The Temple House Vanishing

This is a very atmospheric debut novel from Rachel Donohue, set in the claustrophobic location of an exclusive girls’ Catholic boarding school in the 1990s. The school is staffed mainly by nuns in a decaying country house, once belonging to an avid collector of curiosities who finished by hanging himself in the woods nearby. The grisly legend remains, as does his cabinet of curiosities.

Louisa, one of the two narrators has won a fourth-year scholarship to Temple House School as part of a push to include the wider community. It is clear that some members of the school’s population see the new girls as outsiders, ‘not one of us’, particularly the head girl Helen O’Neill. As Louisa cynically notes, the nuns are much friendlier to the girls whose rich parents donate money to school funds. She finds it difficult to settle in the school, though she does form one intense friendship. This is with Victoria, who positions herself on the edge, yet is as well-connected and wealthy as Helen.

Forming an intriguing triangle with the two friends is the art teacher Edward Lavelle. He is young, charismatic and attractive, a potent mix. Lavelle is understandably popular with the teenage girls, but Victoria is actually in love with him. The scene is set for the strange event that follows. By the time Louisa has been at the school for only a few months, she and Lavelle have disappeared without trace. The inhabitants of the school close ranks and it’s not until a young female journalist starts re-investigating the case twenty-five years later that the truth finally emerges.

The mystery is well told, with a twist or two as you might expect. Louisa explains her part in the story in alternating sections, as the journalist attempts to persuade former school mates to talk. The odd atmosphere is compounded by the lack of precise geographical information. The school, the nearby village, none of them have a location. Even the journalist is an unnamed outsider adding to an air of mystery.