Darling Girls

WOW!!! Sally Hepworth has officially become the author whose title I look forward to most every year, and again I was not disappointed. I could not put down Darling Girls. The characters were all immediately likeable / relatable to me. Even with the story's villain Miss Fairchild, I found myself feeling sympathy for her during her perspective chapters.

Darling Girls follows the story of three foster sisters who grew up in a nightmare home on a farmstead outside of Melbourne. They were considered “lucky” to have been placed with young, single Miss Fairchild who had inherited the farmstead and needed the money from fostering children to keep everything afloat. The story starts with the sisters all grown up and seemingly doing okay, despite their traumatic and abusive upbringing, but unraveling in their own way when they're told chilling news that mysterious dead body has been discovered in the terrible home they grew up in.

Jessica is the most OCD, organized and successful of the sisters and works as a home organizer. But it's revealed she has a bit of an addiction problem and is caught stealing pills from wealthy clients' medicine cabinets. Norah is an intelligent and gorgeous bomb shell, but clearly has unresolved anger issues. Alicia is a caring social worker who helps ensure foster kids are actually placed and cared for in good homes, but she struggles with relationships and intimacy of her own. The sisters come together to discover the dark truth behind the bones .

Highly recommend as I could not put this book down. Hepworth explores important psychological themes around attachment, as well as the dark moments of physical and emotional abuse. It was heart warming to see how the sisters' relationship formed and they grew to support one another out of this horrible situation. The book's ending was satisfying, even the last twist about Miss Fairchild.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC copy. Definitely one of my favorites from Hepworth, and already looking forward to more.