This was my second novel I’ve read from Hepworth and similar to the first, Darling Girls gave me a feeling of unease the whole time.

It reflects on the mother / daughter / sister relationship within the dark undertones of foster care.

Present and past timelines converge when a body is discovered underneath the foster home where the main sisters grew up.

This was a quick read and was not short in twists and turns. Overall this was pretty f’d up. Potential triggers with abuse and suicide.

This one was such a unique storyline and it had me hooked right from the beginning! I was totally engaged in the story and couldn’t wait to figure out what was going on. I really enjoyed this one!

A nail-biting read by Sally Hepworth! I love every single one of her books and Darling GIrls is no exception. Twisted and complex, this one will have you turning pages all night to see what happens.

Well that was a bit wild. This book was written so well it kept me invested the whole time. You didn’t know who was speaking to the psychiatrist but I did figure it out about halfway through lol.

Read if you like-
-psychological thrillers
- multiple POV written in 3rd person
- plot twists
- who did it? vibes

TW- domestic abuse, sexual exploitation, child abuse

Thanks netgalley for the ARC of this. Publish date is 4/23/24

When bones are uncovered at their childhood foster home, 3 foster sisters have to face their past.

Personally, as a reader, this book checked a lot of high interest boxes. The story was well paced between the past events and the current lives of the characters. Things were revealed in a good pace. Characters were flawed but endearing. Certain events had me feeling the helpless frustration of the characters.

I am definitely going to be looking for more work by Sally Hepworth.

"How will your survive without your darling girls"? Any person diving into this story will empathize with the personal stories of Alicia, Jessica, and Nora. I loved each of their different personalities and how they were woven together in a bond of sisterhood. I struggled to believe that the trio could be at fault through the investigation and being called back to Port Agatha as the plot unfolded. Still, my heart empathized for the sisters- why, hello, unresolved trauma, come close, old friend! I really couldn't confirm my suspicions of the outcome and had to keep reading through until the end. It didn't disappoint!

I valued the alternating perspectives between then and now between sisters, and the visits between Dr. Warren and Miss Fairchild. The reality of Miss Fairchild and her namesake, being ironically anything, but "fair" still had me empathetic and compassionate toward her personal upbringing, even when I didn't want to be. Additionally, a resounding question through this novel for me was "why"... Why become a foster parent IF you're going to be the opposite of loving and caring toward children? I think that this topic is absolutely relevant in history, applicable in current times, and brings a shocking reality that fostering children and mistreatment still happens in real life. How many times do we not believe the testimony and talk of children when they're suffering and side with an adult. Then later see the children become an adult with unresolved issues. An impactful quote of the acknowledgments really brought it all to center in treatment of children and foster care reality: "We need more heroes. These children belong to all of us, and as long as the system is failing, so are we."

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth may be a new favorite of mine. I have read several Sally Hepworth books within the last year- starting originally on recommendations of friends and book club members. Being approved for this ARC by St. Martin's Press and Sally Hepworth was the icing on the cake. Thank you so much! I would recommend this to colleagues and to fellow thriller lovers. If you're looking for a thriller that could be rooted in reality and make you question integrity and credibility of perception. This book is for you.

This is the first Sally Hepworth book I’ve read and I immediately added her to my favorite authors list. The books is a very well written thriller and an emotional roller coaster. Jessica, Norah and Alicia are children who were raised in a foster home. The story is told in a dual timeline of the past and the present. There were a lot of twists in the story, some of which I saw coming but many I did not. The final twist, which I did not see coming, was a stunner yet very believable. I ached for those children, I ached for the adults they became, and I continue to ache for any child who is raised in a hostile foster environment and are not protected by the system in which they reside. I truly loved this book and I can’t wait to read more Sally Hepworth books. I wholeheartedly give this book 5 stars.

Another great Sally Hepworth read. I really enjoy her writing and the stories she tells. Thank NetGalley for the eArc.

This book exemplifies the horror stories of foster homes.
Three young girls arrive at Wild Meadows, an idyllic farm setting that seems like the perfect place for young girls to thrive. But the Mother of this house is a conniving, manipulative woman who loves having control.
The three, all about the same age, arrive at various times and for various reasons. The girls become “sisters" in this wretched facility, taking care of each other through the torture they endured at Miss Fairchild’s hands until they are freed from her grasp by county authorities.
Now 25 years later they are called together by police about bones found under the house: the bones of a child. Who was that and who was to blame? Suddenly fingers are pointing to them.
What’s interesting is how the younger personalities were mimicked in adulthood. You could see how they developed into who they were and what they did in life as adults.
It was upsetting to read what happened in that house as children and how Miss Fairchild could still manipulate them 25 years later.

Sisters by circumstance, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia survived foster care with Holly Fairchild in Sally Hepworth’s latest novel, Darling Girls, available April 23. Miss Fairchild, with her demanding rules and her unpredictable demeanor, psychologically scarred each of her charges. While social workers thought they had placed the children in good hands on a country estate called Wild Meadows in Port Agatha with horses and a swimming pool, they were so wrong.

