This is so lovely to read, yet so heartbreaking at the same time. Ruth and Maeve are mother and daughter and the story bounces between Ruth's girlhood and Maeve's. Ruth is repressed and experienced an awful trauma, leaving her a crumbling alcoholic. Maeve is in remission from leukemia, terrified of how fragile life is, and lonely for company and acknowledgement. Their stories of their girlhood summers intertwine, showing that the past is never truly removed from the present.

Know in advance that this involves deeply troubling grooming of a troubled teen by an older man= but also know that Healey has handled it well and that it fits into the larger plot. It's told alternately by Ruth in 1973 and her daughter Maeve in 1997, both 17 in the summers in question. In the present, Ruth has come back to her father's oppressive and decaying home with Maeve, who is recovering from leukemia, and her younger children. When Stuart, now a war photographer, turns up, he is surprised by how much Maeve not only resembles Ruth in 1973 but also Ophelia, who was the object of fascination for Ruth and friends when they were 17. There's an old mystery which pops back as a concern especially once Stuart persuades Maeve to pose for him. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. No spoilers from me but this one did surprise me.

The Ophelia Girls by Jane Healey is a recommended atmospheric novel that examines the inner lives and actions of a mother and daughter as teenagers.

Set during the summer in a large dilapidated country house in Kent, England, The Ophelia Girls follows the inner dialogue and obsessions of mother Ruth Hawkins and her seventeen-year-old daughter Maeve. The novel alternates between two time periods. In 1973, Ruth and her four friends were obsessed with pre-Raphaelite paintings and taking pictures of them recreating the drowning of Ophelia. The end of the summer results in tragedy, which is alluded to early on and not fully disclosed until later in the novel. At the same time, Ruth is struggling twenty-four years later with being a wife and mother to Maeve, a teen and young twins while living in the home she inherited from her father, with whom she was estranged.

Seventeen-year-old Maeve was ill with cancer for years. She is now in remission in 1997 and is supposed to be enjoying her teenage years, but she is unsure of how to proceed after years of fear and constant attention of her parents and medical staff. What she does realize is that she feels attracted to Stuart, a friend of her parents who is staying with them for the summer. Stuart is a well-known professional photographer purposefully acknowledges her attraction and he encourages her by giving Maeve the attention she craves. He begins to ask her to pose for photos.

The point-of-view switches between Ruth and Maeve. These are realistic characters whose personalities and action are those of authentic people. This authenticity means the characters are self-centered, secretive, aloof, inattentive, and unhappy. Maeve feels she is grown-up, but is also experiencing uncertainty. Readers will recognize immediately that her parents should have been more attentive to Maeve and realize that it wasn't hovering to know what she is feeling and doing. Stuart is who cannot be trusted and is simply creepy. It is hard to see his actions as anything but those of a predator and accept that Maeve's parents didn't realize it.

This is a beautifully written, descriptive novel with an ethereal, Gothic quality at times. The plot moves at a steady pace. The descriptions pull you in, as does the foreboding sense of impending doom and uneasiness in both time lines. The actual themes presented in the novel, however, are not necessarily enjoyable. The connection between Ruth and Stuart and then Maeve and Stuart was nefarious and unpleasant, resulting in a disagreeable, odious feeling right at the start which tainted the rest of the novel. If this was Healey's intention, she was successful, but at time it made the prose difficult to read.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HMH Books.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Google Books, and submitted to Amazon.

If nothing else, this book is beautiful due to how the scenery is laid out. The book is incredibly atmospheric because so much detail is given to the setting as is given to the characters and storyline. The reader feels the decay of the old family home, can almost catch themselves coughing on the dust, choking on the river, etc. Following mother Ruth and daughter Maeve, this is another dual timeline book where I pretty much wanted to skip one of the timelines. I recognize that this might be more an issue with me than with the author or the writing or the plot and I do try and give both timelines the same attention, but frequently I find myself much more engaged with one than another. By the end it even felt like the author wasn't interested in that timeline as the climactic event was quietly and quickly dispensed with. The timeline with Maeve follows her post-cancer recovery and is somewhat of a rapid coming of age story for her. The storyline left me feeling very uncomfortable as she gets involved in a very inappropriate relationship. While she is 17 and legal in England, Maeve is very immature but no one seems to really take the man to task for taking advantage of the situation. It all felt very stiff upper lip ignore the problem kind of response. That left a poor taste in my mouth. Despite that, in general, I did enjoy the read and I do enjoy this author. The subject matter was just a bit off for me.

