Darling girls / Sally Hepworth.

By:

Hepworth, Sally [author.]

Material type: Text

TextPublisher: New York : St. Martin's Press, 2024Copyright date: A2024Edition: First EditionDescription: pages cmContent type:

text

Media type:

unmediated

Carrier type:

volume

ISBN:

9781250284525
125028452X

Genre/Form:

DDC classification:

823/.92 23/eng/20231205

LOC classification:

PR9619.4.H48 D37 2024

Summary: "Get ready for another twisty domestic thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of THE SOULMATE. 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 littleOCD 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 livedon 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 thoughtthey 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 inby 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? Andcan the past ever truly be buried?"-- Provided by publisher.

List(s) this item appears in: New Adult Fiction Fiction notes: Click to open in new window

Average rating: 0.0 (0 votes)

Holdings
Item type	Current library	Collection	Shelving location	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode	Item holds
Adult Book	Phillipsburg Free Public Library	Adult Fiction	New Books	FIC HEPWORTH	Checked out	05/14/2024	36748002555623

Total holds: 2

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

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 page-turner of sisterhood, secrets, love, and murder by New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth.

"Sally Hepworth writes characters you love." --LIANE MORIARTY, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF APPLES NEVER FALL

"Get ready for another twisty domestic thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of THE SOULMATE. 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 littleOCD 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 livedon 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 thoughtthey 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 inby 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? Andcan the past ever truly be buried?"-- Provided by publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Australia's broken foster care system comes into focus through the eyes of three women who've endured it in this bleak domestic thriller from bestseller Hepworth (The Soulmate). Jessica Lovat is a professional home organizer with obsessive tendencies; Norah Anderson takes other people's employment competency tests for money and struggles with anger issues; and social worker Alicia Connelly's low self-esteem keeps her locked away from the world. Though not blood-related, the trio call themselves "sisters" since living together at Wild Meadows Farm under the watch of their abusive foster mother, Holly Fairchild. Now, 25 years later, Wild Meadows has been sold, leading to the discovery of human remains buried under the farmhouse, and authorities bring Jessica, Norah, and Alicia from Melbourne to the crime scene in Port Agatha for questioning. Hepworth toggles viewpoints and timelines, revealing how each girl was placed at Wild Meadows and showcasing Holly's erratic--possibly even murderous--behavior. While Hepworth's vivid prose helps to maintain the plot's momentum, the unrelenting descriptions of child abuse grow grim and tiresome, and the payoff to the core mystery is deflating. Hepworth has done much better in the past. Agent: Rob Weisbach, Rob Weisbach Creative. (Apr.)

Booklist Review

When human remains are discovered at the foster home where Jessica, Norah, and Alicia were raised, they are forced to confront the harrowing mystery they've each sacrificed happiness to avoid. All three landed at Wild Meadows after losing their parents, and Miss Fairchild's beautiful farm seemed like a place to heal. Instead, beneath the perfect image that Miss Fairchild required them to present, they suffered indentured servitude, starvation, and psychological torture. Still, the girls were determined to stick it out together--until Miss Fairchild adopted a toddler and they had to go to the police to protect her. But when the police searched Wild Meadows, there was no trace of a toddler, and Miss Fairchild denied the child's existence. Fifteen years later, the police want them to dredge up Wild Meadows' bad old days while Miss Fairchild sweetly feigns sympathy for her wayward foster daughters whose trauma undoubtedly bred violence. As in The Soulmate (2022), compelling themes of trust, betrayal, and brittle façades circle the sisters' relationships, raising the stakes of the investigation painfully high.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Hepworth's fans will be primed for her newest unnerving thriller.