I enjoy Sally Hepworth's novels, and I would classify her writing as domestic suspense. The content is never too heavy, and often there is some much-appreciated humor sprinkled in, but you still want to keep turning the pages. Darling Girls is no different in that regard. At first, I was somewhat disinterested in the book because I (wrongly) assumed that I already knew where the story was headed. Eventually, though, several twists came, including a great twist at the end, and the book won me over. While nothing was totally jaw-dropping, it was still a fun ride.

For me, the best part of this book were the characters. Each one was very distinct and well-developed, particularly the three "sisters" and Miss Fairchild. Hepworth excels in bringing them to life and peeling back the layers behind why each woman has the struggles that she does. They were all very lifelike and relatable in one way or another, and the final chapters tie everything together so nicely in terms of their personal narratives.

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Norah, Jessica, and Alicia are foster sisters who were each taken in by Miss Fairchild. Their life with Miss Fairchild proved to be traumatic. As adults, the foster sisters maintain a relationship and still consider themselves to be sisters; they have not seen Miss Fairchild since they left her home. After a body is found under Miss Fairchild’s house, the sisters return to help figure out who it is and what happened.

This was my first Sally Hepworth book, and it was great! There were so many twists, and I loved the ending and the fact that I didn’t see it coming. I will definitely be reading more of her books in the future.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the digital ARC.

Publishing April 23, 2024

I received an advance reading copy (arc) of this book from NetGalley.com in exchange for a fair review. Author Sally Hepworth is a fine writer. I enjoy her books. Darling Girls focuses on three women who grew up in an abusive foster home. Jessica, Norah, and Alicia bond together as children when they find themselves under the care of a deranged foster parent, Holly Fairchild. Fairchild mistreats the girls, punishing them for imaginary infractions, while she insists that they are her 'Darling Girls'. Jessica is the business minded woman who works hard and makes good money, but has a secret addiction. Norah is troubled and acts out, often finding herself dealing with the police.
Alicia has never really gotten over her grandmother's death and suppresses her emotions. Some twists and turns (including a very twisted ending) kept my interest throughout. The three women are likeable and as a reader, you want them to succeed. Fairchild, however, is very questionable and her underlying story slowly comes forward. The action takes place in Australia, but could happen anywhere. If you have never read Sally Hepworth, give this one a try. I liked it!

HELLO?! This was so freaking good. I loved every second of this psychological thriller. I was left on the edge of my seat the entire time. I did NOT SEE THE TWIST COMING, which is one of the things I look for when I read a thriller book. I will be recommending this to everyone and anyone.

Sally Hepworth is an auto-read for me and this one lived up to all of her past work. I think this might even be my new favorite of her books!

The story had me hooked the entire time! loved the jumping back and forth between POVS and timeframes as well.

Every character was so real and relatable. In the adult girls you could really see how their past and trauma shaped who they were as adults, while still feeling as they were those same little girls. It was just beautifully done!

All the twists were super interesting and they kept me on my toes!

I would definitely recommend this one to anyone who has liked one of Sally Hepworth’s past books or who likes mystery/suspense novels!

I received a a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and statements are my own.

As young girls, Jessica, Norah and Alicia were rescued from family tragedies and raised by a foster mother, Miss Fairchild, at Wild Meadows, an idyllic farming estate in Australia. When bones are discovered under the home they grew up in during its demolition, the foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses. Or are they prime suspects?

This is a good story, told from the points of view of the three "girls", now young adults, as they reunite to face police questioning related to the bones discovered at Wild Meadows. As each thinks back to the "Before" times when they lived with Miss Fairchild we learn that things were anything but fair. I enjoyed the story and the characters but it felt almost like the book was trying to cover too many issues so that only the surface of each was skimmed - prescription drug abuse, lesbianism, cyberbullying (also should be considered triggers along with child abuse). It would've still been an enjoyable read without some of those side threads. Even so, the strong ties that developed among the three "sisters" was truly uplifting.

Running parallel to the main story we get excerpts from the Office of Dr. Warren, Psychiatrist, relating to an unknown person whose identity doesn't really come as a surprise. A lot of readers didn't like the ending but I thought it was okay, not really jaw-dropping but more eyebrow-raising.

