Return before dark: find his daughter at all costs

UPDATE DAY

An essential reference in psychological suspense, author of best-sellers translated all over the world, the British Lisa Jewell offers a harrowing thriller to perfection: Come home before dark . In this stunning treasure hunt, Lisa Jewell tells the story of a young mother who disappears without a trace, a bizarre family living in a mansion and a mother who does the impossible to find her daughter. Nightmares guaranteed. 

Tallulah, a 19-year-old mother, did not return from the party she had been invited to. She had left her son Noah in the care of her mother, Kim, accepting a rare invitation to a party. 

Noting that her daughter is not back, Kim begins to worry. Tallulah would never have abandoned her child. If she didn't come in, then someone stopped her, she's sure of that. 

And it turns out that the last time Tallulah was seen, it was in an estate called Les Cendres, located on the edge of the forest, nearby. A disturbing estate where a strange family lives whose manners send shivers down your spine. And Tallulah became friends with Scarlett: rich girl, worrisome girl.

Two years before Tallulah's disappearance, Sophie, an athletic woman, moved to Maypole House, the prestigious boarding school of which her new companion had just become director. 

In the garden of their English cottage, she discovers a pinned poster on the fence. It says: “Dig here”. That's all it takes for Sophie to take hold of this affair. And what she will discover is hair-raising.

Echoes of confinement

Lisa Jewell, in an interview, explains that she wrote this book during the long confinements of the pandemic. 

“ Claustrophobia, people who are prisoners of their jobs or entangled in toxic relationships, the confinement are themes that I wanted to explore, as well as that of freedom. I also wanted to talk about young people, teenagers starting their lives, beginnings. ”

The writer, excellent at describing the psychology of the characters, really enjoyed portraying the young Scarlett, an important character in the novel who lives in the Ashes domain, and who has a role to play in the story of Tallulah. 

As soon as he appears in the novel, we sense that there is something wrong with his behavior. 

“Villains are always the most gripping, the most satisfying, and perhaps the easiest to write. She arrived unexpectedly: I knew Tallulah was going missing, that she had gone to this big house in the countryside to drink and party. I knew the house was owned by a wealthy family. But I didn't know what Scarlett was going to be like…until I wrote the cafeteria scene at school. There, I said to myself: here, I now know who she is. And she's dangerous.”

Kim's Life

Tallulah's mother, Kim, is a woman whose life takes a turn for the worse after her daughter goes missing. While she thinks of finding a little freedom in her life, she finds herself with a baby in diapers, a missing daughter and many sources of anxiety. 

Lisa Jewell explains that she projected herself into the character of Kim, imagining the time when her daughters would leave home to make a living. 

But she pushed the projection further for the novel. 

“Imagine walking into your daughter’s room one morning and thinking she is asleep. You realize she's not there…and your whole world falls apart. » 

♦ Lisa Jewell is British.

♦ She is considered an essential reference in psychological suspense.

♦ She has published 16 novels with Éditions Hauteville, including < /strong>See you again, Like you, All Secrets and I'll be your shadow (over 500,000 copies sold in France).