. The plan doesn't go accordingly yet the girls manage to disappear leaving their best friends and neighbors, sisters, Tikka and Laura, wondering what has become of them even all these years later.
“We thought we'd seen the worst when those girls disappeared, but seeing, and not seeing, is a funny old thing. Even now, I don't know which is crueler in the end.”
This book is being marketed as a mystery/thriller and I think that is a huge disservice to this wonderful coming of age novel. Yes, there is the mystery of the Van Apfel girls disappearance but it remains unsolved so mystery lovers looking for resolutions may be disappointed and so with that being said there isn't really anything thrilling happening either. Where this book succeeds is in character development and drawing a sense of place. These characters came alive to me and were portrayed so realistically. The conversation among the girls and their behaviors were so on point that it brought me back to my own early teen years. I loved spending time with Tikka and this book. If you enjoy coming of age tales then this is one not to be missed! 4 *Sultry* Stars!
Thank you to NetGalley, Edelweiss, and Algonquin Books for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.
"We lost all three girls that summer. Let them slip away like the words of some half-remembered song, and when one came back, she wasn't the one we were trying to recall to begin with."
Hannah, Cordie, and Ruth Van Apfel live under the thumb of their strict, and often cruel, religious father so Hannah and Cordie make a plan to runaway during the schools Showstopper concert. The plan doesn't go accordingly yet the girls manage to disappear leaving their best friends and neighbors, sisters, Tikka and Laura, wondering what has become of them even all these years later.
“We thought we'd seen the worst when those girls disappeared, but seeing, and not seeing, is a funny old thing. Even now, I don't know which is crueler in the end.”
This book is being marketed as a mystery/thriller and I think that is a huge disservice to this wonderful coming of age novel. Yes, there is the mystery of the Van Apfel girls disappearance but it remains unsolved so mystery lovers looking for resolutions may be disappointed and so with that being said there isn't really anything thrilling happening either. Where this book succeeds is in character development and drawing a sense of place. These characters came alive to me and were portrayed so realistically. The conversation among the girls and their behaviors were so on point that it brought me back to my own early teen years. I loved spending time with Tikka and this book. If you enjoy coming of age tales then this is one not to be missed! 4 *Sultry* Stars!
Thank you to NetGalley, Edelweiss, and Algonquin Books for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.
May 2, 2019
To me, this darkly themed story had a slight literary fiction feel, and I don’t love that genre. In saying that, I was okay with it. Set in the early 1990’s, this tale of three sisters who simply go missing on the night of the school concert, leaves the reader with a lot of pondering to do. Full of Aussie colloquialisms, and extremely well told, we witness the young Van Apfel sisters, bought up in a disturbingly warped religious household. Tikka (I loved this name) is their precocious whip smart neighbour and mate is our narrator, she’s a feisty girl and oh so smart.
A strange and frightening river town full of even stranger characters, we never really get the full gist of what is going on. An ungodly holy man with a spineless wife, a teacher who is not straight up, and families just being families in the suburbs gives us a confusing sense of some misdirected young girls without bearings nor an anchor to give them any sense of safety. I was listening to this audio read with such intensity at the very end that I missed my freeway exit one Sunday night, but I do remember driving along thinking ‘I need to know more, please!’. Australian literature fans will be sure to like this beguiling offering.
A strange and frightening river town full of even stranger characters, we never really get the full gist of what is going on. An ungodly holy man with a spineless wife, a teacher who is not straight up, and families just being families in the suburbs gives us a confusing sense of some misdirected young girls without bearings nor an anchor to give them any sense of safety. I was listening to this audio read with such intensity at the very end that I missed my freeway exit one Sunday night, but I do remember driving along thinking ‘I need to know more, please!’. Australian literature fans will be sure to like this beguiling offering.
June 7, 2020
EXCERPT: The ghost turned up in time for breakfast, summoned by the death rattle of Cornflakes in their box.
She arrived on foot. Bare feet. Barelegged and white knuckled, in a pale cotton nightie that clung to her calves and slipped off one shoulder as jaunty as a hat. Her hair was damp with sleep sweat - whose wasn't that summer? - and stiff strands of it fenced in her thirteen-year-old face like blinkers strapped to a colt.
By the time we got there she was already halfway across the cul-de-sac. Her unseeing eyes, her stop-me shuffle, they'd taken her as far as that and she might have made it further too, if it wasn't for the car that sat idling at a ninety-degree angle to her path. A right angle made from her wrongs.
The driver's elbow pointed accusingly out of the window and he leaned out and shouted to each neighbour as they arrived on the scene: 'She came from nowhere!' as if that were her crime. This girl who appeared from thin air.
ABOUT THIS BOOK: We lost all three girls that summer. Let them slip away like the words of some half-remembered song and when one came back, she wasn't the one we were trying to recall to begin with.'
So begins Tikka Molloy's recount of the summer of 1992 - the summer the Van Apfel sisters, Hannah, the beautiful Cordelia and Ruth - disappear.
Eleven and one-sixth years old, Tikka is the precocious narrator of this fabulously endearing coming-of-age story, set in an eerie Australian river valley suburb with an unexplained stench. The Van Apfel girls vanish from the valley during the school's 'Showstopper' concert, held at the outdoor amphitheatre by the river. While the search for the sisters unites the small community on Sydney's urban fringe, the mystery of their disappearance remains unsolved forever.
MY THOUGHTS: This was a delightful fix of Australiana. 'Cossies' (swimsuits), 'thongs' (flip-flops), 'yabbies', kookaburras, and finishing sentences with 'but'. I felt quite at home, although I would never call the suburbs of Sydney home. The dialogue is so realistic I could hear the voices complete with accents as I read.
The characters are enchanting. A trio of teenage girls and their two younger sisters trying to make sense of life and the largely confusing behaviour of some of the adults in their lives. These are normal girls. They form friendships and cliques. They squabble and sulk. The older three often leave the younger two out of their plans and secrets.
Tikka, not her real name and we never find out what that is or how she earns the nickname Tikka, is stuck in no man's land, older than 8 year old Ruth, but not yet a teenager like Hannah, Cordie and Laura. It is Tikka who narrates the story, so we only get to know what she knows and/or suspects. It is Cordie, the sleepwalker, who shines in this group. Rebellious, ethereal, she has an air about her, a sense of living beyond her years.
We learn of the cruel and inhumane treatment of the Van Apfel girls, particularly Cordie, at the hands of their father, a religious fanatic. And her suspicions about Mr Avery, Cordies new teacher. But mostly it is the lead-up to the fateful night the girls go missing, Tikka's reaction, and the ongoing effect on her and Laura's lives many years down the track when certain incidents are viewed differently with the benefit of hindsight and experience.
The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone is well written and enjoyable. It's a slow burning mystery, and an intriguing one. Don't expect to get all the answers served up neatly. It isn't going to happen.
An author to watch.
🐨🐨🐨🐨
#TheVanApfelGirlsAreGone #NetGalley
THE AUTHOR: Felicity McLean is an Australian author and journalist. This is her first novel.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to One World Publications, Point Blank via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone by Felicity McLean for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
She arrived on foot. Bare feet. Barelegged and white knuckled, in a pale cotton nightie that clung to her calves and slipped off one shoulder as jaunty as a hat. Her hair was damp with sleep sweat - whose wasn't that summer? - and stiff strands of it fenced in her thirteen-year-old face like blinkers strapped to a colt.
By the time we got there she was already halfway across the cul-de-sac. Her unseeing eyes, her stop-me shuffle, they'd taken her as far as that and she might have made it further too, if it wasn't for the car that sat idling at a ninety-degree angle to her path. A right angle made from her wrongs.
The driver's elbow pointed accusingly out of the window and he leaned out and shouted to each neighbour as they arrived on the scene: 'She came from nowhere!' as if that were her crime. This girl who appeared from thin air.
ABOUT THIS BOOK: We lost all three girls that summer. Let them slip away like the words of some half-remembered song and when one came back, she wasn't the one we were trying to recall to begin with.'
So begins Tikka Molloy's recount of the summer of 1992 - the summer the Van Apfel sisters, Hannah, the beautiful Cordelia and Ruth - disappear.
Eleven and one-sixth years old, Tikka is the precocious narrator of this fabulously endearing coming-of-age story, set in an eerie Australian river valley suburb with an unexplained stench. The Van Apfel girls vanish from the valley during the school's 'Showstopper' concert, held at the outdoor amphitheatre by the river. While the search for the sisters unites the small community on Sydney's urban fringe, the mystery of their disappearance remains unsolved forever.