Sign me up for Sally Hepworth's next book!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press via Netgalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Publication: April 23, 2024

this book was WILD. I think this was a nearly perfect thriller for me! the pacing was great, there were good twists + it had complicated family dynamics! this is easily my favorite book by sally.

Wowza! This one blew me away! It's harrowing, heart-breaking, and shocking, all packed into a fast-paced psychological thriller. I loved the different POV's...we meet Jessica, Alicia, and Norah, as well as a mystery patient visiting a psychologist. Each girl has a different backstory, but they all meet up as foster kids of Miss Fairchild. When we are first introduced to Miss Fairchild and Jessica the two are connected and have a very special bond. But as the story progresses this bond is questioned and all of the foster kids begin to realize what kind of situation they are truly involved in. The story goes back and forth from past to present, with more and more details unfolding quickly. When a body is discovered under Miss Fairchild's house many years later, the foster kids, now women, must come together to figure out who's bones they are and what happened.

As women, the foster kids still have a deep connection. It was nice to see how they moved on with their lives after aging out of the system.
All three have internal struggles they have never fully dealt with and these struggles help carry the suspense from the past to the present. Everytime I turned a page I couldn't believe what I was reading. Hepworth gives us so much to learn, and with the story development we go through an emotional roller coaster - each surprise surpassing the last. Even until the very last chapter the truths are incredibly shocking. One minute I was amused, the next minute I was wide-eyed, and the next one I was tearing up. This isn't an easy book to read by any means but I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is definitely a psychological mystery you don't want to pass on!

Warning: This book goes into detail about child abuse, sexual and physical assault and it was difficult to read some of the chapters.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book.

Miss Fairchild is a sociopath. But like many, she is good at hiding it and the people who know her, aside from the children she fosters, think she is wonderful. After all, when her parents died, she inherited a large house with acreage and chose to make it a foster home. What could be better - to bring young girls who have come from difficult backgrounds to a big house in the country and make a new family?

But the girls see an entirely different person. Selfish and demanding, cruel and cutting in her comments, the three girls, Jessica, Alicia, and Norah, learn to read her every move and avoid her wilder outbursts. But when they finally have had enough and report Miss Fairchild to the school authorities and the police, there is no evidence to back up their story and they are simply sent to a group home to live until they age out.

The three girls have remained close and still consider themselves to be sisters, so when the police calls come, they are afraid of what Miss Fairchild has done now. But the police are calling to tell them a body has been found under the house where they lived as it was being demolished. But whose body is it? No one went missing while they lived there. And then the body is identified as an infant girl. Is this the missing child that Miss Fairchild claimed to have adopted but disappeared without a trace on the day the girls reported her?

I liked the book and the premise, but there are a lot of stories going on at once and the ending was just too pat for me to wholeheartedly endorse it. It IS a good read, but a lot of questions are left unanswered.

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia were rescued from family tragedies as young girls and were raised by a loving foster mother, Miss Fairchild, on a farming estate. Unfortunately, their childhood wasn't the fairy tale everyone thought it was. Miss Fairchild had rules and could be very unpredictable. In a moment of desperation, the three girls broke away from Miss Fairchild and believed they were free. But even though they never saw her again, she was always lurking in the shadows of their minds. When a body is discovered under the foster home they lived in, the three women are thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses or possibly suspects.

DARLING GIRLS is a dark and atmospheric read that may be triggering to some so please check the content/triggers before picking this up. I loved that this story is told in the three POVs of the sisters: Alicia, Jessica, and Norah, as well as unidentified person during encounters with a psychiatrist. I thought the characters to be well-developed, interesting, and each with their own flaws and secrets. It was interesting to see how varied the traumas they experienced as children impacted their behaviours/mental health as adults.

The plot of DARLING GIRLS is twisty, even-paced, and tense. I think this story is very well-executed and had me gripped from the first few pages. Every time I thought I had it all figured out, a new reveal would occur and slightly change the course of the story. The ending was shocking, to say the least, and I absolutely adored it.


