From Vogue Amsterdam columnist Sarah Meuleman comes a haunting debut novel about second chances and the lengths one young woman will go to keep her dark secrets sealed. In the Belgian hamlet of Bachte-Maria-Leerne, residents are shaken by the disappearance of several young girls, leading to a state of emergency. Even after the killer is caught, many girls remain missing, prompting political protests. At St. Martin's High, while students react with morbid fascination, twelve-year-old Sophie feels a profound fear and insecurity. The only time she feels safe is with her best friend, Hannah, whose life is vastly different from her own. As Hannah becomes involved with a popular teenage club and starts dating the charming Damian, Sophie feels increasingly isolated. Before they can reconcile, Sophie vanishes after a high school dance. Years later, Hannah, now a successful columnist in New York City, yearns for a deeper subject to write about. She quits her job and moves to Brooklyn, where she begins researching the lives of three famous authors—Agatha Christie, Barbara Follett, and Virginia Woolf—who also disappeared without a trace. As Hannah uncovers their stories, she confronts her own unresolved questions about Sophie’s fate. This gripping narrative takes readers from the Flemish countryside to New York, blending thriller elements with a tender coming-of-age story, leaving them to ponder Sophie’s mysterious disappearance until th
