Bella Osborne has written an uplifting book that celebrates female friendships in their 60's 70's, and 80's. What a feat! In this novel, we meet Zara, the famous movie star. Val, the fastidious solicitor. Jackie, a nursing care provider, lives paycheck to paycheck and Pauline, the quiet, mousy introvert struggling to find a purpose. Bella Osborne has written each chapter from a different woman's viewpoint.
The girls met and lived together in the 1970s. Zara has requested that they come and live with her in the South of France. But living together again means overcoming some personality challenges and facing some difficult situations together. Little do they know that Zara has a secret that she has kept from them and the rest of the world. The Girls discover that they are stronger together and those good friendships can stand the test of time. What a remarkable story told through the eyes of an older generation of women.
Thank you to Netgalley and Head of Zeus publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Girls opens with the line "Pauline didn’t usually drink vodka at lunchtime. But then it wasn’t every day you committed suicide." Very strong and emotional to draw us in. We learn that Pauline is a 68 year old woman with no family or friends around. She receives a fancy letter from an old friend called Zara, an invitation to her birthday party.

Jackie, a carer and Val, a solicitor also receive the same letter from Zara who is now a famous actress. The four ladies previously lived together in the 70s but have since drifted apart.

At the party, Zara is delighted that they are all together again and suggests that they all move in together again. The majority of the ladies laugh off the idea but personal circumstances mean that it ends up happening. Coincidence or the force of someone else?

All four ladies have very different lives and problems, my heart especially went out to Pauline. Reading about their lives being back together was interesting, in this different stage of their lives.

I don't want to give too much away regarding the plot or ending but I ended up loving this group of characters together and seeing their development.

This is a highly entertaining story of four friends in their later years, who meet up again and spend time together. They are all distinct and different characters and the dynamic between each of them differs. Queen Bee over all of them appears to be Zara, who made it as an actress and has a celebrity profile. I enjoyed all the asides referring to actual celebrities throughout the story. However, behind the facade lurk some serious subjects, ranging from loneliness and depression, through guilt, abandonment to decisions of life and death.

This story takes you to a surprising setting which I will not mention for fear of spoiling the plot. I loved the descriptions of the life they found themselves living, and the characters they all met there. Friendship is of course an important thread in the story and ties which survive the years. The plot moves at a pace and carries you through to the end.

In short:an entertaining look at friendship

I quickly fell in love with Bella Osborne's work, so was very excited to read another of her books. Previous reads have been cozy and heart warming, and The Girls was as well, until… plot twist! There was an incident, some intrigue and investigation, which were unexpected but also delightful (despite the subject matter). It was delightful to see a group of long-lost friends come together and rekindle their connections. Thoroughly enjoyed.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters are well developed and likeable. While this is primarily a light-hearted book, it does touch upon some serious topics, which are handled well - and realistically. As the story progresses and we learn what each has been through, the friendship and loyalty of these women shine through the pages.

Many years ago four women shared a house & the memories are now something that they look back on with fondness. Although they have sporadically kept in touch it is at the surprise 80th birthday for actress Zara that they get together. They are now ladies of a certain age. Zara suggests that they all move in with her to be company for each other. For various reasons they agree. Flirty Jackie loses her job so is desperate for money. Shy, nervous Pauline has fallen in love with her kitten & is devastated when her landlord says he has to go. Lawyer Val (the sensible one) is not sure she wants to give up her independence has recently been driven mad by noisy neighbours & they all agree to move in with Zara. On moving day, instead of the London house they were expecting they are whisked off to the South of France. There, in Zara's beautiful villa they discover that Zara's health is a big cause for concern & she wants their help.

This book was a bit of a mixed bag. It was very readable. Some of the events were quite predictable, the numerous name-dropping was a bit tedious & Jackie drove me mad! However it was an enjoyable read that kept me interested.

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

The Girls by Bella Osborne is an easy, comfort read with the meeting up of four friends, who met and lived together for a time in their youth and then lost contact. Zara, Pauline, Jackie and Val then all end up living in Zara’s French villa but then sadly Zara dies. Has one of them or all of them killed her? Was Zara’s death an accident? The police are investigating and everyone is under suspicion. A wonderful over the top tale of friendship, love and laughter.
An entertaining read. Highly recommended.

Book:The Girls
Author: Bella Osborne
Rating⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Review~
The Girls is about 4 friends named Zara, Jackie, Val, and Pauline. They used to live with each other when they were found then they went separate ways. Zara is a celebrity who invited them to a party after may years later. After awhile Zara came up with a place for them all to move into her house but little did they know it would not be in England.

