The Rose Arbor: A Novel
An investigation into a girl's disappearance uncovers a mystery dating back to World War II in a haunting novel of suspense by the bestselling author of The Venice Sketchbook and The Paris Assignment.
London: 1968. Liz Houghton is languishing as an obituary writer at a London newspaper when a young girl's disappearance captivates the city. If Liz can break the story, it's her way into the newsroom. She already has a scoop: her best friend, Marisa, is a police officer assigned to the case.
Liz follows Marisa to Dorset, where they make another disturbing discovery. Over two decades earlier, three girls disappeared while evacuating from London. One was found murdered in the woods near a train line. The other two were never seen again.
As Liz digs deeper, she finds herself drawn to the village of Tydeham, which was requisitioned by the military during the war and left in ruins. After all these years, what could possibly link the missing girls to this abandoned village? And why does a place Liz has never seen before seem so strangely familiar?
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Community Reviews
As Liz and her friend Marisa investigate, things become too far fetched that they strain credulity. She meets the son of the owner of a manor in an abandoned village and has flashes of memories of being in this town as a toddler. I find this very believable because I had a traumatic experience at two years of age, and remember it clearly. However, the weird coincidences just continue until they are unfathomable. There is a connection I between this man’s ex girlfriend and mother of the missing girl. She interviews the mother of one of the girls missing from WWIi and just happens across a woman selling bluebird pillows, making the connection that she is one of the missing girls because this girl had liked bluebirds as a child.
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