This book was a different read and dealt with a horrible topic very well. The story starts with Lane Roanoke who has just found out her mum Camilla has committed suicide. Lane is sent to live with family she has never met. Her grandparents and cousin Allegra. We find out that the Roanoke girls have a history of run away from home and never returning. The character of Lane grated on me at parts but the in the end I did like her. Allegra I just felt so sorry for her. Grandad and Gran were just horrible, both as bad as each other. Its hard to say I enjoyed this book because it deals with child abuse but it was an interesting story and I would read more by this author.

To say this book is dark is an understatement. However you are drawn into the secrets of the generations of Roanoke girls to the point that you want to shout at them. I am not going to give spoilers, but despite knowing or guessing the secret early on, you simply have to finish the book. It does not end predictably. You can smell the kansas heat, the horses, and the sweat. Vividly written.

How I loved this book. The still, suffocating Kansas heat, the dark secret, you are drawn in and unable to look away, even as you want to scream.

Gothic tale of damaged family life in the heart of America.

I loved the writing: atmospheres, people and places felt beautifully real for the most part.
However, it strained my powers of suspending disbelief to find it credible that SPOILER ALERT Yates Roanoke was so handsome and charismatic that he could seduce his sisters, daughters and granddaughters (who were also his daughters!)... and that his wife let it happen.
It didn't stop me avidly turning-pages until the end though!

At just 15 years old, Lane Roanoke finds herself alone in New York following the suicide of her seriously depressed mother. She’s not had a great life so far – indeed Lane feels as if her mother didn’t really like her.

So when an NYC social worker tells her that she has grandparents in Kansas who want her to come and live with them she is astonished. Lane’s mother had always refused to talk about her family, so she really has no knowledge or history of them.

When she gets to Kansas, what she finds is the Roanoke mansion in Osage County where her grandparents Lillian and Yates Roanoke live with their other granddaughter, 16 year old Allegra.

Allegra is a bit of a kindred spirit, full of life and mischief, who loves nothing better than a bit of fun. Lane finds that there is significance in being a Roanoke in a poor town where the Roanokee’s can play the wealthy benefactors and for the first time in her life, Lane finds that she is loved, wanted and that she can buy whatever she likes.

Yet, when we first meet Lane, she is on her way back to Roanoke after a series of dead end jobs in Los Angeles. She doesn’t really want to go back, but her cousin Allegra is missing and she feels a deep sense of guilt for having left Allegra behind when she went. So when her grandparents call her back, she reluctantly returns.

Amy Engel beautifully intertwines the past and present Roanoke, with a 10 year gap between the two. So we learn how the two teenage girls grew up together and how Allegra was yearned after by the young and straightforwardly handsome Tommy, now the local policeman. Lane was attracted by the dark and sultry Cooper; a town bad boy destined to inherit his father’s car repair workshop.

It isn’t long into the novel before we learn that Roanoke has a dark and horrible secret. It is this secret that causes the Roanoke Girls either to run or to die.

Tommy isn’t having much luck finding Allegra, but Lane knows her better than anyone and she is tenacious about finding out what happened to her cousin, helped by that knowledge and the carvings that Allegra made whenever she was upset.

What makes this novel work so well is the strong focus on characterisation and the very clear atmosphere of repression, dust and depression and the secrets that hold this family together.

Oddly Yates Roanoke is the least fleshed out of these characters, even Lillian Roanoke comes across more clearly – in her case as a cold, bitter shrew – devoid of warmth or hope.

There’s no doubt that The Roanoke Girls is a well written, dark, disturbing and grippingly compelling novel. But for all that I was left uncomfortable about what it says about women and that unsettles me more than anything.

I couldn't figure out this book as it kept alluding to a "dark secret" throughout (and the cover referred to a "twist") but the dark "secret" about the family is revealed early on so I kept reading wondering if there was more. There wasn't! I also found the parts of the main character's life that weren't in Roanoke weren't really developed, so you never got a sense of who she was in NYC and LA before and after the Roanoke years. I really like dark novels so I was looking forward to this but it was disappointing.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for my preview copy of The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel. Despite finishing this book on a wonderful holiday in the hot sun of Puglia, Italy, staying in an amazing place, I felt cold at times as I read this uncomfortable and heartbreaking book.
The subject matter is a difficult one, but, so well written as to make it a real page turner.
I can't describe this as an enjoyable read, but, it's a worthwhile one.

Engel writes a haunting novel about growing up in an old town where every person and every building hides a secret. With characters entwined in mixed morals, demeaning friends, and a dark history not easily accepted, The Roanoke Girls is a must-read regardless of it being a brooding work of astounding fiction.

When this book comes out I'm probably going to buy two copies: one to re-read until it looks like it came out of a tumble dryer, and another to keep, in immaculate condition, on my shelf.

Every now and then you come across a story that changes your perspective on life, whether its contents have shocking revelations or jaw-dropping conclusions. The Roanoke Girls is one of those.

The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel.
Beautiful.
Rich.
Mysterious.
The Roanoke girls seem to have it all. But there's a dark truth about them which is never spoken. Every girl either runs away, or dies.Lane is one of the lucky ones. When she was fifteen, over one long, hot summer at her grandparents' estate in rural Kansas, she found out what it really means to be a Roanoke girl. Lane ran, far and fast. Until eleven years later, when her cousin Allegra goes missing - and Lane has no choice but to go back.She is a Roanoke girl.
Is she strong enough to escape a second time?
A very good read with good characters. 4*. Netgalley and hodder and Stoughton.

A dark, twisted thriller that you won't be able to put down. I loved it!