In the summer of ‘73, Ruth and her friends would venture down to the riverbanks to take photos of each other and reenact the ill-fated Ophelia’s drowning. However, as their tableaus became increasingly more elaborate, things went horribly wrong and their summer ended in tragedy.

24 years later, Ruth returns to her old family home with her sickly seventeen-year-old daughter Maeve. There Maeve meets her mother’s old photographer friend who asks her to start modeling for him in secret, and their relationship takes a sordid turn.

Alternating between the mother and daughter’s perspective, the past and present collide as Ruth’s memories begin to resurface.

Lyrical and evocative, Ophelia Girls by Jane Healey is an atmospheric read that transports you to a lazy summer day. This book is wonderful and breathtakingly gorgeous at the sentence level. However, it’s in the execution of its themes where the story drops the ball.

Perhaps because Shakespeare and Romanticism are my areas of study, I came into this book with high expectations, so I was ultimately disappointed that this book didn’t delve deeper into Ophelia’s character and draw further parallels between Ophelia’s grief and the characters’ own beyond a superficial level.

Lastly, the explanation for what happened in the summer of ’73—one of the biggest underlying mysteries of the story—felt quickly shoehorned in and treated as an anticlimactic afterthought.

All in all, Ophelia Girls is a melancholic coming-of-age story about our obsession with youth. It was filled with so much promise and potential, which only makes its half-baked ideas all the more frustrating.

In the summer of 1973, Ruth and her friends spend their time in the river pretending to be the drowning Ophelia and photographing the beauty and tragedy of the tableau. By summer’s end, one of the Ophelia girls will succumb to real tragedy.

Years later, Ruth returns with her own family to the once grand home she grew up in that is now beginning to crumble. Her young twins keep her busy but she cannot settle into a sense of calm even though her oldest daughter, seventeen-year-old Maeve, is in cancer remission and can be a typical teen finally.
Ruth’s childhood friend Stuart, now an adventurous war photographer, has also returned to the countryside and is showing Maeve the attention she craves. But this dangerous flirtation causes old secrets and obsessions to rise to the surface.

Alternating between two fateful summers in the lives of mother and daughter, The Ophelia Girls is a coming of age novel with a gothic vibe; romanticizing youth, obsession, desire, and the flirtation and thrill of secrets with the complicated bonds of family and their influence over our lives.

Thanks to Mariner Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The Ophelia Girls is scheduled for release on August 10, 2021.

This was an incredibly derivative novel. The story lacks twists, momentum, mystery. The whole thing involving Ruth and her friends never goes anywhere. Maeve's entire personality is that she had cancer which is frustrating as it reduces her entire character to the fact that she was ill. As if that would cancel out any personality traits. The thing involving Stuart was hackneyed and blergh. That the majority of the novel portrays gay characters as repressed is also annoying. Ruth goes on to marry a man and her father was preying on a man who would go on to prey on her own daughter. Really?
One word: banal.

The first thing I noticed when I started this novel was the same lyrical writing style that I fell in love with in The Animals at Lockwood Manor. The long, flowing descriptions pick me out of reality and transport me straight into that world.

This is a captivating story of obsession- with people, art, memories, and the romanticism that comes as a result of this. The use of symbolism was beautifully done, with references to pre-Raphaelite paintings, Shakespeare, and photography. It’s a bold exploration of tragedy, trauma, and sexuality.

Whilst this book made me uncomfortable at times, it was also addictive, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it when I wasn’t reading. This is definitely a book that’s going to stick with me for a long time.

When I think of summer reads, I think of up-lit and romance, but this is the perfect darker summer read if those sorts of books are not your thing, and I’m dying to discuss this if you do pick it up!

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Netgalley for sending me an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ruth has returned to her childhood home after the death of her estranged Father. She is shock by how much the old Mansion has deteriorated. Ruth and her husband, Alex are going to make it home for their twins and daughter, Maeve, who is recovering from a serious illness.
The home holds many memories for Ruth. Not all of them good. When her childhood friend,Stuart shows up needing a place to stay while he is on a photography assignment Ruth and Alex invite him to stay in his father’s caretaker cottage.
Ruth is having a hard time taking care of the house and all of its repairs and giving time to the children and her husband. She is haunted by memories of the girls who would come and spend their summer in the area. They would spend their time going into the woods and into the river recreating the paintings of “The Ophelia Girls “ until that fateful night.
Maeve knows her Mother is hiding some secret and is hoping that Stuart can help her uncover the story.
This is a coming of age story with interesting characters and mystery.