I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher, St. Martin's Press, of this advanced digital copy for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review! All opinions shared are my own.

Sally Hepworth does it again! This book is TWISTED, but Sally still keeps it light by weaving humor into it. I think this would make a great show!

Probably not my favorite of Sally's, but was definitely good. I love a good "mommy dearest" story and the twist was excellent!

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia, foster sisters so spent years together with Miss Fairchild on her farm estate. To the outside world, the three girls were so lucky to have been taking in by such a wonderful woman. Reality was different. Miss Fairchild had lots of rules, was moody and unpredictable, and was not to be disobeyed.

Twenty-five years later, the girls, now grown women with their own lives and careers, find out that a body was discovered under the house they grew up in and they are the star witnesses. Or maybe they're the prime suspects? As the story unfolds, the truth starts to come out and Miss Fairchild is thrust into their lives once again.

I flew through this book. It started off a little slow, but definitely held my interest. The last 20% had so many twists and turns, my jaw was on the floor the whole time!

This story gives a little insight into the lives of many foster children (this one takes place in Australia, but I imagine the experiences Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have are common no matter what country a foster child is in, sadly). I thought the setting of a foster home with an unpredictable foster parent was perfect for this story.

In addition to getting Jessica, Norah, and Alicia's current POV, you also get their past POV from when they were living with Miss Fairchild and you read about the events that led up to them being removed from her care. This all plays a role in the current story about finding the body under her former house. Additionally, you hear what you learn to be Miss Fairchild's POV, although the timeline on when she is giving it becomes apparent only at the end, which was a big surprise and definitely added to the suspense and shock.

I highly recommend this psychological thriller to any thriller lover.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the digital copy. My review is honest and volunta

Sally Hepworth is an author whose books I always buy without hesitation. Her domestic suspense novels are full of unexpected twists and turns that keep me guessing until the end. In her latest book, Darling Girls, Hepworth shifts away from her usual domestic suspense genre and delves into a more intense and darker mystery, but she keeps all the twists and turns that we’ve grown to expect (and love) from her.

Highlights:
✨Three MCs: Jessica, Alicia, and Norah are foster sisters. Their past and present timelines demonstrate that adopting a survival mode during childhood has long-lasting effects on adulthood. Out of the three, Norah is my favorite. Her sarcasm is always on point and provides lots of laughs. If you enjoy the found family trope, then you will definitely love reading about these three sisters.
✨Darker than previous books: Here, Hepworth weaves an unsettling mystery around the underbelly of foster care. The story contains a few heartwrenching scenes, so check the trigger warnings.
✨Narrator: Jessica Clarke skillfully manages multiple POVs and a dual timeline, resulting in a captivating audiobook. I binged Darling Girls in one day and highly recommend this format.

Sally Hepworth did it again! Darling Girls is the latest novel from Hepworth and somehow her plots never cease to get old. She finds ways to construct stories that are vastly different from one another. Admittedly, it took me a bit to get into this one and thankfully I had access to both the e-book (thank you St. Martin's Press) and the audiobook (thank you Macmillan Audio) and the audiobook quickly sucked me in while the book took me longer to engage with.

As of recently, I have found I love combining reading and listening to my books. It allows me to switch from one space to another without having to "put the book down:"