MY THOUGHTS: This was a delightful fix of Australiana. 'Cossies' (swimsuits), 'thongs' (flip-flops), 'yabbies', kookaburras, and finishing sentences with 'but'. I felt quite at home, although I would never call the suburbs of Sydney home. The dialogue is so realistic I could hear the voices complete with accents as I read.
The characters are enchanting. A trio of teenage girls and their two younger sisters trying to make sense of life and the largely confusing behaviour of some of the adults in their lives. These are normal girls. They form friendships and cliques. They squabble and sulk. The older three often leave the younger two out of their plans and secrets.
Tikka, not her real name and we never find out what that is or how she earns the nickname Tikka, is stuck in no man's land, older than 8 year old Ruth, but not yet a teenager like Hannah, Cordie and Laura. It is Tikka who narrates the story, so we only get to know what she knows and/or suspects. It is Cordie, the sleepwalker, who shines in this group. Rebellious, ethereal, she has an air about her, a sense of living beyond her years.
We learn of the cruel and inhumane treatment of the Van Apfel girls, particularly Cordie, at the hands of their father, a religious fanatic. And her suspicions about Mr Avery, Cordies new teacher. But mostly it is the lead-up to the fateful night the girls go missing, Tikka's reaction, and the ongoing effect on her and Laura's lives many years down the track when certain incidents are viewed differently with the benefit of hindsight and experience.
The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone is well written and enjoyable. It's a slow burning mystery, and an intriguing one. Don't expect to get all the answers served up neatly. It isn't going to happen.
An author to watch.
🐨🐨🐨🐨
#TheVanApfelGirlsAreGone #NetGalley
THE AUTHOR: Felicity McLean is an Australian author and journalist. This is her first novel.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to One World Publications, Point Blank via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone by Felicity McLean for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
May 3, 2020
The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone
is well written, easy to read, easily devoured in an afternoon. It’s slick, but conventional: it’s too easy to see the film adaptation playing out in your head. Set mostly in 1992, there is plenty of nostalgia for Gen X Aussies (sunnyboys by the pool; a slumber party complete with half-arsed séance; the Azaria Chamberlain case in the news). The child narrator is endearing, and the author really seems to get the dynamics between adolescent & preteen girls.
The blurb blazons some big name comparisons. So, is this like Picnic at Hanging Rock? Only inasmuch as it’s set in Australia and some girls go missing. Is it like The Virgin Suicides? Only inasmuch as those suburban girls are three blonde sisters.
This novel sits in that crossover zone between commercial & literary fiction, along with books like Jasper Jones (but without the theme of racial prejudice) or The Lovely Bones (but without the violence and supernatural ghosties). I feel I can pretty safely say that if you loved/hated those books you will love/hate Van Apfel Girls too. For me it was… good. Readable, enjoyable, but not particularly memorable.
The blurb blazons some big name comparisons. So, is this like Picnic at Hanging Rock? Only inasmuch as it’s set in Australia and some girls go missing. Is it like The Virgin Suicides? Only inasmuch as those suburban girls are three blonde sisters.
This novel sits in that crossover zone between commercial & literary fiction, along with books like Jasper Jones (but without the theme of racial prejudice) or The Lovely Bones (but without the violence and supernatural ghosties). I feel I can pretty safely say that if you loved/hated those books you will love/hate Van Apfel Girls too. For me it was… good. Readable, enjoyable, but not particularly memorable.
January 26, 2020
Now here's a strange thing. I usually complain when a book finishes without telling me what happened to everyone. Yet the ending of this one, although there was no resolution, was perfect for the story that it told. Maybe because I related it in my mind to the three Beaumont siblings who really did disappear from an Australian beach more than 50 years ago now and still have not been found. No resolution to their story either!
The author creates the most atmospheric Australian setting I have read in ages, and her interpretation of the way children think and speak at each different age was spot on. I feared for Cordy from page one. She was so sexually aware for a thirteen year old from a strictly religious family that she was obviously destined for trouble.
Tikka on the other hand was so intelligent on the one hand, and so naïve on the other. I loved her parents who brought their two daughters up with humour and understanding, although they maybe made a few mistakes in the way they dealt with what was happening at their neighbour's house.
In the end the epilogue helped me make up my mind what happened to the Van Apfel Girls and I was satisfied. This was an enjoyable, well written book which I can recommend!
The author creates the most atmospheric Australian setting I have read in ages, and her interpretation of the way children think and speak at each different age was spot on. I feared for Cordy from page one. She was so sexually aware for a thirteen year old from a strictly religious family that she was obviously destined for trouble.
Tikka on the other hand was so intelligent on the one hand, and so naïve on the other. I loved her parents who brought their two daughters up with humour and understanding, although they maybe made a few mistakes in the way they dealt with what was happening at their neighbour's house.
In the end the epilogue helped me make up my mind what happened to the Van Apfel Girls and I was satisfied. This was an enjoyable, well written book which I can recommend!
August 6, 2019
On the night of a school concert in an ordinary 1990s Australian suburb, the three van Apfel girls disappeared. Hannah 14, Cordelia (Cordie) 13 and Ruth, 7. Despite extensive searches, only one of them is ever found. Twenty years later their neighbour and friend Tikka Molloy returns home to visit her parents and older sister Laura and relates the events that led up to the girls' disappearance through her then 11 year old understanding as well as from her now adult viewpoint.
Tikka's memories of growing up in the 1990s are evocative of the Australian childhood - walking to school, buying ice-creams at the corner shop, sleep-over parties, lazy summer days spent swimming in the pool and hanging out with the girls next door. But there are darker memories - the explosively cruel and religiously zealous Mr van Apfel who would punish his daughters for any perceived sin, as well as a shady teacher who seems to be around Cordie more than he should, and there is a sense of menace that infuses Tikka's memories.
It is the confident and graceful Cordie who Tikka most idolises and has trouble forgetting, and even twenty years later she wonders if she could have done more to help the police find the girls. She also seems lost and unsure of her place in life and needs to overcome her sense of guilt and loss over the girls' disappearance. With echoes of Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Virgin Suicides, this is an intriguing and atmospheric mystery. 3.5★
I listened to the audio version narrated by Eloise Oxer. I thought she did a good job with the female parts, although I wasn't that keen on the male voices.
Tikka's memories of growing up in the 1990s are evocative of the Australian childhood - walking to school, buying ice-creams at the corner shop, sleep-over parties, lazy summer days spent swimming in the pool and hanging out with the girls next door. But there are darker memories - the explosively cruel and religiously zealous Mr van Apfel who would punish his daughters for any perceived sin, as well as a shady teacher who seems to be around Cordie more than he should, and there is a sense of menace that infuses Tikka's memories.
It is the confident and graceful Cordie who Tikka most idolises and has trouble forgetting, and even twenty years later she wonders if she could have done more to help the police find the girls. She also seems lost and unsure of her place in life and needs to overcome her sense of guilt and loss over the girls' disappearance. With echoes of Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Virgin Suicides, this is an intriguing and atmospheric mystery. 3.5★
I listened to the audio version narrated by Eloise Oxer. I thought she did a good job with the female parts, although I wasn't that keen on the male voices.
September 15, 2019
If you're looking for a mysterious, quirky book that may leave you with more questions than answers, Felicity McLean's
The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone
may be just the ticket for you!
"We lost all three girls that summer. Let them slip away like the words of dome half-remembered song, and when one came back, she wasn't the one we were trying to recall to begin with."
In the summer of 1992, Tikka Malloy and her older sister, Laura, were living in a suburban Australian town. Tikka was 11-1/6 years old, and she and Laura spent most of their time with their best friends, Ruth, Hannah, and Cordelia Van Apfel. At the time, the country was obsessed with the Lindy Chamberlain case (she of the "dingo took my baby"), but that summer, something major happened to Tikka and Laura: one night during a school concert, all three Van Apfel sisters disappeared.
Despite an exhaustive search, no sign of the girls was ever found. Did their odd, strict, evangelical parents have something to do with their disappearance? Did they run away? Was a stranger responsible? The town, and the Malloy sisters, are left with no answers, a fact that haunts them all these years later.
When 20 years later Tikka returns to Australia to see her sister, who has recently been diagnosed with cancer, of course their memories turn to the Van Apfel girls' disappearance. And it is only with years of perspective on the mystery that Tikka and Laura begin to make sense of some events which occurred before the girls went missing, and they can finally start to process clues they might not have understood when they were younger.
This is a fascinating, well-told book which switches back and forth between 1992 as the girls' disappearance unfolds, and 2012, as Tikka tries to come to terms with the events of that summer. McLean creates some truly memorable characters to inhabit this story, and she certainly raises more than a healthy share of questions about what happened to the Van Apfel girls. (Ultimately the reader is left with two potential scenarios.)