Overall this book was really good. I loved how it shows girls supporting girls and having each other’s back. This book was very entertaining and had my interest.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. I have chosen to write this honest review voluntarily.
This is the first book I have read by this author, and it appealed to me because of the 'feel-good' heading. I liked the way each character developed, although Zara seemed manipulative and not particularly pleasant. The description indicates that things became sinister after Zara asked each of her friends a question but although events created a twist in the tale I would equate it to a cosy mystery. The friendship between 'the girls' made enjoyable reading within this simplistic story.

Bella Osborne has rapidly become one of my favourite authors! I am so happy to have been given an ARC of #TheGirls from #NetGalley.
Osborne has written a poignant and gripping tale of friendships that endure, sometimes against common sense. It is not only heartwarming in its realistic portrayal of friendship between women but also tense with alternating strife and affection; disagreements and celebrations. And like real friendships, there are secrets that women who seemingly know everything about each other have not shared. The gradual reveal of these secrets among 'The Girls' and to the reader is riveting. This is a story of discovery - discovery among friends, and discovery on deeply personal, individual levels,
The use of the three points of view for Zara's 'Girls' while not providing that point of view for Zara herself increases the tension and depth of the story, setting her character as apart from the whole as she has been throughout her life and career.
This is another page-turner by a talented writer capable of pulling you into the story and keeping you rapt until the very last word.
I highly recommend this book!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

Very good novel. Highly recommendable.

The Girls by Bella Osborne is not your usual girl's night out nor is what it's expected. A good mystery with a surprising twist.

This is the fourth Bella Osborne book that I have read. As much as I have really enjoyed the previous books, this one, unfortunately, fell flat for me.
Four friends reunite after decades and circumstances are such that three of them; Pauline, Val and Jackie, end up moving in with their famous actress friend Zara in the south of France.
I feel that Osborne tried to cram too much into the story. It felt directionless at times and overall, it lacked closure. It was a very disappointing read for me.

I did not expect this book to go down the path it did. Such a happy start, friendships, reunited pasts, but the twist in the tale is wonderful! If you enjoy a lighthearted read, with balls- this is the book for you.
So entertaining!

Thank you NetGalley for this fun read! I loved the banter the ladies had and overall I had a really good time reading this book! Very enjoyable read indeed!

4.5★s
“Four young women with different jobs and ambitions, varying moods and vastly different backgrounds had led to many shouting matches, slammed doors and hurtful words. Whilst she could see that they had all got older she was pretty sure the same women were lurking underneath the wrinkles and it wouldn’t take too much for them to reappear.”

The Girls is a novel by British author, Bella Osborne. It seems like a throwaway line: after a big birthday bash attended by all the glitterati, ageing star Zara Cliff suggests to the three friends she has known since the mid-seventies that they should repeat the exercise of then and move in with her.

Now all in their seventh or eighth decades, “We’re all on our own. No family to speak of. Why spend our lives alone when we could be together? Why be alone for our twilight years when we could have fun every evening like we have tonight? We’re not getting any younger and one by one…’ she pointed at each of them in turn ‘… we could have problems if we’re on our own. But together we could look out for each other.’” But she’s joking, surely?

Apparently not. Zara feels that former secretary Pauline is ideally placed to help type up her memoir, care home worker Jacqueline could look after her medical needs and ex-solicitor Valerie could help oversee legal matters pertaining to investments. But the girls are all quite happy as they are, with a place to live and things to occupy their days, especially when Zara gives Pauline a cat: named after Brian May, he’s something to care about and live for.

But situations change, and suddenly each of them has a reason to look more favourably on Zara’s suggestion: living in Zara’s lovely house in Belgravia becomes quite an attractive idea. On moving day, though, that turns out not to be where they will be living. But a villa on the French Riviera? They don’t take too much convincing…

The villa includes a chef, housekeeper, driver and gardener, and the use of a yacht. Also in the mix, the fifty-year-old African grey parrot that shared their accommodation over forty years earlier still screeches just as loudly as before. Zara’s generosity makes each of them slightly uneasy: they can’t help feeling a little beholden to her. Zara’s star-worthy demands for attention are easy enough to satisfy, but that magnanimity, they soon learn, comes at a price that none of them had anticipated. And unfortunately, each has some vulnerability that can be exploited.

Osmond give the reader a tale that starts quite light-heartedly but takes a somewhat dark turn, although she doesn’t let the story get bogged down by this as it then segues into a sort of cosy mystery.

Her characters are certainly diverse: Val is clearly the level-headed one, the voice of reason, giving support and encouragement to Pauline, who is functioning poorly under a burden of guilt, and while Jackie loved her job and her patients, outside of that, her behaviour and attitude is typical of someone forty years her junior. Her flirty, brash personality does provide plenty of entertaining scenes, as do the girls’ antics when trying to evade the paparazzi and the police.