I found the novel's context really drew me in. I found the experiences of the young women incredibly relatable and I kept rooting for their happily ever after.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Darling Girls
By: Sally Hepworth
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pub Date: 4/23/24
Sally is hands down one of the best writers out there today. This is probably my favorite out of all her books so far.
Three young girls are all in foster care and one at a time they have arrived at Miss Fairchild’s home, Wild Meadows Jessica comes first. At just 5 years old. She’s alone at first. There are no other children there. She calls Miss Holly Fairchild, Mommy. She’s very isolated and develops a cleaning obsession at a young age.
Norah comes along second, she’s eleven. Brought up in a rough environment she has had to be violent out of necessity.
Lastly Alicia joins them when she’s just 12. She had been raised by her grandmother but following her grandmother's accident and death she entered foster care. She had the roughest adjustment having come from a loving home. For two long years the girls dealt with her abuse until Miss Fairchild began to bring babies in for respite care. She needs the money to keep the house going only she isn’t the one taking care of the babies. The girls are. When a little girl shows up and Holly reveals that she’s adopting her. That’s when the girls finally go to an adult about the abuse. When the police arrive they don’t find a child or any of her things.
Jumping forward 25 years the girls are all adults now. You learn how each of their adult lives were impacted by their shared abuse. Jessica is stealing and abusing drugs from her clients in her home organization business. Norah struggles with anger issues and the possibility of imprisonment if she can’t get herself under control. Alicia is now a social worker herself trying to find safe homes for the kids and her care.
The police from Port Agatha reach out to let the girls know the body of a child has been found buried under the house. As they return to Port Agatha, they are not only confronting their childhood abuse, but they come face-to-face with Miss Fairchild. Who is the child under the house? Is it one of the babies or is something more sinister at play?
This was a great read. The flow and pacing were perfect. This book kept me reading, I had to know the answers! Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Sally Hepworth and NetGalley for the ARC.



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A dark suspense novel, Sally Hepworth’s Darling Girls is another incredible story with rich character development, surprising humor, and her signature delicious little twists.

What is Darling Girls about?

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have spent their life being told that they were fortunate to meet at Wild Meadows, a foster home owned and run by a single woman named Miss Fairchild. The three girls were saved from tragic losses by the benevolent Miss Fairchild, and it brought them together. They have remained as close as sisters ever since their two shared years at Wild Meadows.

Unfortunately, everything others thought about their idyllic childhood was a lie. Miss Fairchild was an emotionally abusive, malicious, and cruel foster mother. Cold and calculating, Miss Fairchild was good at knowing exactly what each girl wanted most, and how to take it from them. After two years with Miss Fairchild, the three managed to break away and flee Wild Meadows.

It’s been twenty-five years since they thought they freed themselves from Miss Fairchild. But when they learn that a body was discovered buried underneath the house at Wild Meadows, the sisters find themselves at the center of the investigation. But are they witnesses or suspects? The secrets held for twenty-five years may finally come to light, but will anyone believe them?

What did I think of Darling Girls?

I’ll give the TLDR first—I loved it!!! Sally Hepworth has become one of my favorite authors. I’ve never been disappointed by one of her books yet. She crafts compelling plots, writes authentic characters, and is a master storyteller. She spins together stories that I don’t want to leave at the end. Darling Girls is another showcase of Hepworth’s incredible talent and knack for an expertly spun twist.

For those new to Hepworth, her stories are less popcorn-like than American psychological thrillers. They tend to be deeply character-driven and lean on the “psychological” side of the genre over the thrills—a style of psychological thriller that I find much more common in the UK and Australia than in the US. Sometimes I see readers call them a slow burn, but I think that implies the book is slow. I’ve never found any of Hepworth’s books slow. What those readers are really saying is that Hepworth’s books don’t have the quick and wild twists and heart-pounding jump scares that some are used to.

She does write one heck of a twist, though!

How are the characters?

Sally Hepworth knows how to write great characters. They read like real people, whole and imperfect. Though the book is narrated by all three sisters, Jessica feels like she’s directly at the heart of the novel. She was the first to arrive at Miss Fairchild’s home, and her early time there when it was just the two of them was…strange. Jessica desperately wanted a mother, and Miss Fairchild was willing to be that person. But Miss Fairchild treated Jessica like a child much younger than her age, babying her and creating an unhealthy dependency.

When Norah arrives at the age of eleven (about the same age as Jessica), everything changes. Miss Fairchild is cold and cruel, emotionally abusing and isolating both girls. Jessica responds by trying to be perfect. Norah is much feistier, having grown up in the care of an addict who was rarely sober to care for her. Norah learned early in life to use everything at her disposal to survive. Usually that meant her beauty and physical violence.

Alicia arrives third at the age of twelve. Initially Miss Fairchild doesn’t want to Alicia because unlike Jessica and Norah, Alicia had a happy childhood. When her grandmother fell ill, Alicia was temporarily placed in foster care. Until it becomes permanent. Miss Fairchild sees Alicia as spoiled, and heavily restricts her access to food and comfort. Alicia learns to doubt her own worth.