What's interesting about this book is the fact that so much is seen through the eyes of 11-year-old Tikka, so you're not quite sure if what is being presented is accurate or simply her perceptions of what occurred. That adds to the mystery and poignancy of the story, as does the feeling of guilt that Tikka and Laura share, for perhaps not divulging all of the things they knew back then.
McLean does such a terrific job with evocative imagery; Australia is, of course, such a fascinating and beautiful place, and McLean certainly helps you to see everything in your mind's eye. She also has created such a unique story, full of answers and questions, and it's one that will stick in my mind for some time to come.
The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone will make you think and it will fill you with nostalgia for the simpler days of your youth and childhood friendships. But it will also haunt you a bit and make you wonder how you might react if you were faced with the same situation that Tikka and Laura were.
Algonquin Books provided me a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Check out my list of the best books I read in 2018 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2018.html.
You can follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
"We lost all three girls that summer. Let them slip away like the words of dome half-remembered song, and when one came back, she wasn't the one we were trying to recall to begin with."
In the summer of 1992, Tikka Malloy and her older sister, Laura, were living in a suburban Australian town. Tikka was 11-1/6 years old, and she and Laura spent most of their time with their best friends, Ruth, Hannah, and Cordelia Van Apfel. At the time, the country was obsessed with the Lindy Chamberlain case (she of the "dingo took my baby"), but that summer, something major happened to Tikka and Laura: one night during a school concert, all three Van Apfel sisters disappeared.
Despite an exhaustive search, no sign of the girls was ever found. Did their odd, strict, evangelical parents have something to do with their disappearance? Did they run away? Was a stranger responsible? The town, and the Malloy sisters, are left with no answers, a fact that haunts them all these years later.
When 20 years later Tikka returns to Australia to see her sister, who has recently been diagnosed with cancer, of course their memories turn to the Van Apfel girls' disappearance. And it is only with years of perspective on the mystery that Tikka and Laura begin to make sense of some events which occurred before the girls went missing, and they can finally start to process clues they might not have understood when they were younger.
This is a fascinating, well-told book which switches back and forth between 1992 as the girls' disappearance unfolds, and 2012, as Tikka tries to come to terms with the events of that summer. McLean creates some truly memorable characters to inhabit this story, and she certainly raises more than a healthy share of questions about what happened to the Van Apfel girls. (Ultimately the reader is left with two potential scenarios.)
What's interesting about this book is the fact that so much is seen through the eyes of 11-year-old Tikka, so you're not quite sure if what is being presented is accurate or simply her perceptions of what occurred. That adds to the mystery and poignancy of the story, as does the feeling of guilt that Tikka and Laura share, for perhaps not divulging all of the things they knew back then.
McLean does such a terrific job with evocative imagery; Australia is, of course, such a fascinating and beautiful place, and McLean certainly helps you to see everything in your mind's eye. She also has created such a unique story, full of answers and questions, and it's one that will stick in my mind for some time to come.
The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone will make you think and it will fill you with nostalgia for the simpler days of your youth and childhood friendships. But it will also haunt you a bit and make you wonder how you might react if you were faced with the same situation that Tikka and Laura were.
Algonquin Books provided me a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Check out my list of the best books I read in 2018 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2018.html.
You can follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
December 14, 2020
I had high expectations for this and ended up disappointed. Don't read on if you don't want to be spoiled, although I had it spoiled by reading reviews and this is the first time I can recall being glad. That doesn't excuse those who spoiled it except me; I've warned you. Because I still can't manage to do HTML code properly. (Note to Felicity McLean: If you're reading this and thinking why is my book being judged by an idiot who can't do HTML, I get it, I do.)
This is about three sisters in Australia who disappeared, told by an adult friend looking back. The Van Apfel girls are gone, yes, but what happened to some or all of them the reader doesn't get to find out.
It's been compared to Picnic at Hanging Rock, and I love Peter Weir's gorgeous, iconic film but all they have in common are Australia, ambiguity and missing girls, so there's no comparison. In the film the lack of resolution is perfect. Maybe these reviewers are referring to the novel, which did have a specific ending -- that was removed in the final edit of the book. The chapter was later published; it turned out the girls fell into a hole in space. I don't know enough about the Van Apfel girls, but I know enough to be sure they didn't fall into a hole in space.
It's also been compared to The Virgin Suicides, which is one of my Favorite books. It's a flawed book but I love it for its many extraordinary passages, beautifully written and wonderfully wise. It's a Favorite because when it's good it's superb. Among other treasures it has the best descriptions of depression and isolation I've read in fiction. It's lovely and has a lot of depth. To be fair to Ms. McLean she's not aiming for that.
McLean can write and I'll read her next book. For most of the book she sustains Tikka's wistful and wondering tone very well. This story told this way requires jumps from past to present. To the author's credit the jumps are organic, never seeming abrupt or invasive. The characters, the Van Apfel family, Tikka's family and the secondary characters are intriguing, the dialogue pitch perfect, descriptions of events, places and landscape laudable. And the timing of these events with Lindy Chamberlain's release from prison because the dingo really did eat her baby, the infrequent but perfectly placed mentions of Chamberlin's story add a layer that worked well for me.
Although it's overly long and would have benefited from tighter editing, the book, without asking much of me, generally held my interest at a time when it's hard for anything to hold my interest. I thought this was the one that was going to break my reading slump. It didn't. I have a wealth of capital L Literature waiting for me that I don't dare start reading until I can give each one my full mind and heart, until my focus comes home.
The mystery is why I went into it knowing it would remain a mystery. I would have liked this book so much more if it resolved more. I wouldn't have minded if some things were left unexplained but too much was. Ultimately I had to create my own story of what happened to the Van Apfel sisters. I don't get what was gained from that. It's hard to believe Felicity McLean meant for readers to close her book and think, Oh no, it's happened again; they've edited out the solution.
This is about three sisters in Australia who disappeared, told by an adult friend looking back. The Van Apfel girls are gone, yes, but what happened to some or all of them the reader doesn't get to find out.
It's been compared to Picnic at Hanging Rock, and I love Peter Weir's gorgeous, iconic film but all they have in common are Australia, ambiguity and missing girls, so there's no comparison. In the film the lack of resolution is perfect. Maybe these reviewers are referring to the novel, which did have a specific ending -- that was removed in the final edit of the book. The chapter was later published; it turned out the girls fell into a hole in space. I don't know enough about the Van Apfel girls, but I know enough to be sure they didn't fall into a hole in space.
It's also been compared to The Virgin Suicides, which is one of my Favorite books. It's a flawed book but I love it for its many extraordinary passages, beautifully written and wonderfully wise. It's a Favorite because when it's good it's superb. Among other treasures it has the best descriptions of depression and isolation I've read in fiction. It's lovely and has a lot of depth. To be fair to Ms. McLean she's not aiming for that.
McLean can write and I'll read her next book. For most of the book she sustains Tikka's wistful and wondering tone very well. This story told this way requires jumps from past to present. To the author's credit the jumps are organic, never seeming abrupt or invasive. The characters, the Van Apfel family, Tikka's family and the secondary characters are intriguing, the dialogue pitch perfect, descriptions of events, places and landscape laudable. And the timing of these events with Lindy Chamberlain's release from prison because the dingo really did eat her baby, the infrequent but perfectly placed mentions of Chamberlin's story add a layer that worked well for me.
Although it's overly long and would have benefited from tighter editing, the book, without asking much of me, generally held my interest at a time when it's hard for anything to hold my interest. I thought this was the one that was going to break my reading slump. It didn't. I have a wealth of capital L Literature waiting for me that I don't dare start reading until I can give each one my full mind and heart, until my focus comes home.
The mystery is why I went into it knowing it would remain a mystery. I would have liked this book so much more if it resolved more. I wouldn't have minded if some things were left unexplained but too much was. Ultimately I had to create my own story of what happened to the Van Apfel sisters. I don't get what was gained from that. It's hard to believe Felicity McLean meant for readers to close her book and think, Oh no, it's happened again; they've edited out the solution.
February 20, 2020
“We thought we'd seen the worst when those girls disappeared, but seeing, and not seeing, is a funny old thing. Even now, I don't know which is crueller in the end.”
― Felicity McLean, The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone
I am realizing maybe I should not pick books from the library or the book store if I am on limited time to browse.
I am trying to save money so that is why I am doing t his but in the process I am picking books that are not a fit for me at all.
This book is so different I do not even know how to categorize it. I guess Literary Fiction mixed with a little Horror mixed with YA mixed with family issues.
I started off really liking it. The book is about exactly what it says. The Van Apfel Girls up and disapeared many years ago. They are three sisters. They vanished. Nobody knows how or why or what happened to them.