Lavish, rich, tragic. Such are the short teenage summers of Ruth and her daughter Maeve as they collide uncomfortably in this atmospheric novel.

In 1973, Ruth and her friends, the "Ophelia Girls" spend their days pilfering alcohol and re-creating drowning scenes from classic paintings.

Years later, pressured by her parents to return to normalcy after going into cancer remission, Maeve catches the eye of the much older tenant and college friend of Ruth.

The Ophelia Girls was fantastic. The author evokes the hot feelings of desire, revulsion, and longing from beginning to end, building anticipation across many chapters. 100% would recommend.

Note: I received a free ebook copy of The Ophelia Girls from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

‘’I have run from that summer, tried to forget its hazy pleasures and its tragedies, how it ended, how things fell apart. I have trusted the years to fade my memories and destroyed those photographs, never to be looked at again.’’

It was 1973. Ruth and her three friends spent that summer obsessed with Pre-Raphaelite women and began spending all their time near the water, recreating a couple of the most famous photos of Ophelia among others. It seemed harmless, and it was. for a while; Then it wasn't and there was no going back.

Fast forward 24 years and we again meet Ruth and her family as they return to Ruth's childhood home for the summer, hoping it will be good for her daughter Maeve, who had recently been hospitalized and treated and can now say she is healthy, but she's having a hard time finding her place in the world outside the hospital.

Enter Stuart and old friend of Ruth and her husband Alex, he also is spending the weekend nearby and involves himself in their life as much as possible.

We bounce between the past and present told and the narrative switches between Ruth and Maeve. The writing itself is beautiful. Jane Healey has a true talent for conjuring beautiful and haunt images with her phrases. However well written, this story is drawn out, nearly painful to read. There's some interesting symbolism represented which is nice when its recognized but that's about all the praise I can muster for this story. The Ophelia Girls takes the reader on an unexpected journey leading you to a point of being uncomfortable at best.

I had such high hopes for this story. I regret to report that in my opinion it has fallen flat and will not hold up next to the rise of literature inspired by or rooted in myth.

Thank you to netgalley and publisher for providing an advanced e-copy in exchange for my review.

The title of this book immediately caught my attention, and I was soon absorbed in the poetic, lyrical writing.

I didn't enjoy the story, though, despite the gorgeous writing. It progressed at a languid pace, and it went in a direction that made me uncomfortable. I didn't think the plot warranted the content that was presented.

I would be willing to read more from the author, because I loved her writing style!

Atmospheric and enthralling, The Ophelia Girls transports you to an idyllic country home in the country over two very different summers, easily slipping between the two timelines. In 1973, Ruth and her three friends spend their days along the river, wearing ethereal dresses and floating in the frigid water like the girls in Pre-Raephalite paintings, capturing it all in photographs for their own amusement. Until tragedy strikes and it's no longer fun and games.

Then in 1997, Ruth returns to her childhood home with her husband and three children after the death of her father, hoping to make a fresh start after her oldest daughter's remission. Her eldest, Maeve, spent much of her childhood ill and in hospitals, not having any identity other than as the sick child. With not much to do, Maeve, floating and lost in herself as a person, becomes enamored with Stuart, photographer and friend of her parents living in the annex house close by. As the summer progresses, Stuart enlists Maeve in a photography project, molding her into another "Ophelia" and preying upon her lack of self. It all comes to a head at the end of the summer as Ruth must confront her past and how it has made her blind to her present.

This book explores female friendships, a delicate relationship between a mother and daughter, personal discovery and self awakening. I thought the author did a good job in depicting the tension between a mother who doesn't know her daughter and who denies her true self. I thought the relationship between Stuart and Maeve was tragic and heartbreaking, but leaned into what you would think of as a stereotypical prey/predator story. The long term effects of it were not deeply explored and became glossed over as the book wrapped up. It is not a happy book by any means and could pose problems for anyone who does not want to read about abuse or anxiety. The writing is beautiful and draws the reader in, creating a vivid backdrop that fully immerses you in the tiny hamlet of the story.

