Book Review: The Vanishing Year by Kate Moretti

The Vanishing Year
Kate Moretti
Atria Books, September 2016
ISBN 978-1-5011-1843-2
Trade Paperback

From the publisher—

Zoe Whittaker is living a charmed life. She is the beautiful young wife to handsome, charming Wall Street tycoon Henry Whittaker. She is a member of Manhattan’s social elite. She is on the board of one of the city’s most prestigious philanthropic organizations. She has a perfect Tribeca penthouse in the city and a gorgeous lake house in the country. The finest wine, the most up-to-date fashion, and the most luxurious vacations are all at her fingertips.

What no one knows is that five years ago, Zoe’s life was in danger. Back then, Zoe wasn’t Zoe at all. Now her secrets are coming back to haunt her.

As the past and present collide, Zoe must decide who she can trust before she—whoever she is—vanishes completely.

From the opening lines, we learn that Zoe has lived with uncertainty her whole life. Yes, she had a true mother who fills her thoughts every day but it’s the girl who left her behind at birth that Zoe dreams about now, wondering about what might have happened. Sometimes, these dreams are violent, and it’s a far cry from such a start in life to the world she inhabits now of wealth and prestige. Zoe’s husband, Henry, expects her to take her place in society and she does, reluctantly, that reluctance perhaps coming from more than just shyness.

The tone set by Ms. Moretti is just slightly ominous in those first pages but, in her capable hands, the tension ratchets up until I started getting those creepy crawlies, the kind that ripple up and down your spine, and I couldn’t sleep for needing to know what was coming next. The secrets and lies, the twists and turns, kept showing up without warning and leaving little time to contemplate their true meaning before the next surprise. It’s the unknown that really frightens, isn’t it? And, yet, here the known will become even darker. more of a morass, than Zoe could possibly imagine.

It all begins when someone calls her “Hilary”.

If I have anything negative to say at all, it’s that a cast of characters would have been welcome, considering the plethora of players. Kate Moretti is a writer to be reckoned with, one who wrapped her story around me until I could barely breathe but, when all was said and done, she left me with good feelings and wanting more. This is a writer who knows how to tell a tale 😉

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, September 2016.

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Purchase Links:

Barnes & Noble // Kobo // Books-a-Million // Apple
Amazon // Blio // Google // IndieBound

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About the Author

By Pooja Dhar at PR Photograph

Kate Moretti is the New York Times bestselling author of Thought I Knew You, Binds That Tie, and While You Were Gone. She lives in eastern Pennsylvania with her husband and two kids. Find out more at katemoretti.com, or follow her on Twitter (@KateMoretti1) or Facebook (KateMorettiWriter).

Find Kate online:

Website: www.katemoretti.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katemorettiwriter

Twitter: @KateMoretti1

Instagram: @katemoretti1

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“Kate Moretti’s The Vanishing Year is a Rebecca
for the modern age—a novel filled with doubts and
deception, secrets and history. Society wife Zoe Whitaker
must confront the age-old question of whether
forgetting our past dooms us to endless repetition–
and more heartache and danger than one woman can bear.”
—Jenny Milchman, author of As Night Falls

“The Vanishing Year is more than an engaging tale of utter
betrayal. It’s an intricate dance of realities, full of twists
and turns you won’t see coming. Kate Moretti has outdone
herself. You’ll miss your bedtime, guaranteed.” —J.T. Ellison,
New York Times bestselling author of No One Knows