Darling Girls: A Novel

4.2 | 12,587 ratings

Price: 13.12

Last update: 07-04-2024

About this item

SISTERS, SECRETS, LOVE, AND MURDER... Sally Hepworth’s new novel has it all.

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?

A thrilling work of sisterhood, secrets, love, and murder by New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

Jordan

Dark, genius story that must be read!

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2024

What… what just happened?!
I knew within the first chapter of this book that it would be my favorite of 2023, and I was dead on.

I know I say this every time, but Sally Hepworth has truly outdone herself. I finished this book in about 6 hours between yesterday and today, I absolutely could not put it down.
The events that unfold in this book are so heartbreaking, so harrowing, so unbelievably believable that my chest physically hurts. I cried - no sobbed - more than once and had to take a few deep breaths.

Sally’s characters are always extremely well rounded, full of soul and depth and this set of characters are absolutely no exception. I found parts of myself in each of the girls Jessica, Norah, Alicia. That is always such a sacred thing to find in the pages of a book, parts of yourself.

Is anyone familiar with that horrible woman in Harry Potter that wears pink? She took over for Dumbledore and just honestly was the worst. I hate her ???? I have a very visceral reaction to that woman … and I think I hate Holly Fairchild more. My growing list of fictional characters I hate: Holly Fairchild, the pink witch from Harry Potter, And Rose (from The Good Sister- also from Sally Hepworth)

Sally, you have absolutely outdone yourself with this one! Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this masterpiece early, I cannot wait to scream its praises for the rest of time! It is always such an honor!

This book is dark, it is so well done, and it is going to be dwelling deep within my mind and soul for a very long time.

hopeless4romance

Psychological Thriller

Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2024

This was a twisty and suspense-filled psychological thriller that had me rooting for the sisters. I had a great time trying to follow along with this highly entertaining read that masterfully switched between the past and present.

mnmloveli

OUTSTANDING !

Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2024

24 - 5 STARS

DESCRIPTION : From the outside, Alicia, Jessica and Norah might seem like ordinary women you'd meet on the street any day of the week. Sure, Jessica has a little OCD and Norah has some anger issues. And Alicia has low self-esteem that manifests itself in surprising ways. But these three have a bond that no one can fully understand. It's a bond that takes them back decades, to when they were girls, and they lived on a farm with a foster mother named Miss Fairchild. 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 they thought they were free. But the reach of someone with such power is long, and even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere in the shadows of their minds. When bones are discovered buried under the farmhouse of their childhood, they are called in by the police to tell what they know. Against their will, they are brought back to the past, and to Miss Fairchild herself. DARLING GIRLS asks the questions: what are we capable of when in a desperate place? How much can we hide the demons inside us? And can the past ever truly be buried?

REVIEW :

Previous books by this author were The Soulmate (‘23 - 3 Stars), The Younger Wife (‘22 - 4 Stars), The Good Sister (‘21 - 5 Stars), The Mother-in-law (‘19 - 4 Stars) and The Family Next Door (‘18 - 4 Stars).

Sales $11.99 (-3.00 Kindle Rewards); reg 14.99

The author is great at getting you interested in the characters right away. For anyone that child abuse is a trigger, you should definitely skip this one. Quite a few times in the book something was mentioned almost as an afterthought that made me go “oh no” or “a oh”; simple sentences that could be easily missed. I loved how the whole story unfolded; very original. Even though there was child abuse, I loved how the 3 main characters bonded together forever and worked through their awful beginnings. I went with 5 Stars because of the never-ending connection of the main characters, even though they were so different. I definitely loved these girls and would love to see another book with them.

Rebecca L. Runkles

Interesting but clumsy

Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2024

Unrelated to the content, but for a $14.99 Kindle book there were SO many errors - missed or incorrect punctuation, missed words. It made the book feel self-published.

Secondly the “plot twist” of the novel had me genuinely confused through about 3/4 of the book, because of the way that story line is not its own chapter(s) but appended at the end of other character’s chapters. I was surprised the editor wouldn’t have identified this as a problem and come up with a more precise solution.

Otherwise I thought the plot and characters were interesting and the author did a good job of showing how childhood trauma can affect adults.

Michelle

Darling Girls

Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2024

Whoa!!! So many twists and turns!! Story about fostering children. Foster children are messed up! Foster parents are messed up. Everyone needs counseling!

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