This is one head messer of a book. I am not sure if I would have chosen if I knew the subject matter but so glad I didn't and read this. The writing is stunning. So atmospheric, you can feel the heavy humidity of small town Kansas and picture the eery house and town that the Roanoke family live in. The house has been home to generations of Roanoke's. The story follows the life and history of the two last Roanoke girls. The saga takes you from 'Then' when Lane is sent to Roanoke to join her Grandparents after the death of her mother. She is united with her cousin Allegra who has been bought up by the Grandparents after the loss of her mother. 'Now' is when Lane returns following a call from her Grandfather to say Allegra is missing. Lane has never wanted to go back - she escaped but she does return. Its a gripping read and I enjoyed this immensely.

This was such an unusual book. I loved following the history of the Roanoke girls, particularly Lane & Allegra. I enjoyed the way we went back and forth in time, which revealed the dreadful secret of the girls.
My only problem was - from the point of view of a UK reader - that we had an amazing comedian/magician called Tommy Cooper here. And calling the two young men Tommy & Cooper took a bit of getting used to! But it didn't detract from the story at all.

Both gripping and disturbing but most definitely worth a read.

This was one of the best books I've read in a long time.Gripping all the way through,sinister take of family love and the effects it has on the whole circle. Moving,sad,but beautiful in a way

Phew, this is one emotionally exhausting all consuming book. It's harrowing yet gentle, sad yet uplifting, its a contradiction in terms and I loved reading it.

It takes the deeply taboo and makes it feel like the norm. It immerses you in a world where nothing is as it should be, surrounds you with folk who live by unacceptable rules and makes you feel at home among them.

This is the story of the beautiful, rich and spoilt, daughters and granddaughters of the prosperous Roanoke family, whose wealthy lives out in the boondocks are privileged yet never to be envied.

Meet Lane, she's a Roanoke beauty, who's broken away from the luxurious family mansion to make her own way in the world. When she hears of the death of her childhood companion, her beloved cousin Allegra this means she feels obligated to return to Roanoke, the home of her rich grandparents to help her grandfather cope with his loss, for he adored her beloved Allegra too.

Lane wasn't born at the family mansion, her Mother struck out alone and Lane was raised up in a world of seedy apartments, of shifting moods, tears and depression, poverty and a distinct lack of affection. But all this ends at the age of fifteen after her mother commits suicide and Lane is offered a home where for a change she is welcome and wanted and loved. She has landed on her feet here, we think, the Roanoke girls want for nothing.

Moving fluidly back and forth in time the drowsy mesmeric quality of life one long hot summer erupts amidst secrets and lies. This is a coming of age with a difference.

The mystery which must be solved is what has happened to the missing woman Allegra? The question which are raised are what happened to

As Lane revisits her old haunts, rekindles an old flame and reluctantly becomes embroiled in the secretive and tenebrous world of Roanoke, the secrets buried beneath the veneer of respectability threaten to emerge and blow apart everything.

This is a hauntingly heartbreaking book of barely concealed deception, secretive lives and a few pretty despicable characters by whom I should have been angered but mainly pitied.

A truly compelling story, unsettling at times as dark family secrets unfold.

I found this book to be extremely dark and disturbing. The author portrayed small town Kansas beautifully, with descriptive language pulling the reader into the sultry, sweaty atmosphere. The tangled twisted plot attracted me from the first page and I was compelled to read on, turning the pages at speed to unravel the secrets of the Roanoke girls. Dark, disturbing and emotionally captivating.

I have to admit that I requested this book for one reason, and one reason only, and that is because it has the word ‘Roanoke’ in the title. It reminded me of American Horror Story (AHS) of which I am a huge fan. I am sure that Amy Engel started writing and planning this novel waaaay before the ‘AHS My Roanoke Nightmare’ television series was released but hey, you’ve got to go with what your head says sometimes; and mine was telling me to ‘read this book’.

The story begins with a girl called Lane whose mother has just committed suicide. As a result Lane goes to live with a side of her family that she didn’t even know existed. They are desperate (emphasis on the word desperate here) to welcome her into their home… pretty creepy so far, right?!

Lane has a cousin called Allegra who she befriends easily. Allegra comes across as quite mischievous so I am straight away thinking of what sort of troubles lie ahead for this duo. I am also questioning as to why Lane’s mother didn’t tell her about the ‘Roanoke Family’ and why did she flee from them all those years ago?! I couldn’t wait to find out the answers.

We fast forward a decade later and Lane, at the request of her grandfather, needs to return to Roanoke to help them as Allegra has gone missing. Lane really doesn’t want to go back, especially as she hasn’t seen or heard from any of them in years. It is almost as if she has ran away from there herself. Lane is unsure on how her grandfather even found her, but what is she hiding from?!

I loved the whole ‘then’ and ‘now’ aspect of it. Each chapter is told from either the past or the present. It keeps you on your toes and I was desperate to find out what happened in both cases – why did Lane only spend one summer at Roanoke all those years ago? And why is Allegra missing now?!

You are in for a real treat with this sinister story-telling. It is out already in hardback and e-book, but for those that prefer paperbacks it is being released this Thursday.

Amy Engel has created something different, something exotic and unique, something so well written that she has captured my attention perfectly.

Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley were kind enough to provide me with an e-copy of this book for review purposes so a huge thank you to them for keeping this little bookworm going!

My final word: Creepy.

A story which intrigues with a mixture of underlying menace and a building tension allied with a missing person mystery. It’s well written and enthralls from the get-go. The Kansas backdrop makes the reader perspire along with the characters. Whilst I have heard on the news of similar tales of incest, never has it been so endemic as with this story. Is it plausible? I guess if you turned over every stone of human depravity you might find something similar. Was there a real love for his girls or was it some sort of self justifying ploy he used gain their affection? Without lifting the lid on his thought processes we’ll never know.