Twenty-five years later, detectives from Melbourne are asking all three adult women questions about a body recently discovered when Miss Fairchild’s home was demolished. Bound together by misfortune, the women must face going back to Port Agatha to assist in the investigation, not sure if they are witnesses or suspects.

Jessica desperately craves the love she thought she was experiencing with Miss Fairchild until the other foster children came along. Norah struggles majorly with an intense anger that has landed her in trouble with the law as she has lashed out physically toward others. Alicia, who was only supposed to be a temporary placement while her grandmother was hospitalized, becomes a shadow of herself as she struggles to redeem her life by being a social worker who places children in foster homes.

Readers have come to expect twisty plots from author Sally Hepworth, and Darling Girls will not disappoint. She lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her family.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting February 24, 2024.

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia grew up in foster care at Wild Meadows under the care of their foster mother, Miss Fairchild. They’d been told that they were lucky to be placed there, and to the outside world they had a good life. But Miss Fairchild was different behind closed doors and had a strict set of rules that her girls had to follow. When they finally escape it seems that no one believes what they had to say, but when bones are found under the house the secrets and lies will be exposed.

This is my first Sally Hepworth book, and I must say I will definitely be picking up her others after reading this one! I was hooked from page one! It’s told in the POV of Jessica, Norah, and Alicia from both past and present day, as well as a mystery person (for the first half we don’t know who it is) talking to a psychiatrist. It a twisty tale that is as heartbreaking as it is enthralling. I was so invested in all of the characters and sympathized with each of their stories. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Sally Hepworth knows how to propel a story. Fast paced with enough mystery to keep the pages turning. Three former foster sisters are suddenly forced back into a world they desperately wanted to put behind them when a body is found under their old home. Some parts you could see coming, but Hepworth definitely got me in the end!

I thought the story started out strongly, with good character development and an intriguing plot line, but somewhere along the line, the story derailed. Characters became inconsistent, plot twists were ham-handed, and I gave up on trying to keep track of babies.

This story is about 3 women who were raised in foster care. As far as they are concerned they are sisters. The book goes back and forth between the past and present showing each girls experience in foster care and how it impacts their present lives. I couldn’t quite figure out where this book was going but the ending still caught me off guard, I didn’t see it coming. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

I am a big fan of Sally Hepworth, and Darling Girls was another entertaining installment in her repertoire of thrillers. We see the perspective of 3 different girls affected by an abusive foster parent. I enjoyed learning about each of these characters and the ride filled with twists until the end. If you love a good thriller, this is a solid one.

This book got me right from page 1 and kept me on the edge of my seat until the very last line. The twists and turns just kept coming. So many times I thought I figured it out but nope….WRONG. Even when you find out what happened…is it really what happened?? If you like thrillers then this is a must read. I will definitely be adding this to my list of recommended books.

I enjoyed reading Darling Girls. It was a fascinating mystery, and it unfolded at the perfect pace. I found the three “sisters” who grew up in an abusive foster home together to be interesting, particularly the way the trauma manifested itself differently in each of them as adults. I was also struck by their loyalty to one another and the deep bond they shared.

I love Sally Hepworth’s writing style. She has a way of keeping her reader’s wanting to read “just one more” chapter, which is exactly what I did over and over until the book ended.

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

Wow...I read this book in one day. I could not stop reading it. I wanted to know what was was going to happen and when I tell you it was mouth dropping. It was.

Three girls end up in a foster home with what seems like a loving caring mom. Well looks can be and are deceiving. And 25 years later human remains are found when the ranch is torn down to build a restaurant. Who is it and who put it there? The three sisters find themselves back in the town and facing traumas they experienced.

Unputdownable!

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia grew up as foster children at Wild Meadows under the watchful eye of Miss Fairchild. Miss Fairchild presents herself as a giving, loving person. Someone who just wants to help a child in need. Only the three girls know what happens behind closed doors. Twenty-five years later, after the house is long gone and memories have become foggy, bones are dug up. Now the former inhabitants of Wild Meadows must return home. But what are they returning home to? Who has been buried all these years?

This is the third Sally Hepworth novel I have read, and it is probably my favorite. She has a way of making you immediately know who the characters are as people and making you care for them soon after. Darling Girls is really the story of sisters.

The chapters alternate between then and now and we get each of the sisters' perspective. Much in the chapters is hard to read. There is a lot of sadness, but hope shines through. There are also, surprisingly, some humorous moments.

The thing that stands out throughout the book is the relationship between Jessica, Norah, and Alicia. I loved seeing them be there for each other. This book truly feels like their story.

As everyone tries to sort through events and get to the truth you will think you have it figured out. Things will be revealed though. I don't know how mucn surprised me as I figured things out just before the characters did. Then after the main story ends, we get a wrap up with each of the characters.

There is one last twist that will surprise you. Some might not even like it. All I can say without spoilers is that it reinforces some early thoughts I had that got swept away by the narrative and answers some niggling questions. In the end everything is complete in this compelling story.

This was pretty good!! I loved the time alternation as well as the points of view! Overall 3.5 stars!