The recap
On the morning of their fifth wedding anniversary, Amy Dunne vanishes from the rented house in North Carthage, Missouri, where she and her husband Nick landed after both lost their magazine jobs in New York. The living room shows signs of a struggle, detectives begin asking pointed questions, and the cable-news circus soon arrives to pick over every detail of the couple's life. Nick behaves strangely, evasive with the police and oddly composed in front of the cameras, while entries from Amy's diary sketch a very different picture of the marriage. Told in alternating voices, Flynn's novel is a portrait of two clever, wounded people who know exactly how to perform for each other and for an audience. It is also a sharp satire of recession-era America, tabloid media and the stories couples tell about themselves. Dark, funny and fiendishly well constructed, it is a thriller that keeps you reassessing everything you thought you knew.
Why read it
For readers who like their suspense sharp, morally murky and laced with dark wit, and who enjoy arguing about a book long after the last page.
Fun facts
- 01
Flynn was a television critic at Entertainment Weekly until she was laid off in 2008; a few years later, Gone Girl appeared on the cover of that same magazine.
- 02
Nick and Amy's lost writing jobs echo the recession-era layoffs Flynn experienced herself and watched sweep through magazine journalism.
- 03
By December 2012 the novel had sold about 1.8 million copies and spent 20 consecutive weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists.
- 04
Flynn wrote the screenplay for David Fincher's 2014 film adaptation, and Rosamund Pike's performance as Amy earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.
