The Lady Vanishes

By Ethel Lina White

The ingenious classic thriller behind Hitchcock's famous film, set on a steam train travelling across 1930s Europe
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'Intrigue, mystery... Spine-chilling horror' Saturday Review
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Glamorous socialite Iris Carr is on her way back to England from a European summer holiday and looking forward to the comforts of home, when she strikes up a conversation with the kindly Miss Froy on the train to Trieste. Irene warms to her companion, and is alarmed when Miss Froy suddenly disappears from the train. Worse still, she is horrified to discover that none of the other passengers on the train will admit to having never seen such a woman.
Doubting her sanity and fearing for her life, Iris is determined to find Miss Froy before the train journey is over.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pushkin Vertigo
• Release date: Jun 20, 2024
• ISBN: 9781805335184

Ethel Lina White

Born in Abergavenny in 1876, Ethel Lina White was one of the best known crime writers of the 1930s and 40s, ranking alongside greats of the Golden Age such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. Many of her thrillers were adapted for film, most famously The Lady Vanishes (originally titled The Wheel Spins) which became one of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest triumphs as a director.

Reviews for The Lady Vanishes

[john257hopper · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This little known 1930s novel was the inspiration for the famous Hitchcock film The Lady Vanishes and its two remakes. I was inspired to seek it out and read it after watching the 2013 TV movie version last week (actually closer in some ways to the original novel than was the Hitchcock film). The story is fairly well known: young socialite Iris Carr is travelling by train across Europe and befriends a middle aged spinster, Miss Froy. When she wakes up, Miss Froy has disappeared and the other passengers deny she ever existed. Iris's desperate attempts to establish the truth of what she remembers and what has happened to Miss Froy are quite gripping to read, even knowing the course of events and eventual outcome. The novel contains more backstory about Miss Froy and many of the other characters than do any of the screen versions, though I felt this broke the narrative tension a bit too much. A good read.

[clue_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Iris Carr is traveling home from a vacation alone when she meets Miss Froy, an English governess, on the train. When Iris wakes from a nap, Miss Froy is gone and doesn't return. Though Iris searches for her, she can't be found. Even worse, the other passengers deny ever seeing her. Add in two rather sinister passengers and it does seem something untoward has occurred. The book's slow pace aggravated me but at the same time added to the tension.

[thornton37814 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Iris Carr boards a train in Europe where she meets Miss Froy, an English governess. Soon Miss Froy cannot be found. The other passengers do not seem bothered by the disappearance and begin thinking Iris suffers delusions. An imposter appears, but Iris recognizes the facial discrepancies, and realizes a conspiracy is afoot and Miss Froy's life endangered. I watched Hitchcock's take on this several years ago, so the film came to mind as I read it. The book is as excellent as the film.

[crazymamie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I picked this one up a few years ago in a Kindle sale as it had been recommended by Heather. Recently Judy read and reviewed it, which reminded me that I had it in the stacks. Written in 1936, it was made into an Alfred Hitchcock movie in 1938. I adore Alfred Hitchcock movies, and his version of this is good, but I think the book is better.This moves slowly and the set up made me slightly crazy because there is a lot of nothing happening at first. But then it pays off because you can understand why no one is particularly bothered to take the main character's side. Iris Carr is vacationing in an unnamed European city - she is with a group of friends at the beginning, and they are rude and self-indulgent, making it difficult for the other guests at the hotel where they are staying to enjoy themselves. When her friends depart, Iris remains behind for another day to get some time to herself - she is not obnoxious on her own, but she is also not very nice. The next day while she is waiting for her train, something happens and she passes out - is it heat stoke, was she hit from behind? She comes around just in time to catch her train - things are very confusing for her because she does not speak the language. Once on the train, she meets up with another English lady and is relieved to have someone to talk with, even though she finds her slightly boring. Iris falls asleep, and when she wakes up, the lady is missing. Where has she gone and why will no one admit that she was there? This is a slowly unfolding mystery, and the author does a good job of creating tension and making you wonder if the main character is a reliable witness. I thought it could have been shorter and the pacing could have been better, but it was well done.

[cbl_tn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A crowd of young people vacationing in a remote Eastern European hotel make themselves disagreeable to their bellow British guests. After an unpleasant scene with another member of the crowd, Iris Carr decides to remain behind and make her own way back to England. On the train home, Iris is befriended by a compatriot in her compartment – a Miss Froy. At first Iris isn't worried when Miss Froy disappears from the compartment while Iris dozes, but eventually Iris becomes alarmed when Miss Froy fails to return. When she raises an alarm, the other passengers all deny the existence of a Miss Froy. Can Iris get anyone to believe her story in time to help Miss Froy? Or is she imagining the whole thing?The British characters have an air of cultural superiority common in literature of this era. Although I usually find this to be an unappealing characteristic, in this case it seems to be an essential to the plot. I found it difficult to completely identify with any of the characters. Iris isn't particularly likeable, nor are her fellow travelers. I almost always like books better than their film adaptations, but this is one of the rare exceptions where I prefer the movie. The film adaptation doesn't change the plot drastically, and the main characters are portrayed more sympathetically.

[jot_49 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A much more eccentric mystery novel than a knowledge of Hitchcock's 'The Lady Vanishes' would lead one to expect. White's novelistic career comes late in her life, so her choice of protagonist, a not-at-all ''obviously likeable' young woman, is surprising. Miss Froy is not exactly the loveable, sage old woman of the film. Very much worth reading, while distinctly 'off kilter'--oddly, one can see why the publishers invoke, though to little real purpose, Poe.