Book Review: Darling Girls

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: April 23, 2024
Author: Sally Hepworth
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers | Women’s Fiction
Page Count: 352

Blurb

For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. As young girls they were rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother, Miss Fairchild, on an idyllic farming estate and given an elusive second chance at a happy family life.

But their childhood wasn’t the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. Miss Fairchild had rules. Miss Fairchild could be unpredictable. And Miss Fairchild was never, ever to be crossed. In a moment of desperation, the three broke away from Miss Fairchild and thought they were free. Even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere in the shadows of their minds. When a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses. Or are they prime suspects?

My Thoughts & Opinions

Darling Girls is my fourth Hepworth novel, and it ranks up there in the five-point scale.

The novel reminded me of Flowers in the Attic by VC Andrews which I enjoyed. The plotlines are similar — domestic suspense with smatterings of psychological abuse.

The story unfolds through multiple points of view over dual timelines…the focus being on three unrelated foster girls who bond with each other in the face of adversity — becoming “sisters” in the process. The story can be disturbing to some as there are scenes of sexual and psychological abuse.

There are numerous characters. But since the narrative unfolds primarily through three points of view, it was easy to follow along. However, there was an unknown emcee that confused me a little. But in the climactic finale, the emcee is revealed tying the whole narrative together into an unputdownable read. Five stars.

I was invited to read a DRC from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.