The Lady Vanishes by Ethel Lina White

While on a train across Europe, Iris Carr befriends a Miss Froy who is a fellow English woman. After awaking from a nap, Iris’ friend is inexplicably missing and now everyone tells her there is no such person. Find out who is right.

Setting: Europe in the mid-1930s. It’s never specifically said where.

Plot: Iris Carr and a group of her friends are vacationing in a remote corner of Europe. While at the hotel, they drink too much, talk too loudly, and in general are obnoxious. When the group returns home to England, Iris opts to stay a day or so later.

Now alone, Iris boards a train that will take her through several countries in her journey back to England. Not feeling well, Iris is befriended by a middle-aged governess named Miss Froy. After a nap on the train, Iris awakes to find her friend gone. The lady has vanished! In trying to find her, Iris is told by multiple persons there was no such person on the train. Iris clings to the belief that indeed Miss Froy does exist and has been kidnapped. As Iris deperately tries to rescue Miss Froy, she becomes less self-centered and more aware of the value of every person. Read the book to find out if Miss Froy was real or a figment of Iris’ imagination.

Family Corner: The book is very inoffensive.

Summary: This is one of those novels in which the suspense increases as you read it. Along with Iris Carr, you find yourself becoming frantic as to what could have become of her friend Miss Froy. That mystery in and of itself is very enjoyable, but, in addition, Iris is learning a lesson. When you first meet her, she seems to have it all. She is attractive and financially well-off. Unfortunately, she’s also shallow and lacking compassion. Once separated from her crowd of friends, she finds out how she (and her friends) have been viewed. In her search for her friend, she starts to rethink her world view. The persistent theme of the book is that everyone has value regardless of a person’s looks, age, or station in life. I heartily recommend this book.

Book vs. Movie: There is an an Alfred Hitchcock movie based on this book. In fact, the book’s original title was The Wheel Spins, but it’s since been changed to match the movie’s name. Admittedly, The Lady Vanishes is a better title, but in every other way, the book is better. The only elements similar to the book that the movie contains are a few of the characters and that someone seems to disappear. I am normally a fan of Alfred Hitchcock movies, but I felt this 1938 movie was not one of his better ones. The story was hard to follow and the ending strained credulity. To my surprise, when I looked up reviews on the movie, it gets consistently high ratings so take my review with a grain of salt.