Published April 25th, 2024 by Pan Macmillan
Thriller, Mystery, Crime Fiction, Women Sleuths, Literary Fiction
Welcome to my review for the unnerving and addictive Darling Girls, which is the SquadPod Book Club pick for April. Thanks to Chloe at Pan MacMillan for the copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
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ABOUT THE BOOK:
A thrilling page-turner about sisterhood, secrets, love and murder by Sally Hepworth, the New York Times bestselling author of The Soulmate and The Mother-in-Law.
It’s not just secrets buried at Wild Meadows.
For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. Rescued from their own family tragedies, they were raised by a loving foster mother on an idyllic farming estate and given an elusive second chance for a happy family life.
But the girls’ childhood wasn’t quite the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. And when a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the three foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses.
It’s time for them to return home as adults. The only question is are they innocent victims or the prime suspects for murder?
With darkly comic timing and insidiously twisting plots, Sally Hepworth’s novels are guaranteed to keep you turning the pages . . .
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MY REVIEW:
“These days everyone is familiar with Wild Meadows. The media love the juxtaposition of the whimsical country estate and the atrocities that happened there.”
This month’s SquadPod Book Club pick – and this month’s 12 months, 12 countries challenge – transports us to Australia for a compelling and suspenseful story of found family, trauma, secrets and murder.
Jessica, Norah and Alicia are sisters not by blood, but by a bond forged by their shared experience living as foster sisters at Wild Meadows. They have spent their lives being told how lucky they were to be rescued from their tragic situations and raised by a loving foster mother. But nothing was as it seemed and there are more than secrets buried at Wild Meadows. And when a body is discovered buried beneath their former home, the sisters are drawn back into their murky past and the secrets they have long tried to forget…
“It was almost as if the clock had wound back twenty-five years. They were all young girls, begging to be believed. Except this time they weren’t children. This time they were going to demand to be heard.”
Darling Girls was my introduction to Sally Hepworth. And what an introduction! The bright cover of this book hides the dark, sinister and unnerving story between its covers. Hepworth explores topics such as abuse, trauma, and unhinged psyches, permeating the story with heartrending moments alongside the heart-stopping tension and shocking twists that keep you on your toes until the very last page. I was in her thrall. Unable to shake the story from my mind and when I wasn’t reading it I was thinking about it. I needed answers. I needed to know what secrets were buried at Wild Meadows. And I was sure I had it all figured out, only for my jaw to hit the floor as Hepworth sucker-punched me at the eleventh hour for a truly spectacular finale.
“Disturbing vignettes from her childhood circled in her brain—swimming pools and basements, birthday parties and horses. And fear, of course. Lots and lots of fear.”
The story is narrated by the sisters, who each have rich backstories. They came to live at Wild Meadows due to tragic family circumstances, only to find that what was supposed to be a new beginning in a home filled with love was the beginning of a nightmare. Their foster mother, Miss Fairchild, is a sadistic and cruel monster who made my blood boil and my heart broke as I read of their torment under her so-called care. Miss Fairchild is one of the best villains of this kind that I’ve read, perfectly at odds with what a loving mother is supposed to be and sending chills down my spine when she was on the page. The sisters are each very different but share a close bond that I loved. And while they are flawed in their own ways, they are sympathetically written. But the mystery of the body buried under the house lingers ominously over every page, and while I was rooting for them, I was also aware that they were hiding something. I had various predictions over the course of the book, and, I’ll be honest, I was disappointed that it wasn’t Miss Fairchild they had done in and buried under the house.
Dark, menacing and affecting, I’d highly recommend this addictive thriller. Now I need to buy this author’s backlist ASAP.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5
TW: Child neglect, abuse, trauma, drug addiction
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Sally Hepworth is the New York Times bestselling author of nine novels, most recently Darling Girls. She is also the author of Uncharted Waters, published by Amazon Original stories in 2022. Several of Sally’s novels have been optioned for TV and film.
Sally’s novels are available around the globe in English and have been translated into over 20 languages. She has sold over one million books worldwide.
Sally lives in Melbourne, Australia with her family.
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BUY THE BOOK:
Waterstones* | Bookshop.org* | Amazon*
*These are affiliate links
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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxxxx
Emma's Biblio Treasures 