Thomson skilfully evokes the era and the slow-moving quality of childhood summers, suggesting the menace lurking just beyond the vision of her young protagonists. A study of memory and guilt with several twists.

Complex, disturbing and surprising... the sort of book where you simply have to completely rethink what you thought was going to happen - before sleeping with the lights on. 

A Kind of Vanishing is about two nine-year-old girls and each side of their experience is written about. This was extremely clever and effective. I felt nine years old when I read about Eleanor and Alice and identified strongly with both of them, each different from the other. I liked the way the author explored the relationships between the women and the girls and how the author followed their lives into adulthood.

One of these girls "disappears" and the book is organised around this event. It has a detailed plot, good surprises and some unanswered questions. Lesley Thomson builds the suspense and the ending did not let me down