The Lady Vanishes

The ingenious classic thriller behind Hitchcock's famous film, set on a steam train travelling across 1930s Europe 'Intrigue, mystery... Spine-chilling horror' Saturday Review 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.

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.