A few months ago, I watched the 2018 miniseries based on this novel and really enjoyed it. Since then, I have wanted to read the novel and when my daughter gave me a gift card from Barnes & Noble for my birthday, I decided to use part of it to get the book. I know the novel was also made into a well-received movie in 1975 that I will also be keeping an eye out for.
The novel is set in 1900 in Australia. On Valentine's Day, a group of female students from a girls' boarding school go on a picnic to a nearby local rock formation called Hanging Rock. During the picnic, four of the girls go on a hike up to the formation and three of the girls vanish inexplicably along with one of the governesses from the boarding school. The novel goes on to delve into how these disappearances affected the local community and especially the school itself including the other girls at the school and the staff and faculty. The novel is presented as if it is a true story and the author states at the front of the book: "whether it is fact or fiction, my reader must decide for themselves. As the fateful picnic took place in the year 1900, and all the characters who appear in the book are long since dead, it hardly seems important." Hanging Rock is an actual location in Australia.
So what happened to the missing girls? This is never revealed in the novel. However, the author did write a last chapter to the story explaining how it ended. But her publishers told her to cut it, so she did. The final chapter was published after her death as explained in the introduction to this edition. Also, in 1980, a book titled The Murders at Hanging Rock was published which "examined theories about what happened including a parallel universe, UFO abduction, and a gruesome murder committed by two young men at the picnic grounds." I felt the ending in the novel was the best way to go leaving the reader with a sense of the unknown and a mystery that could not be solved. Overall, an intriguing and compelling read.
The novel is set in 1900 in Australia. On Valentine's Day, a group of female students from a girls' boarding school go on a picnic to a nearby local rock formation called Hanging Rock. During the picnic, four of the girls go on a hike up to the formation and three of the girls vanish inexplicably along with one of the governesses from the boarding school. The novel goes on to delve into how these disappearances affected the local community and especially the school itself including the other girls at the school and the staff and faculty. The novel is presented as if it is a true story and the author states at the front of the book: "whether it is fact or fiction, my reader must decide for themselves. As the fateful picnic took place in the year 1900, and all the characters who appear in the book are long since dead, it hardly seems important." Hanging Rock is an actual location in Australia.
So what happened to the missing girls? This is never revealed in the novel. However, the author did write a last chapter to the story explaining how it ended. But her publishers told her to cut it, so she did. The final chapter was published after her death as explained in the introduction to this edition. Also, in 1980, a book titled The Murders at Hanging Rock was published which "examined theories about what happened including a parallel universe, UFO abduction, and a gruesome murder committed by two young men at the picnic grounds." I felt the ending in the novel was the best way to go leaving the reader with a sense of the unknown and a mystery that could not be solved. Overall, an intriguing and compelling read.