I was reminded of "Picnic at Hanging rock" when first seeing this book. And I did not like Picnic so maybe that should have been a warning.
I should say this book starts in present day and jumps back in time as do many books. But I was into the beginning. I found it haunting.
Without giving away to many spoilers, I will say that the book is narrated by a friend of all of the missing girls..Tikka Malloy. She narrates both from her adult years and from childhood when her friends vanished.
The problem for me was the childhood aspect. I had a tough time with the narration since it was all from the viewpoint of a little girl and it got irritating.
The book jumps from and to..so many points in time that it becomes really difficult to follow. And then there is the religious aspect.
The girls who vanish are the children of a Religious Fanatic and his wife. The fanatical dad is a sociopath for sure. And he does some really sick things.
And that brings me to the BIGGEST THING that turned me off. ANIMAL CRUELTY. There are
several brutal , just brutal scenes including one scene of animal torture. I usually skip books like that and take off a point or two when it does happen.
I just do not like that in my books and in this book there is more then one including a dog getting killed by a snake and a bunch of mice being tortured. TRIGGER WARNINGS ON THAT!
That being said, it is heavily atmospheric and has an eerie quality I quite liked. But the issues I mentioned above were to much for me.
I really would call this Literary Fiction rather then a traditional mystery. I do find a few things still that remind me of Picnic at Hanging Rock and if you liked that you will most likely enjoy The Van Apfel Girls are gone.
― Felicity McLean, The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone
I am realizing maybe I should not pick books from the library or the book store if I am on limited time to browse.
I am trying to save money so that is why I am doing t his but in the process I am picking books that are not a fit for me at all.
This book is so different I do not even know how to categorize it. I guess Literary Fiction mixed with a little Horror mixed with YA mixed with family issues.
I started off really liking it. The book is about exactly what it says. The Van Apfel Girls up and disapeared many years ago. They are three sisters. They vanished. Nobody knows how or why or what happened to them.
I was reminded of "Picnic at Hanging rock" when first seeing this book. And I did not like Picnic so maybe that should have been a warning.
I should say this book starts in present day and jumps back in time as do many books. But I was into the beginning. I found it haunting.
Without giving away to many spoilers, I will say that the book is narrated by a friend of all of the missing girls..Tikka Malloy. She narrates both from her adult years and from childhood when her friends vanished.
The problem for me was the childhood aspect. I had a tough time with the narration since it was all from the viewpoint of a little girl and it got irritating.
The book jumps from and to..so many points in time that it becomes really difficult to follow. And then there is the religious aspect.
The girls who vanish are the children of a Religious Fanatic and his wife. The fanatical dad is a sociopath for sure. And he does some really sick things.
And that brings me to the BIGGEST THING that turned me off. ANIMAL CRUELTY. There are
several brutal , just brutal scenes including one scene of animal torture. I usually skip books like that and take off a point or two when it does happen.
I just do not like that in my books and in this book there is more then one including a dog getting killed by a snake and a bunch of mice being tortured. TRIGGER WARNINGS ON THAT!
That being said, it is heavily atmospheric and has an eerie quality I quite liked. But the issues I mentioned above were to much for me.
I really would call this Literary Fiction rather then a traditional mystery. I do find a few things still that remind me of Picnic at Hanging Rock and if you liked that you will most likely enjoy The Van Apfel Girls are gone.
July 10, 2019
I can’t put my finger on the why of it, but this book took me forever to finish. The more I read, the more I appreciated the skill with which the author crafted the childhood summer slowly rolling along and the intricacies of the relationships between the girls, who were neighbors and friends. Those atmospheric entities felt like characters in this hazy, out-of-reach mystery that might make you wonder if the answer is there within the pages once you have closed the book.
Unique and sad, with points made at the end which cast the story’s meaning in a different light. 3.5 stars because despite all of this, it wasn’t all that compelling for me. I loved the writing and the uncomfortable mystery though, so I will look forward to her next book.
Unique and sad, with points made at the end which cast the story’s meaning in a different light. 3.5 stars because despite all of this, it wasn’t all that compelling for me. I loved the writing and the uncomfortable mystery though, so I will look forward to her next book.
August 4, 2019
The Van Apfel girls are all blonde-haired, green tinged from the chlorinated waters of their backyard swimming pool, long-limbed, a sun-kissed brown from the relentless Australian sunshine, and, mostly importantly, all missing. One night the three sisters disappeared. One returned, but not the one they were hoping for, but the mystery of where they went and why remained.
The narrative is split between past and present sections and I appreciated how little the focus remained in the present. The childhood perspectives were where my intrigue lay and theirs formed the majority of the focus. I also appreciated how authentic these child voices were. They spoke with some pretension but none of the gravitas sometimes imbued on fictional children. They had the squabbles and humour and important things to document that only children of their age would. They also provided a To Kill a Mockingbird type-perspective, when the reader is invited to take an active part in the puzzle and read the truth in their revelations delivered yet not truly understood.
I did not anticipate the dark depths the story-line would veer on but McLean did her topic justice. This remained a consistently compelling and suspense-ridden story-line but also a carefully-delivered and sensitive coming-of-age tale full of authentic characters, of which the unsettling heat-soaked setting was one.
I received this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Felicity McLean, and the publisher, Oneworld Publications, for this opportunity.
The narrative is split between past and present sections and I appreciated how little the focus remained in the present. The childhood perspectives were where my intrigue lay and theirs formed the majority of the focus. I also appreciated how authentic these child voices were. They spoke with some pretension but none of the gravitas sometimes imbued on fictional children. They had the squabbles and humour and important things to document that only children of their age would. They also provided a To Kill a Mockingbird type-perspective, when the reader is invited to take an active part in the puzzle and read the truth in their revelations delivered yet not truly understood.
I did not anticipate the dark depths the story-line would veer on but McLean did her topic justice. This remained a consistently compelling and suspense-ridden story-line but also a carefully-delivered and sensitive coming-of-age tale full of authentic characters, of which the unsettling heat-soaked setting was one.
I received this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Felicity McLean, and the publisher, Oneworld Publications, for this opportunity.
April 9, 2019
*https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com
‘Then she said the words I’d been waiting to hear: ‘Don’t you know? The Van Apfel girls are gone.’
Felicity McLean may have just released her first debut novel, but she is no stranger to the written word. She has carved out a career as a respected ghost writer, a children’s book author and a journalist. This previous experience has put McLean in good standing. The Van Apfel Girls are Gone is assured, refined and incredibly intriguing. It had me hook, line and sinker!
At the very heart of The Van Apfel Girls are Gone is Tikka Molloy and the fateful summer of 1992. At just eleven years old, Tikka was impacted by an incident that will haunt her for years to come. Day after day Tikka and her sister Laura socialise with their neighbours, the Van Apfel sisters. Older sister Hannah, ethereal Cordelia and younger sister Ruth become entrenched in the lives and memories of Tikka. When they mysteriously disappear after a concert at their local school, a search of the local bushland area reveals nothing. Some twenty years after the disappearance of the Van Apfel sisters, Tikka comes home, in an attempt to understand the events of the fateful summer that has forever become etched on her mind.
The striking cover of The Van Apfel Girls are Gone first caught my eye. The innocent young blonde girl has a real The Virgin Suicides vibe. In fact, I wasn’t at all surprised to learn that this novel has been likened to the Jeffrey Eugenides modern classic. Felicity McLean’s debut novel has also been compared to a present day Picnic at Hanging Rock. It does have that mysterious, haunting, speculative feel that Joan Lindsay’s classic exudes. With such highly regarded books linked to this novel, The Van Apfel Girls are Gone has some big shoes to fill, but thankfully it delivered.
The book is structured in a split timeline style of narration. We meet Tikka Molloy, the principal narrator, in the opening stages of the novel after an eventful prologue. Early on in the novel, questions are thrown in the air, accusations made and speculation is aimed at the young Van Apfel girls and their unusual father. This level of suspense, intrigue and conjecture is carried over for the entire novel. It is a hard act to maintain, but McLean nails it.
McLean’s characterisation is steadfast. I couldn’t fault it. Each Van Apfel girl is illuminated by McLean’s precise prose and I was able to build a strong picture in my mind of these young sisters. Likewise, their father, the fervent Mr Van Apfel was captured well by McLean. As the book is told primarily through the eyes of an impassioned eleven year old, there are some doubts surrounding the character portraits of these protagonists, particularly the adults. The whole tone of the book is ambiguous, full of grey areas, doubts, misunderstandings and gaps. I think it works well to draw out the suspense and mystery side of the novel.