In the present timeline, all three sisters carry damage from those years. Just before the police reach out about the remains, the three women are spiraling. Jessica runs a successful business but is caught stealing Valium from her clients. Norah assaults a man who she went on a bad date with, and he begins to blackmail her. Alicia is a social worker who sabotages any chance of a healthy relationship.

I found all three sisters to be compelling and loveable characters. Their imperfections felt human; Hepworth dives deep into their psychology and mental health as she explores the events in their past that led to their present disfunction. Can they overcome their demons and have a happy future? I was hopeful!

What is the main tension?

The discovery of the remains sets off the events of the novel. The story weaves back and forth in time, showing scenes from the sisters’ time at Miss Fairchild’s as it builds towards their escape, as well as what is happening in present time and with the investigation. Hepworth throws in a few twists that I never saw coming. The stories from their past are told as part of what the police are interviewing them about in the present. I was tense and locked in, wondering what exactly happened to allow them to break free.

Miss Fairchild is beyond cruel to the girls, but she’s also clever. The abuse the girls reported was never something that could be verified; there was no physical evidence. Over the course of their time at Wild Meadows, the girls learn that no one believes them. Eventually, they stop trying to share what they are experiencing. This both bonds them as sisters and damages them. Eventually, they question their own version of events.

There’s also a story being told to a psychiatrist, and that was another interesting piece of the puzzle. That story chronicled abuse that happened to the woman as a child, but we aren’t told which woman this is until later. It’s also not clear when the story is being told—is it in the past, present, or future? And what is the deal with that weird psychiatrist?

Final Thoughts

While I loved all three sisters for the unique, damaged, resilient women they are, Norah steals the show in my opinion. She’s tough and continues to struggle with aggression and violence when she feels threatened. But she’s also loyal and protective of her sisters. She’s the type of person who will put herself in the line of fire to save them.

Though the themes in this book sound dark (and they are indeed dark), the dynamic between the sisters and Norah in particular adds levity and humor throughout the story. Norah is a star—she has a wonderful dry sense of humor that you won’t be able to resist. At it’s core, this is a book about sisterhood, found family, mental health, abuse, and healing. There’s a feeling of women’s empowerment by the end that I liked. Don’t expect Hepworth to let these women off the hook just because we love them and grieve the childhood they never got—Hepworth is unafraid to give her characters authentic storylines, and she does this boldly and without apology.

One of the best books of the year for me, and it may be my favorite of Hepworth’s yet!

Thank you St. Martin's Press for my copy. Opinions are my own.

This is my second Sally Hepworth book and I love her writing. Her timing to drop just enough new information is perfect and makes it hard to put down her books. I was hooked on Darling Girls pretty early and made it to the end without getting bored or frustrated.

I’m rating 4.5 stars down to four. I personally did not like the last chapter and were it up to me I would’ve ended at the chapter before last. It felt like one last twist had to be added to hit a quota and while it does fit with everything else I think leaving the ending without it would have been better.

I definitely recommend Darling Girls! Even if I personally didn’t like the last chapter it did not take away from how great the book is!

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
This book🤯 what a wild ride! This is a quite different take from Hepworth’s usual domestic suspense books, as this one fits more of the psychological thriller vibes-and she nailed it!🙌🏻 It is dark, twisted, and although it is her typical slow burn…I could not put it down. Hepworth knows how to write a dark twisty suspenseful psychological thriller with a mind blowing ending! I definitely did not see that coming, and loved every minute of this one. I will be honest, Hepworth’s books are usually a hit or miss for me, but this one is definitely me favorite of hers!

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗘𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆:
✦Psychological thriller with some domestic suspense weaved in
✦A mind blowing and fantastic ending with a twist🤯
✦A book that you cannot put down
✦Some DARK subject matter (this has some TW such as child abuse.)

𝐌𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️4/5

I liked this a lot! Sally Hepworth always has must read thrillers usually at a solid 4 stars for me and this was no exception. I loved the different points of view and the alternating time line.