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The Girl Who Wasn’t There

Book Synopsis

And we’re going to live here, happily ever after, just like a fairy tale.’

When Dad tells Luna and her little sister Aurora that they’re moving to live in a real tower, it’s almost like they’ve stepped inside a fairytale.

But everything is not as magical as it first seems. The tower needs patching up, Dad still doesn’t have a job and they’re not even allowed in the room up at the very top.

When it’s time to start at their new school, Luna quickly finds a friend, but six-year-old Aurora absolutely hates the children in her class. She prefers to spend her time with her imaginary friend Tansy. Aurora’s make-belief life causes problems for them all – and it seems like Aurora really believes Tansy exists…

Is there really a curse on the tower – and will Luna be able to break it?

A spine-tingling tale from the bestselling Jacqueline Wilson.

Our Review Panel says...

A fabulous new read from Jacqueline Wilson.

One day, Luna and her younger sister Aurora are told by their dad that they are moving into a fairy-tale tower far away in the countryside. However, the excitement soon starts to ebb away as they realise that their new life is not the fairy-tale they expect. The tower needs major renovations so they have to live in a small caravan, Luna finds it hard to make friends at her new school and Aurora is starting school for the first time and struggles to settle until she makes friends with Tansy. Aurora has a brilliant imagination but soon her make-believe ways get her and her family in bother when an old story about the tower starts to entwine into the present.

Ever since I was a little girl, I have always enjoyed reading Jacqueline Wilson’s stories and therefore I was really excited to read her latest masterpiece. This mild ghost story was easy to read and hard to put down. The characters were easy to get to know and as the story unravelled you were left wanting to know more about the tower and more about the mysterious Tansy.

The story concluded in a satisfying and spooky way, and is paired with a final illustration. There were a few illustrations dotted throughout the book, which added detail to the read and broke up the story nicely. The story would be suitable for Key Stage 2 and would be fantastic as a class reader to read for pleasure.