Another element of the book that I really connected with was the setting. Set in 1992, Tikka is exactly the same age as I was in this year. It worked to strengthen my connection and understanding of the events on the book. McLean successfully takes the reader back to a time of innocence, where we were much more connected to our local neighbourhood and community. McLean captures the naivety and carefree nature of Tikka, who behaved in almost exactly the same way as I would have done in this era. It is suburban NSW in 1992, but it could just as easily have been my own suburb in Perth. I was fondly reminded of pop culture and common aspects of this era, from paddle pops, to redskins, sprinklers and endless hours spent in backyard swimming pools.
I felt that the book was more about Tikka’s journey to recover from a life changing incident that occurred in childhood that directly shaped her consciousness as an adult. She experiences a form of PTSD. Tikka has a strong sense of guilt and she has visions that haunt her. Tikka also has an almost obsessive need to reconnect with the missing Cordelia. In some respects I feel that The Van Apfel Girls are Gone is a good study of post traumatic stress disorder and bystander’s guilt.
Tikka’s experience in the novel could also be considered a coming of age style piece. It is easy to draw a line between this novel and a number of great Australian coming of age novels such as Looking for Alibrandi and Jasper Jones. There is also a distinct scent of Australian gothic following this novel, which is why The Van Apfel Girls are Gone has been compared to Picnic at Hanging Rock. The cryptic and paradoxical turn of events for The Van Apfel Girls are Gone definitely puts this book in the same vein as Picnic at Hanging Rock. I would have appreciated a final answer to not only the disappearance of The Van Apfel Girls are Gone, but what exactly happened to Cordelia, the truth behind their possible abuse by their father and the links to the teacher. McLean does want the reader to draw their own conclusions.
With themes of religious devotion, friendship, maturity, trust, loyalty, suppression, secrecy, remorse and regret following The Van Apfel Girls are Gone, this one will shock you and stun you. A pointed and slick first novel, the trapping style of storytelling will pull you in from the opening moments, to the very close of this captivating debut.
*I wish to thank Harper Collins Books Australia for providing me with a free copy of this book for review purposes.
The Van Apfel Girls are Gone is book #46 of the 2019 Australian Women Writers Challenge
‘Then she said the words I’d been waiting to hear: ‘Don’t you know? The Van Apfel girls are gone.’
Felicity McLean may have just released her first debut novel, but she is no stranger to the written word. She has carved out a career as a respected ghost writer, a children’s book author and a journalist. This previous experience has put McLean in good standing. The Van Apfel Girls are Gone is assured, refined and incredibly intriguing. It had me hook, line and sinker!
At the very heart of The Van Apfel Girls are Gone is Tikka Molloy and the fateful summer of 1992. At just eleven years old, Tikka was impacted by an incident that will haunt her for years to come. Day after day Tikka and her sister Laura socialise with their neighbours, the Van Apfel sisters. Older sister Hannah, ethereal Cordelia and younger sister Ruth become entrenched in the lives and memories of Tikka. When they mysteriously disappear after a concert at their local school, a search of the local bushland area reveals nothing. Some twenty years after the disappearance of the Van Apfel sisters, Tikka comes home, in an attempt to understand the events of the fateful summer that has forever become etched on her mind.
The striking cover of The Van Apfel Girls are Gone first caught my eye. The innocent young blonde girl has a real The Virgin Suicides vibe. In fact, I wasn’t at all surprised to learn that this novel has been likened to the Jeffrey Eugenides modern classic. Felicity McLean’s debut novel has also been compared to a present day Picnic at Hanging Rock. It does have that mysterious, haunting, speculative feel that Joan Lindsay’s classic exudes. With such highly regarded books linked to this novel, The Van Apfel Girls are Gone has some big shoes to fill, but thankfully it delivered.
The book is structured in a split timeline style of narration. We meet Tikka Molloy, the principal narrator, in the opening stages of the novel after an eventful prologue. Early on in the novel, questions are thrown in the air, accusations made and speculation is aimed at the young Van Apfel girls and their unusual father. This level of suspense, intrigue and conjecture is carried over for the entire novel. It is a hard act to maintain, but McLean nails it.
McLean’s characterisation is steadfast. I couldn’t fault it. Each Van Apfel girl is illuminated by McLean’s precise prose and I was able to build a strong picture in my mind of these young sisters. Likewise, their father, the fervent Mr Van Apfel was captured well by McLean. As the book is told primarily through the eyes of an impassioned eleven year old, there are some doubts surrounding the character portraits of these protagonists, particularly the adults. The whole tone of the book is ambiguous, full of grey areas, doubts, misunderstandings and gaps. I think it works well to draw out the suspense and mystery side of the novel.
Another element of the book that I really connected with was the setting. Set in 1992, Tikka is exactly the same age as I was in this year. It worked to strengthen my connection and understanding of the events on the book. McLean successfully takes the reader back to a time of innocence, where we were much more connected to our local neighbourhood and community. McLean captures the naivety and carefree nature of Tikka, who behaved in almost exactly the same way as I would have done in this era. It is suburban NSW in 1992, but it could just as easily have been my own suburb in Perth. I was fondly reminded of pop culture and common aspects of this era, from paddle pops, to redskins, sprinklers and endless hours spent in backyard swimming pools.
I felt that the book was more about Tikka’s journey to recover from a life changing incident that occurred in childhood that directly shaped her consciousness as an adult. She experiences a form of PTSD. Tikka has a strong sense of guilt and she has visions that haunt her. Tikka also has an almost obsessive need to reconnect with the missing Cordelia. In some respects I feel that The Van Apfel Girls are Gone is a good study of post traumatic stress disorder and bystander’s guilt.
Tikka’s experience in the novel could also be considered a coming of age style piece. It is easy to draw a line between this novel and a number of great Australian coming of age novels such as Looking for Alibrandi and Jasper Jones. There is also a distinct scent of Australian gothic following this novel, which is why The Van Apfel Girls are Gone has been compared to Picnic at Hanging Rock. The cryptic and paradoxical turn of events for The Van Apfel Girls are Gone definitely puts this book in the same vein as Picnic at Hanging Rock. I would have appreciated a final answer to not only the disappearance of The Van Apfel Girls are Gone, but what exactly happened to Cordelia, the truth behind their possible abuse by their father and the links to the teacher. McLean does want the reader to draw their own conclusions.
With themes of religious devotion, friendship, maturity, trust, loyalty, suppression, secrecy, remorse and regret following The Van Apfel Girls are Gone, this one will shock you and stun you. A pointed and slick first novel, the trapping style of storytelling will pull you in from the opening moments, to the very close of this captivating debut.
*I wish to thank Harper Collins Books Australia for providing me with a free copy of this book for review purposes.
The Van Apfel Girls are Gone is book #46 of the 2019 Australian Women Writers Challenge
December 7, 2020
I struggled to get into this book at first, and I'm still not sure if that was down the story, or just my frame of mind. It was one of those days where I just couldn't get absorbed into what was taking place on the page, like I was incredibly aware I was reading, never quite connecting with anything.
The next day when I picked it back up things fell into place pretty quickly. The struggle of the first 70 pages fell away and I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the book.
The thing that I think I will most strongly associate with this book is the feeling of oppressive, never-ending heat. I was imagining the hottest day I have ever experienced in New Zealand, while being aware that that doesn't really come close to what people in Australia experience, especially in the peak of summer, during a drought. I couldn't handle it! I felt tired just reading about it, but I mean that as a compliment. Some things mentioned felt familiar from my own childhood, such as Bubble O'Bill ice cream, which I used to love. I was tempted to wander up to local shop and see if they still stock them, but it wasn't really ice cream weather. Other things were unknowns, such as yabbies, which I had to look up -an Australian freshwater crustacean.
I loved reading a book about the disappearance of children that was less focused on the possible criminal element and investigation side of it, and more on the events leading up to it, and the massive effect the missing sisters had on those in the community. Tikka and her sister both struggle to move on, and it's hard to let go when you don't have any answers. The slow build-up to the event was well done.
I did find unexpectedly brutal. I understand why it was there, but I didn't enjoy reading it. Still, it perfectly illustrated Mr. Van Apfel's cruelty.
The next day when I picked it back up things fell into place pretty quickly. The struggle of the first 70 pages fell away and I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the book.
The thing that I think I will most strongly associate with this book is the feeling of oppressive, never-ending heat. I was imagining the hottest day I have ever experienced in New Zealand, while being aware that that doesn't really come close to what people in Australia experience, especially in the peak of summer, during a drought. I couldn't handle it! I felt tired just reading about it, but I mean that as a compliment. Some things mentioned felt familiar from my own childhood, such as Bubble O'Bill ice cream, which I used to love. I was tempted to wander up to local shop and see if they still stock them, but it wasn't really ice cream weather. Other things were unknowns, such as yabbies, which I had to look up -an Australian freshwater crustacean.