I love the way this story flowed between mother and daughter, different time periods, and similar yet different experiences, While beautifully written, their stories were painful and difficult to read. This is a two-generational coming of age story that does a beautiful job of depicting the emotions of a young woman and showing how her emotional experiences define her as she goes through life. I love the maturity of this novel, both in its prose and its ability to depict women and their emotions in a reliable and fervent light.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an opportunity to read and review this book.

I couldn't get into this one which stinks because I had really hyped this one up in my head. I think maybe the medium on which I read this did it for me and that i remained distracted with Olympics hub bub.

Curiosity led me to pick up this book and drove me deeper into the story. The book is saturated in unease, melancholy and teenage angst. The content was written to make you uncomfortable putting you directly at odds with the exceptional atmosphere and lyrical descriptions of the setting. Overall, the story is slow in pace, but I found myself eager to continue and unable to look away despite my unease with some of the subject matter. Jane Healey presents a coming-of-age story from several perspectives in her new novel. It's part mystery, part romance, part mother-daughter conflict, but overall it's the story of two generations learning to recognize and deal with, emotions.

The main characters have colorful personalities that develop throughout the book. Especially Maeve, perhaps it’s the name that had me enamored from the beginning, but I found her tenacity to be infectious. The book took me back to a simpler time before growing up and realizing the responsibilities and bitter realities that life has to offer. This is an intelligent novel about young girls who will kill themselves for acceptance. It is also about where they find power and decide how to move forward as well as what they chose to build their lives upon. The most important story, I think, is between Ruth and her daughter Maeve. It is through her own daughter’s choices, the exploration of her budding sexuality, that she must face herself. There is also abuse of power and manipulation, vulnerability and misguided ideas. Innocence, awakenings, love, shame, guilt, confusion, and the journey into adulthood filled with secrets. Girls as victims of their desires, or the masters of them.

Thank you to netgalley.com and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story takes places in dual timeline in the same house 20 years apart. It is a story of a mother's experiences as a teenager and then her daughters experiences as a teenager in the same house during a summer. Both stories are sad and show teen angst, self-identity, and parenting struggles.

I enjoyed this book. Having read it during the summer, I felt like I was there with the characters and felt the heat affecting them and their decisions. The ending was really good!

In this book, we follow a mother and daughter's points of view during one summer in the late 90s as we flashback to a summer the mother spends at the very same place over 20 years ago. Throughout the book we follow both characters growing up, wanting to be treated as an adult despite not being one and the sense of being stuck in life. I found the book very well written with very beautiful language, yet it was very uncomfortable to read which (I know/hope) was the point. What really dragged this down for me was that the book failed to keep me engaged and at times I really did not care what was going on. The ending especially was a letdown for me and I did not like the way the conflicts were handled and “solved” at all.

(2.5 stars out of 5 stars)

cw: minor-adult relationship, eating disorder, hinted suicide

Thank you to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for sending me an advanced copy.

Title: The Ophelia Girls
Author: Jane Healey
Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🔊Song Pairing: Ophelia - The Lumineers

💭What I thought would happen:

I thought there would be a heavy nod to Shakespeare. A bit of tragedy or possibly suicide mixed into the story.

🗯Thoughts:

While I did find the writing to be very beautiful, borderline poetic, I found many of the references throughout the book to be over the top and quite pretentious which isn’t my favorite but can absolutely understand why others would enjoy it.

I loved the main characters and the colorful personalities that were developed for them. Especially Maeve, perhaps it’s the name that had me enamored from the beginning but I found her tenacity to be infectious.

The book takes me back to a simpler time before growing up and realizing the responsibilities and bitter realities that life has to offer. The summer setting made this book a perfect laying outside on a blanket enjoying the warm kind of read.

This book very much gave me The Virgin Suicides vibes, not from the story itself but the way the film (not novel) provides a richness and melancholy vibe and the bond between the characters. If this were to be a film I’d hope Sofia Coppola would direct it.

Jane Healey presents a coming-of-age story from several perspectives in her novel "The Ophelia Girls." It's part mystery, part romance, part mother-daughter conflict, but overall it's the story of two generations learning to recognize, and deal with, emotions. Ruth and her family have moved into her father's English estate after his death. Daughter Mauve is in remission from leukemia, and all are hoping for a time of healing. When family friend Stuart comes to stay, Ruth and Mauve find their worlds turned upside. For Ruth, teenage memories take hold. For Mauve, teenage hormones take over. Together, yet apart, they discover secrets can't stay hidden and that truth can truly set you free.