What would you do if your wife suddenly disappears on the day of your wedding anniversary? What if the cops get involved? Would you tell them the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? After all, the most obvious suspect in such cases is the husband. Is that temptation enough to mould the facts? And where has she gone anyway? Has she been hurt, or has she been kidnapped?

Gillian Flynn was born on February 24, 1971 in Kansas City to parents who were both professors. Right from childhood, Flynn was a shy child and spent much of her childhood reading and writing. She studied English and journalism at the University of Kansas and earned her Master’s degree in journalism at Northwestern University. Sharp Objects was her first novel, published in 2006. At the time, she was still working as a journalist at Entertainment Weekly. The novel won a number of awards which motivated her to write her second novel, Dark Places, in 2009. Gone Girl was published in June 2012, and proved to be Flynn’s most successful work yet – spawning a highly-successful film adaptation starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike; and arguably spawning the popular genre of ‘suburban noir’.

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And now, onto the book itself!

Gone Girl begins on the morning of Nick Dunne ’s wedding anniversary, when he notices that his wife, Amy Elliott Dunne , has disappeared from their home in North Carthage, Missouri. Nick and Amy moved from New York to Missouri, because Nick’s mother, Maureen, was diagnosed with stage four cancer, about a year ago. Amy, being a native New Yorker herself, was not thrilled about the decision her husband made without even consulting her. The move exacerbated the stress created by both Amy and Nick recently losing their jobs. Nick starts working at a bar he owns in partnership with his twin sister Margo. He also starts teaching at the local community college. Amy never found work or made friends within their new community and felt lonely at their new place. Their marriage was in crisis at the point that she disappeared.
Nick is broken to discover his wife’s disappearance. Alarmed by possible signs of her having been kidnapped, he immediately calls the cops. Before long, his house is swarmed by cops and reporters. Amy’s fame, due to being the inspiration for the Amazing Amy book series written by her parents Rand and Marybeth Elliott , certainly contributes to the media hysteria surrounding her disappearance. The quest to find who might have hurt or abducted Amy raise a number of suspects from her past – including ex-boyfriends and an obsessed fan of the Amazing Amy books.
While initially, people are supportive towards Nick, public opinion starts to turn against him once his own dirty secrets start to emerge. He’s soon surrounded by a storm of questions, and police suspicion.

A still from the movie Gone Girl

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Needless to say, that all this barely scratches the surface of the true story of what happened to Amy and what Nick had to do with it, if anything. Just know that there’s an insane twist at the midpoint of the novel that completely upends everything you know about the characters thus far, and fundamentally changes your expectations of where the story’s going.
The twists and turns of the plot notwithstanding, the appeal of Gone Girl, and the many other ‘suburban noir’ or ‘domestic thriller’ novels it’s inspired, lies in its emphasis on elements that people can relate to in their normal lives. The darkness lurking beneath the veneer of ‘normal life’ is perversely fascinating to us, and that has contributed to the enduring popularity of stories centered around it.

Gone Girl movie trailer