I loved reading a book about the disappearance of children that was less focused on the possible criminal element and investigation side of it, and more on the events leading up to it, and the massive effect the missing sisters had on those in the community. Tikka and her sister both struggle to move on, and it's hard to let go when you don't have any answers. The slow build-up to the event was well done.
I did find unexpectedly brutal. I understand why it was there, but I didn't enjoy reading it. Still, it perfectly illustrated Mr. Van Apfel's cruelty.
March 28, 2019
This feels like a mash-up of books and tropes that have all been done before, and better: the edgy adolescence of girls (Megan Abbott), the unsolved mysterious disappearance of Australian girls (Picnic at Hanging Rock), the violent Christian fundamentalist father and subservient wife, the mysterious and creepy new male teacher who may or may not like boys and may or may not have been in prison...
The narrative feels fussy to me: the 1st person voice seems to flit between that of an adult and that of the '11-and-one-sixth' (annoyingly cutesy) year old that Tikka was at the time of the disappearances... even though the whole story is being told 'now', and should therefore be an adult looking back. There's also not enough filter: info-dumps, pointless information, unnecessary dialogue clutter up the whole thing, filling out what is, at heart, a pretty thin story. The sister-with-cancer trope in the present, too, adds to the baggy feel of the book.
In the end, we don't know what happens to the girls, and while we have a pretty good idea of why they disappear, the 'who' is left open with two clear possibilities. It's hard, too, to credit the irresponsibility of Tikka's parents and another neighbour who ignore disturbing signs and overheard conversations, say nothing to the police after the disappearances and allow their daughters, too, to keep their secrets to themselves. All this in the face of what is supposedly one of the biggest events ever to take place in small-town Australia and which involves three vulnerable young girls.
And what the Lindy Chamberlain dingo case is doing taking up so much page space, I just don't know...
For me, an unoriginal premise in desperate need of deeper characterisation, more thought and a decent edit.
The narrative feels fussy to me: the 1st person voice seems to flit between that of an adult and that of the '11-and-one-sixth' (annoyingly cutesy) year old that Tikka was at the time of the disappearances... even though the whole story is being told 'now', and should therefore be an adult looking back. There's also not enough filter: info-dumps, pointless information, unnecessary dialogue clutter up the whole thing, filling out what is, at heart, a pretty thin story. The sister-with-cancer trope in the present, too, adds to the baggy feel of the book.
In the end, we don't know what happens to the girls, and while we have a pretty good idea of why they disappear, the 'who' is left open with two clear possibilities. It's hard, too, to credit the irresponsibility of Tikka's parents and another neighbour who ignore disturbing signs and overheard conversations, say nothing to the police after the disappearances and allow their daughters, too, to keep their secrets to themselves. All this in the face of what is supposedly one of the biggest events ever to take place in small-town Australia and which involves three vulnerable young girls.
And what the Lindy Chamberlain dingo case is doing taking up so much page space, I just don't know...
For me, an unoriginal premise in desperate need of deeper characterisation, more thought and a decent edit.
April 3, 2019
Tikka returns to Australia, from her new life in Baltimore, as her sister, Laura, has cancer. Returning home triggers all sorts of memories and, for Tikka, it throws her back twenty years, to when she was eleven and Laura was fourteen. Their neighbours were the Van Apfel girls – Hannah, who was Laura’s confidante, thirteen year old Cordelia, who Tikka looked up to, and six year old Ruth.
The summer was unbearably hot and the televisions were full of the story of Lindy Chamberlain, released, after being charged with the murder of her baby – the infamous ‘dingo’ story, which many of us remember from the time. Tikka and Laura spend most of the summer with the Van Apfel girls but, one night, after a talent show, the girls vanish…
To be honest, there is much about this novel which you feel you have read before. There is Mr Van Apfel, wielding religion as a means of control, the edgy, out of control feel of him, whenever he appears on the page. Then there is the teacher, whose appearances seem a little inappropriate and, at the centre of the story, Cordelia, who seems to create strong feelings in those around her.
Although this is not the most original novel, it is very well written. It had a good sense of place and time and Tikka is an excellent narrator; her childhood self allowing the reader to half glimpse things that she may not quite have understood. A thoughtful exploration of a childhood mystery which would make for an excellent reading group choice, as there is lots to discuss. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
The summer was unbearably hot and the televisions were full of the story of Lindy Chamberlain, released, after being charged with the murder of her baby – the infamous ‘dingo’ story, which many of us remember from the time. Tikka and Laura spend most of the summer with the Van Apfel girls but, one night, after a talent show, the girls vanish…
To be honest, there is much about this novel which you feel you have read before. There is Mr Van Apfel, wielding religion as a means of control, the edgy, out of control feel of him, whenever he appears on the page. Then there is the teacher, whose appearances seem a little inappropriate and, at the centre of the story, Cordelia, who seems to create strong feelings in those around her.
Although this is not the most original novel, it is very well written. It had a good sense of place and time and Tikka is an excellent narrator; her childhood self allowing the reader to half glimpse things that she may not quite have understood. A thoughtful exploration of a childhood mystery which would make for an excellent reading group choice, as there is lots to discuss. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
June 17, 2019
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The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone by Felicity McLean. (2019).
Tikka was 11 years old in 1992 when the three Van Apfel sisters disappeared during the school's concert. Years later Tikka has returned home and is trying to make sense of the summer that shaped her and the three girls she never forgot.
I should have known from the synopsis on the back of the book that I would finish this book unsatisfied haha. The synopsis states "this is Picnic at Hanging Rock for a new generation" - another book I found frustrating at the end! Some people can really appreciate an ending where the reader does not actually have clarifying details and the mystery explained...I am not that reader unfortunately. I think if you don't mind the openness of the ending, you'll really enjoy this book. It's well-written and Tikka is a likeable narrator. There are quite a few interesting characters introduced along the way, however again I felt a bit frustrated that we never got to delve into these characters more. The narrative jumped around a bit as well so the the sections referring to the past were not necessarily in chronological order.
Overall this was an average read with too many details missing for me, but I do think some readers would greatly enjoy it.
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The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone by Felicity McLean. (2019).
Tikka was 11 years old in 1992 when the three Van Apfel sisters disappeared during the school's concert. Years later Tikka has returned home and is trying to make sense of the summer that shaped her and the three girls she never forgot.
I should have known from the synopsis on the back of the book that I would finish this book unsatisfied haha. The synopsis states "this is Picnic at Hanging Rock for a new generation" - another book I found frustrating at the end! Some people can really appreciate an ending where the reader does not actually have clarifying details and the mystery explained...I am not that reader unfortunately. I think if you don't mind the openness of the ending, you'll really enjoy this book. It's well-written and Tikka is a likeable narrator. There are quite a few interesting characters introduced along the way, however again I felt a bit frustrated that we never got to delve into these characters more. The narrative jumped around a bit as well so the the sections referring to the past were not necessarily in chronological order.
Overall this was an average read with too many details missing for me, but I do think some readers would greatly enjoy it.
June 2, 2019
Sometimes it's the subtle thrillers that hit you the hardest, and that indeed was the case with The Van Apfel Girls are Gone. At its heart, this is a complex, multi-layered psychological family drama set in the humid heat of Sydney, Australia circa 1992 and it simply oozes tension and an ominous atmosphere runs for the whole duration. It follows three sisters as they come-of-age and their disappearance and the surrounding circumstances, as well as suspicions, are voiced by narrator and friend of the three sisters, Tikka. I won't spoil it for those who may read it by revealing the plot in deeper detail, but it is exquisitely written and packed with a gently simmering suspense.
One of the most incredible aspects of the plot, the Aussie setting, was wonderfully rich and vivid and despite never having visited the country I felt it came across as highly authentic. The characters come alive on the page and every detail has been thought about and projected to readers perfectly. It's a sad and poignant story but one that is compulsively readable all the same. It certainly isn't the most original premise — the family ties that bind us all and the dark secrets lying just below the surface — however, it is done well. Recommended to those who enjoy slow burn suspense. Many thanks to Point Blank for an ARC.
One of the most incredible aspects of the plot, the Aussie setting, was wonderfully rich and vivid and despite never having visited the country I felt it came across as highly authentic. The characters come alive on the page and every detail has been thought about and projected to readers perfectly. It's a sad and poignant story but one that is compulsively readable all the same. It certainly isn't the most original premise — the family ties that bind us all and the dark secrets lying just below the surface — however, it is done well. Recommended to those who enjoy slow burn suspense. Many thanks to Point Blank for an ARC.
