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The Unknown

by Riley Sager

A century-old disappearance returns to the spotlight

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AlbakiReads Editorial

A century-old disappearance returns to the spotlight

In 1926, five women vanished from New Avalon, a Vermont island once home to a community of spiritual mediums. A century later, struggling actress Marin Keane arrives there for a week of research connected to a film about the unsolved case—and finds the old mystery repeating itself. The island’s past is marked by conflicting explanations and a diary left by one of the missing women. The setup brings a historical disappearance into the present through a film production, with New Avalon’s isolation and unresolved history at the center of the suspense.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in suspense built around an unsolved disappearance.
  • Those drawn to isolated island settings and mysteries with a historical dimension.
  • Readers who enjoy stories involving films and the people connected to their making.

Themes

Unsolved disappearancesSpiritual mediums and communal lifeThe past resurfacing in the presentFilm and historical mystery

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

In 1926, five women disappeared from a remote island in Vermont. Now, one hundred years later, it's happening again.

Struggling actress Marin Keane is shocked when she lands a role in a major motion picture about the unsolved mystery of New Avalon, an island on sprawling Lake Faraday in Vermont. She's even more surprised when she learns that the role requires a weeklong research trip to that very spot.

Because New Avalon isn't your ordinary island. A century ago, it was a commune for spiritual mediums--until they all vanished in 1926. The only trace of them was five dresses hanging from the branches of an old oak tree in the middle of the island, one for each missing woman. Some locals say they simply left. Others think they were murdered. But the prevailing opinion, thanks to a diary left behind by one of the vanished, a young woman named Daisy Rue, is that a s
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