Writing a Sci-Fi Black Mirror Project
Jewell reveals that she recently completed an out-of-genre project that is broadly science fiction with a 'Black Mirror' vibe, following a surprise publishing offer.
Lisa Jewell
British
Born 1968
Lisa Jewell is a British author of popular fiction. She made her debut with Ralph's Party in 1999 and followed it with Thirtynothing in 2000, so the second novel arrived only a year after the first. After The Party appeared in 2010, after an interval of about a decade, meaning her first three listed books span eleven years.
The later run opens with two novels from 2018, Then She Was Gone and Watching You; no two of the later titles share a year except that pair. The Family Upstairs followed in 2019, Invisible Girl in 2020, and None of This Is True in 2023. The most recent listed title is Don’t Let Him In, dated 2025, which extends the bibliography from 1999 to 2025 across nine books in all.
On LuvemBooks, we've reviewed 2 of Lisa Jewell's books, including None of This Is True and Then She Was Gone.
2
Books ReviewedIn Lisa Jewell's own words
Lisa Jewell joins Danielle Girard on the Killer Women podcast to discuss the characters, premise, and creation of None of This Is True.
Uploaded by Authors On The Air Global Radio Network, 2023 · Watch on YouTube ·
Also in conversation
Why Eccentric Characters Lead the Narrative
Jewell works without an outline and finds that while normal characters require heavy steering, eccentric and abnormal characters take control and drive the story forward.
Sharing Works-in-Progress with an Early Reader
Jewell recently began sharing chunks of unfinished manuscripts with a trusted reader while writing, which forces her to keep drafts tidy and view them with objective distance.
Details on upcoming novel Watching You
Jewell explains that her sixteenth novel, titled Watching You, is a classic whodunit murder mystery set in a fictional Bristol-area village where voyeuristic neighbors obsessively track and observe one another.
Film and TV adaptation updates
Jewell shares that I Found You was optioned by the Swedish production company behind The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, while 31 Dream Street was adapted into a screenplay by a British writer-actor and shopped to talent.
Desk-switching daily writing routine
Jewell describes a psychological trick for her workday where she sits on one side of her dining table to browse the internet and social media, then moves her laptop to the other side around midday to write her mandatory 1,000 words.
Rewriting the ending of Then She Was Gone
Jewell wrote the entire novel working toward an ending she expected to feel emotional and cathartic, but her editor insisted it was the wrong resolution and urged her to write the alternate outcome instead.
Also in this interview
None of This Is True
4.2/5
reader rating · 124,236 ratingsNone of This Is True is a 2023 thriller by British author Lisa Jewell, following podcaster Alix Summer and Josie Fair — birthday twins who meet by chance — as Alix's decision to document Josie's dark, controlled life pulls her into escalating danger. Its propulsive pacing and deeply unsettling subject matter have made it one of Jewell's most talked-about novels.
Reviewed Oct 11, 2026
Then She Was Gone
4.4/5
reader rating · 152,325 ratingsThen She Was Gone is a tightly constructed psychological thriller in which Lisa Jewell traces one mother's decade-long grief over a missing daughter — and the terrifying answers that surface when she finally stops running from the past.
Reviewed Jun 13, 2026
Ask LuvemBooks about Lisa Jewell
Lisa Jewell is a British author of popular fiction whose thrillers — like Then She Was Gone, which follows a mother's decade-long grief after her daughter's disappearance — are built on ordinary lives fractured by buried secrets. We've reviewed 2 of her novels on LuvemBooks, and both lean into unsettling psychological tension: in None of This Is True, a podcaster's chance meeting with a stranger spirals into danger. Readers on Amazon rate Then She Was Gone at 4.4/5, with None of This Is True close behind at 4.2/5.
- Where should I start?
- Then She Was Gone is the best starting point — it's a tightly constructed psychological thriller about a mother's decade-long grief over her missing daughter and the terrifying answers that emerge when she stops running from the past. It's also her highest-rated book among our reviewed titles, with a 4.4/5 reader rating from over 152,000 Amazon ratings.
- What's their writing style?
- Based on the books we've reviewed, Lisa Jewell writes tightly constructed, propulsive psychological thrillers rooted in emotional stakes — grief, disappearance, and dangerous obsession. Then She Was Gone is built around long-suppressed grief finally surfacing, while None of This Is True pairs that propulsion with deeply unsettling subject matter and a documentary-within-the-story framing.
- Books we've reviewed
- We've reviewed 2 Lisa Jewell books. Then She Was Gone (4.4/5 reader rating) is a tightly constructed psychological thriller about a mother facing the truth behind her daughter's disappearance. None of This Is True (4.2/5 reader rating) follows a podcaster whose chance meeting with a birthday twin turns into escalating danger.
- How do their books compare?
- Both reviewed books are psychological thrillers, but they take different routes to tension. Then She Was Gone is built around long-term grief and buried secrets about a missing daughter, earning a 4.4/5 reader rating. None of This Is True is a more contemporary setup — a podcaster documenting a stranger's dark life — and is praised for its propulsive pacing and deeply unsettling subject matter, with a 4.2/5 reader rating.
- What genre do they write?
- Lisa Jewell is broadly described as an author of popular fiction, but the books we've reviewed are both psychological thrillers. Her thrillers focus on missing persons, buried secrets, and strangers with hidden, dangerous lives rather than procedural crime.
- What should I read after Then She Was Gone?
- None of This Is True is the logical next read — it's Jewell's 2023 thriller about podcaster Alix Summer, whose decision to document the dark, controlled life of Josie Fair pulls her into escalating danger. Like Then She Was Gone, it trades in psychological unease, but with a contemporary podcast framing and propulsive pacing.
Who is Lisa Jewell?
Where should I start?
What's their writing style?
Books we've reviewed
How do their books compare?
What genre do they write?
What should I read after Then She Was Gone?
Who is Lisa Jewell?
Lisa Jewell is a British author of popular fiction, best known for the psychological thriller Then She Was Gone. Her recent work has made her one of the most talked-about voices in contemporary thrillers, with None of This Is True drawing particular attention for its propulsive pacing and unsettling subject matter.
Follow up
What is Lisa Jewell's most famous book?
What nationality is Lisa Jewell?
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