February 15, 2019
More words than there was solid story. Too many questions left unanswered.
January 5, 2020
3.5 stars rounded up.
They keep coming out with these titles containing the words Gone and Girls, and I am still a sucker for them. Add a pink cover, and I snapped this up from Chirp as soon as they had a $.99 sale. It's description as part mystery, part coming-of-age is right up my alley; and the Australian narrator's accent is authentic.
The Van Apfel Girls -- Hannah, Cordelia, and little Ruth -- were neighbors of the Malloy girls, Tikka and Laura, before the three sisters went missing 20 years ago. Their upbringing was strict - Mr. Van Apfel was a bible thumper who occasionally spoke in tongues and handed out violent, severe punishments when the girls acted like the teenagers they were. Tikka and Laura knew some but not all of their secrets. Now Tikka has come back to her childhood home and is still haunted by the disappearances and whether she could have done something back then to help the police find the girls. Tikka still experiences "sightings" of Corey, and suffers nightmares all these years since.
Told in Tikka's voice, most of the story is flashbacks to the days leading up to the disappearance. The narrator makes her voice sound like an 11 year old, and the dialog is that of these young girls. If I had a criticism of this book, it would be that this perspective was too prevalent and grew annoying pretty quickly. I think the adult Tikka could have recalled the past in her own voice rather than act out childish conversations.
The mystery had me in its grips from beginning to end. To some readers, the ending will be a letdown. You can use your imagination there but you won't know if you are right or wrong. Discuss it with your reading friends, make some educated guesses. I have my theories, which I think is what the author wanted. A case of not telling, and barely showing you; but I think the clues are there.
They keep coming out with these titles containing the words Gone and Girls, and I am still a sucker for them. Add a pink cover, and I snapped this up from Chirp as soon as they had a $.99 sale. It's description as part mystery, part coming-of-age is right up my alley; and the Australian narrator's accent is authentic.
The Van Apfel Girls -- Hannah, Cordelia, and little Ruth -- were neighbors of the Malloy girls, Tikka and Laura, before the three sisters went missing 20 years ago. Their upbringing was strict - Mr. Van Apfel was a bible thumper who occasionally spoke in tongues and handed out violent, severe punishments when the girls acted like the teenagers they were. Tikka and Laura knew some but not all of their secrets. Now Tikka has come back to her childhood home and is still haunted by the disappearances and whether she could have done something back then to help the police find the girls. Tikka still experiences "sightings" of Corey, and suffers nightmares all these years since.
Told in Tikka's voice, most of the story is flashbacks to the days leading up to the disappearance. The narrator makes her voice sound like an 11 year old, and the dialog is that of these young girls. If I had a criticism of this book, it would be that this perspective was too prevalent and grew annoying pretty quickly. I think the adult Tikka could have recalled the past in her own voice rather than act out childish conversations.
The mystery had me in its grips from beginning to end. To some readers, the ending will be a letdown. You can use your imagination there but you won't know if you are right or wrong. Discuss it with your reading friends, make some educated guesses. I have my theories, which I think is what the author wanted. A case of not telling, and barely showing you; but I think the clues are there.
September 17, 2020
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I have been listening to this on audio book.
It’s a slow burner but steady. I’m not complaining about that at all.
I gave it 3* because it’s good.
Well written. Characters well pitched and believable.
Loved how this unfolded.
It’s not a thriller though, it’s more a mystery.
So the parents of these girls are very religious.
On one certain occasion while things were going on......whoosh.....the sisters vanished.
There is a lot to this book and will keep your interest. It did me.
I liked it, really liked it but just didn’t switch a light on for me to give it more than 3*.
I just wasn’t gasping in awe, or feeling I wanted to get back to reading it any time soon.
Once I had started to pick it up again I was ok, but just didn’t have that something for me.
Don’t go by me.
Read it for yourself as we all have differing viewpoints on this one I see with varied reviews
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I have been listening to this on audio book.
It’s a slow burner but steady. I’m not complaining about that at all.
I gave it 3* because it’s good.
Well written. Characters well pitched and believable.
Loved how this unfolded.
It’s not a thriller though, it’s more a mystery.
So the parents of these girls are very religious.
On one certain occasion while things were going on......whoosh.....the sisters vanished.
There is a lot to this book and will keep your interest. It did me.
I liked it, really liked it but just didn’t switch a light on for me to give it more than 3*.
I just wasn’t gasping in awe, or feeling I wanted to get back to reading it any time soon.
Once I had started to pick it up again I was ok, but just didn’t have that something for me.
Don’t go by me.
Read it for yourself as we all have differing viewpoints on this one I see with varied reviews
July 31, 2021
Started off really well and I really like the eeriness and atmosphere, but eventually it got a bit boring and I found the end quite disappointing.
March 22, 2022
1992, and an early, searing Australian summer. In a small river valley town outside of Sydney, the three Van Apfel sisters – Hannah, Cordelia and Ruth – disappear during the yearly outdoor “Showstopper” concert organised by their school. All the community is marked by this disturbing occurrence, and none more so than eleven-year old Tikka – the narrator of this novel – and her older sister Laura, close friends of the Van Apfel girls. Twenty years later, back home from America where she now works, Tikka recalls the fateful events of that hot summer, and rekindles old doubts which have never really gone away.
The premise of this novel is not terribly original. The “disappearing person” has now gone beyond being a “trope” and could well be considered a thriller sub-genre. Some readers have compared this novel to Reservoir 13, others to Picnic at Hanging Rock, not least because of its Australian context. Given the particular details of the narrative – three sisters from a religiously conservative family who (possibly?) meet a tragic end, the coming-of-age element, a narrator revisiting memories of a terrible occurrence – one would be forgiven for suspecting that the author was inspired also by The Virgin Suicides.
So, did we really need this new novel? In my view, yes. First of all, it is very well crafted and intelligently paced. I’ve read some very good books over the past months, but this is the one I would most comfortably describe as a “page-turner”. This is no mean feat, considering that we are made aware from very early on that we’ll never fully know the solution to the mystery.
Besides, despite its parallels to other novels, The Van Apfel Girls are Gone has got its own idiosyncrasies. In this respect, it’s interesting to compare it to The Virgin Suicides. The latter novel is narrated by one of a group of young men besotted with the “virgins” of the title, and as a result, it has an underlying aura of decadent (and slightly disturbing) eroticism expressed in text of a febrile, poetic intensity. On the contrary, McLean’s novel is both darker and also more down-to-earth. Its narrator is endearing – it is clear that it is the older Tikka who is speaking, channeling memories of her younger self. Despite the traumatic events described and the collective guilt which seems to have affected all the community, there is also a palpable sense of nostalgia particularly in the scenes between Tikka and her parents, a stark contrast with the Van Apfels. These ‘homely moments’ and a playful sense of humour surface against the odds, but the novel is also edgy, consistently evoking feelings of menace and dread. Some plot details seem to have crept in from a Gothic novel – a Bible-thumping violent father, the continuous oppressive heat, an unexplained stench coming from the river. There are also little flourishes which are not central to the story, but which serve to raise adrenaline levels – in one particular scene Tikka injures her foot and soon after, a search dog dies on the spot after being bitten by a snake. In another, a group of girls are spooked out after a Ouija board session. Dangers – human, natural and, potentially supernatural – seem to lurk everywhere.
What I liked best about this novel however is that it gave me a sense of total immersion. I have never been to Australia, and yet during the time I spent reading the book, I felt a part of this community, sharing its fears, guilt and hope and, like busybody Mrs McCausley, playing the amateur detective. I will miss the Van Apfel Girls now that they’re gone.
A full review, together with a selection of Australian classical music can be found at http://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/201...
The premise of this novel is not terribly original. The “disappearing person” has now gone beyond being a “trope” and could well be considered a thriller sub-genre. Some readers have compared this novel to Reservoir 13, others to Picnic at Hanging Rock, not least because of its Australian context. Given the particular details of the narrative – three sisters from a religiously conservative family who (possibly?) meet a tragic end, the coming-of-age element, a narrator revisiting memories of a terrible occurrence – one would be forgiven for suspecting that the author was inspired also by The Virgin Suicides.
So, did we really need this new novel? In my view, yes. First of all, it is very well crafted and intelligently paced. I’ve read some very good books over the past months, but this is the one I would most comfortably describe as a “page-turner”. This is no mean feat, considering that we are made aware from very early on that we’ll never fully know the solution to the mystery.