What Zara requires in exchange for her hospitality speaks to the arrogance of one who has enjoyed a lifetime of being pandered to, and her manipulative actions, when revealed, will not surprise the astute reader. Ultimately an uplifting read, the book touches on several thought provoking themes, so there’s plenty of material here for book club discussion.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Head of Zeus/Aria.

After reading Bella Osborne's previous book and loving it so much, I eagerly moved The Girls to the top of my TBR list. I did not have the same experience with this book.
The premise of The Girls is everything that appeals to me- former college roommates coming together in their later years, each using their unique skills to support one of the group. It is, however, much darker than that. The true purpose of their reuniting is initially hidden from them and when revealed, found to be rather terrible.
To make matters worse, the characters are mostly unlikable, and overall not well defined.
The setting is lovely and a perk to the story. Overall, the premise is interesting and the writing is good. It just did not appeal to me.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After a couple of pages I really got into this book, I am glad that I read it. Four elder ladies meet up again after many years apart, one who runs them ................ I am not going to tell you and spoil the story, read it for yourself. 5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this e ARC

This book was definitely different to all my previous reads from Osborne. It seemed more of a drama, exploring an old friendship, with some entertaining scenes and a bit of crime thrown in there too. To be honest, I did not know how to respond to all of these genres within the book and did wonder whether the writer wanted this to be taken as seriously as I interpreted it to be.

The four female characters are all vastly different. However, I did miss not having Zara’s perspective: each chapter switches character focus but I thought Zara’s absence took something away from the plot. At the same time, it reinforced the character that Zara wanted the world to see: a dramatic, slightly mysterious actress who always wants the world to be wanting more. In that sense, I guess Osborne got this spot on, even I did yearn for more insight into her as a person.

On the other hand, Val, Pauline and Jackie all have their own demons to acknowledge as they move in with Zara. I responded differently to these women and was not sure whether I truly liked them. Val is presented as so staid and reasonable, that I found her sensible nature to be off-putting. Juxtaposing her is Jackie, who is certainly a ‘larger than life’ character. Whilst she is interesting and I enjoyed watching her reckless behaviour, I also disliked her selfish, self-centred personality that often had me wincing at her lack of care towards others. I am sure Jackie will be a character who readers will either love or hate. As for Pauline, she is quite meek and mild but I found it interesting to watch her grow over the story. From her relationship with Brian the cat, when Pauline does share her past with her friends, it is as if she starts to believe in herself and this, I think, is all thanks to Zara’s influence.

I don’t think this novel was as fun as I was expecting. Indeed, the plot took many unexpected turns which definitely kept me intrigued throughout. Quite often I was anticipating a reveal to show that Osborne had tricked her readers. This didn’t come and I think this is why I struggled whether to take the plot too seriously. On the other hand, there are several poignant scenes in this story and I think this really demonstrates Osborne’s talent as a writer.

I enjoyed the different direction that Osborne has taken with this book but I personally would have preferred to see The Girls reminisce more about their youth and friendship. For me, I was hoping to see some flashbacks to some of the wilder times that the women experienced when they were younger, thereby celebrating how far they have come as individuals. I think this would have definitely added to the narrative, particularly as the second part of the story seems so different to how the novel began.

Appealing for its older characters, I liked some of the story’s charm and was especially entertained by the copious amounts of alcohol and tea consumed! I could vividly picture the women gadding around and liked Toby’s interjections throughout. This was an unpredictable, surprising read from Osborne and not what I would have expected. A well-written book, I think it’s one that will divide readers because it has such unusual developments.

With thanks to Head of Zeus and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Zara, Val, Pauline and Jackie are women of a certain age who once lived together but who have drifted apart. Zara is an actor and is rich and famous, the others less so and have no ties. When Zara invites them to live with her once again, they are initially wary but circumstances dictate that they must. Their initial reaction is that they've landed on their feet. A villa on the French Riviera, chauffeur driven car, chef cooked food. What could go wrong? Well, quite a lot actually starting with the task that Zara wants them to carry out for her. But when she dies unexpectedly, that turns out to be the least of their worries.

I enjoyed this book on the whole. There are a number of witticisms in it that made me smile and it's great to see a book with older women at its heart. I do have some quibbles though.. The characters are quite distinct from each other which is a good thing, but they are perhaps a little stereotyped and therefore didn't quite come to life for me. Zara, the narcissistic actor. Jackie, refusing to believe she's in her sixties and still chasing after rich or younger men, Val, sensible and level headed and Pauline, the nervous wreck. It was all a bit niche and unconvincing. This isn't a genre I would usually read though and as I say, I did enjoy it on the whole. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.