Besides, despite its parallels to other novels, The Van Apfel Girls are Gone has got its own idiosyncrasies. In this respect, it’s interesting to compare it to The Virgin Suicides. The latter novel is narrated by one of a group of young men besotted with the “virgins” of the title, and as a result, it has an underlying aura of decadent (and slightly disturbing) eroticism expressed in text of a febrile, poetic intensity. On the contrary, McLean’s novel is both darker and also more down-to-earth. Its narrator is endearing – it is clear that it is the older Tikka who is speaking, channeling memories of her younger self. Despite the traumatic events described and the collective guilt which seems to have affected all the community, there is also a palpable sense of nostalgia particularly in the scenes between Tikka and her parents, a stark contrast with the Van Apfels. These ‘homely moments’ and a playful sense of humour surface against the odds, but the novel is also edgy, consistently evoking feelings of menace and dread. Some plot details seem to have crept in from a Gothic novel – a Bible-thumping violent father, the continuous oppressive heat, an unexplained stench coming from the river. There are also little flourishes which are not central to the story, but which serve to raise adrenaline levels – in one particular scene Tikka injures her foot and soon after, a search dog dies on the spot after being bitten by a snake. In another, a group of girls are spooked out after a Ouija board session. Dangers – human, natural and, potentially supernatural – seem to lurk everywhere.
What I liked best about this novel however is that it gave me a sense of total immersion. I have never been to Australia, and yet during the time I spent reading the book, I felt a part of this community, sharing its fears, guilt and hope and, like busybody Mrs McCausley, playing the amateur detective. I will miss the Van Apfel Girls now that they’re gone.
A full review, together with a selection of Australian classical music can be found at http://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/201...
May 24, 2019
3.5 stars
"We lost all three girls that summer. Let them slip away like the words of some half-remembered song." *
In the summer of 1992, a quiet suburb in Australia is stunned when the three Van Apfel sisters - Hannah, Cordelia, and Ruth - disappear. Suddenly the news is no longer focused on the infamous Azaria Chamberlain case and the community is searching the valley for any sign of the girls.
Tikka Malloy was eleven the summer her friends disappeared. It was a confusing time for the precocious girl and now that twenty years have passed, she is just beginning to understand the significance of some of the events she witnessed in the weeks leading up to the disappeance of the girls.
Tikka is back in Australia to visit with her older sister Laura, who has just been diagnosed with cancer. As Tikka takes readers back to the summer of 1992 and describes what transpired, we learn in the present that Tikka and Laura have a secret: they knew that their friends were planning to run away.
The narration of eleven-year-old Tikka was completely endearing; both amusing at times and utterly heartbreaking. She shares the truth with readers without truly understanding it herself and her innocence makes the story atmospheric and poignant.
"We thought we'd seen the worst when those girls disappeared. But seeing and not seeing is a funny old thing. Even now I don't know which is crueller in the end." *
In present day, Tikka struggles with the secret she's kept all these years and with the realization that many adults were aware of the events she didn't fully understand at the time and yet did nothing.
While the disappearance of the Van Apfel girls remains unsolved (readers are left with two highly compelling possibilities), Tikka grieves most the fact that her three friends could've been saved if only one person had been willing to speak up.
There were several layers to this story: the disappeance of three sisters as told by an innocent young girl, the opportunity to also see things from her adult perspective and uncover more secrets, and the slow burn mystery at the heart of it all; combined, it makes for an atmospheric and compulsively readable novel!
I enjoyed that some major clues are revealed but we're left with more questions than answers about the girls' fate. The book is described as "The Virgin Suicides meets Picnic at Hanging Rock" and I can say there's definitely similar vibes so if you're a fan of either of those books, a coming of age meets slow burn mystery, this is a book to add to your stack!
Thanks to Algonquin Books and Edelweiss for providing me with a DRC in exchange for my honest review. The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone is scheduled for release in the U.S. on June 25, 2019.
*Quotes included are from a digital advanced reader's copy and are subject to change upon final publication.
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
"We lost all three girls that summer. Let them slip away like the words of some half-remembered song." *
In the summer of 1992, a quiet suburb in Australia is stunned when the three Van Apfel sisters - Hannah, Cordelia, and Ruth - disappear. Suddenly the news is no longer focused on the infamous Azaria Chamberlain case and the community is searching the valley for any sign of the girls.
Tikka Malloy was eleven the summer her friends disappeared. It was a confusing time for the precocious girl and now that twenty years have passed, she is just beginning to understand the significance of some of the events she witnessed in the weeks leading up to the disappeance of the girls.
Tikka is back in Australia to visit with her older sister Laura, who has just been diagnosed with cancer. As Tikka takes readers back to the summer of 1992 and describes what transpired, we learn in the present that Tikka and Laura have a secret: they knew that their friends were planning to run away.
The narration of eleven-year-old Tikka was completely endearing; both amusing at times and utterly heartbreaking. She shares the truth with readers without truly understanding it herself and her innocence makes the story atmospheric and poignant.
"We thought we'd seen the worst when those girls disappeared. But seeing and not seeing is a funny old thing. Even now I don't know which is crueller in the end." *
In present day, Tikka struggles with the secret she's kept all these years and with the realization that many adults were aware of the events she didn't fully understand at the time and yet did nothing.
While the disappearance of the Van Apfel girls remains unsolved (readers are left with two highly compelling possibilities), Tikka grieves most the fact that her three friends could've been saved if only one person had been willing to speak up.
There were several layers to this story: the disappeance of three sisters as told by an innocent young girl, the opportunity to also see things from her adult perspective and uncover more secrets, and the slow burn mystery at the heart of it all; combined, it makes for an atmospheric and compulsively readable novel!
I enjoyed that some major clues are revealed but we're left with more questions than answers about the girls' fate. The book is described as "The Virgin Suicides meets Picnic at Hanging Rock" and I can say there's definitely similar vibes so if you're a fan of either of those books, a coming of age meets slow burn mystery, this is a book to add to your stack!
Thanks to Algonquin Books and Edelweiss for providing me with a DRC in exchange for my honest review. The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone is scheduled for release in the U.S. on June 25, 2019.
*Quotes included are from a digital advanced reader's copy and are subject to change upon final publication.
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
July 6, 2019
2.5 stars
I picked this book up, because it gave me virgin suicide vibes and I adore a good coming of age story. While this book is entertaining and a fast read, it sadly did nothing new at all.
I wanted a "virgin suicide" vibe, not an almost retelling of the story.
It's a good summer read, but other books have done it better in my opinion.
I picked this book up, because it gave me virgin suicide vibes and I adore a good coming of age story. While this book is entertaining and a fast read, it sadly did nothing new at all.
I wanted a "virgin suicide" vibe, not an almost retelling of the story.
It's a good summer read, but other books have done it better in my opinion.
April 3, 2020
Like a cross between Picnic At Hanging Rock and the Virgin Suicides with it’s similar tone and themes, with a haunting quality that lingers but also left me hanging for a more dramatic conclusion.
June 16, 2019
The VanApfel Girls disappeared in 1992. All 3 of them. Hannah, Ruth and Cordelia. Gone. No Trace. Never found. Tikka remembers when the girls disappeared. The mystery pulled the small Australian community together....but over time dark secrets are revealed.
This story develops slowly. It's richly atmospheric and subtle....sad, disturbing and mesmerizing. I couldn't put the book down once I got into the story. At first, I was a bit confused....but as I read more, I found myself totally sucked in by the tale. If you start reading and aren't sure if you like it or not....keep reading. It sneaks up on you! One second I was like...what?....but after another chapter, I was completely hooked. Let it build.....
That is all I'm going to say about the plot.....no spoilers from me. Just be aware this isn't an in your face, blood dripping, pulse pounding thriller.....it's a slow build, suspenseful mystery...a look into the past. The narrator was 11 when the girls disappeared, but she's looking back at the events in 1992 as an adult returning to the area. It makes for an awesome read!
This is the first book by Felicity McLean that I've read. This story is well-written and I'm looking forward to reading more by this author!
**I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy of this book from Algonquin Books via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**
This story develops slowly. It's richly atmospheric and subtle....sad, disturbing and mesmerizing. I couldn't put the book down once I got into the story. At first, I was a bit confused....but as I read more, I found myself totally sucked in by the tale. If you start reading and aren't sure if you like it or not....keep reading. It sneaks up on you! One second I was like...what?....but after another chapter, I was completely hooked. Let it build.....
That is all I'm going to say about the plot.....no spoilers from me. Just be aware this isn't an in your face, blood dripping, pulse pounding thriller.....it's a slow build, suspenseful mystery...a look into the past. The narrator was 11 when the girls disappeared, but she's looking back at the events in 1992 as an adult returning to the area. It makes for an awesome read!
This is the first book by Felicity McLean that I've read. This story is well-written and I'm looking forward to reading more by this author!
**I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy of this book from Algonquin Books via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**
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