Girl A by Abigail Dean was the fifth book I read in 2021 and it ricocheted straight onto my books of the year list; it is that good. It is dark, deceptive and an utterly delicious read which tells the story of Lex, a high-flying lawyer working in New York whose troubled childhood was spent in a remote house in England with her siblings and parents. Her dad, as a result of a number of unsuccessful business ventures and set backs, descended into depression and became mentally unwell, eventually turning the house into a prison where his children were contained under his rule.

Lex is the titular Girl A, the woman who as a child escaped the house where she and her siblings were held. She has returned to England as her mother has died whilst in prison and has left Lex and her siblings the house and a small amount of money. Lex wants to use the money and the house for something good, but is unable to do so without the agreement of each of her siblings.

Lex, a workaholic high flying over-achiever has built walls around her to cope with the horror of her past. She is brittle and unlikeable but I defy you to meet a more compelling narrator. I couldn’t stop reading about her, she is brilliantly drawn and utterly addictive, even though the subject matter was at times difficult and unnerving. Told in retrospect, we are offered glimpses of Lex’s childhood, of her father’s enigmatic personality and of the life that Lex and her siblings led. Although we are never privy to her father’s thoughts and he is only ever viewed through the lens of Lex I felt like I really knew him. He is a chilling and terrifying man whose mere presence causes a sharp tingle of fear down the spine.

It is a cleverly constructed novel packed full with both tension and emotion. As Lex navigates the present her memories of the past provide context for her present day behaviour which is at times confusing and bewildering. It is a book about abuse, but it isn’t graphic. In fact, the horror comes from the things that are alluded to where my mind filled in the gaps. It is also a book about the after effects of abuse and its long term impact on the siblings with chapters about each of them in turn shining a light on how they have recovered and how their past has affected them. It makes for gripping reading as each piece of the puzzle is put together and we come to know the rest of the family.

I can’t quite believe that this accomplished book is a debut, it is absolutely flipping fantastic! Yes it is dark, but I found small moments of hope within the pages. It also features sharp characterisation, wonderful storytelling and just really great writing. If you’re looking for a book to get immersed in and something which will absorb you then Girl A could be the book for you.

Lex Gracie, aka Girl A, and her siblings survived an abusive family life; a manically religious and increasingly bitter father and a passive mother who never intervened in the worsening conditions her children found themselves in.

Girl A is an impressive debut from Abigail Dean. It interweaves the story of Lex’s present day life with that of her upbringing which keeps the reader engrossed as we look to find out both what happened and the impact it had on Lex and her siblings. The book is well written and each of the siblings is fully realised; the dynamics between them both then and now are also compelling. I didn’t fully connect with Lex and perhaps this was why I wasn’t quite as moved as a lot of other reviewers seem to have been by this book but would agree that it deserves to do well and will likely be one of the most talked about books of 2021.

Lex Gracie didn't have the upbringing of a normal childhood neither did any of her six siblings.
Known only has Girl A growing up her close bound with her sister Evie is paramount.
Lex does manage to escape her family home but has to leave Evie behind.
After her parents deaths all of the siblings inherited the family home known as the house of horrors.
Lex wants to turn the old home into something good but first she most come to terms with what happened there and all face her past and her siblings.

This is not an easy read due to the nature of the story however I must admit that I’ve read more graphic accounts of child abuse. I liked the split of timelines from current to the past which explained in a drip drip fashion what had occurred in the past. None of the characters were particularly likeable and I felt the descriptions and motivations of the parents was a bit hazy. I found it difficult to believe that in modern Britain these atrocities could occur - particularly when the children had an aunt and cousins. I know most reviewers have given 5 stars but for me this was only a 3 star read.

What a debut!! I could not put this book down and was invested in Girl A, Lex, from the first page. I had to keep reassuring myself that this was a work of fiction, a testament to the writing. Every description, every occurrence depicted was so believable. Lex's experiences as the daughter of a 'religious' man who could not draw people to his 'church' and who lost his grip on reality and then her life when she finally escaped are so realistic as to make this book exciting, frightening, depressing and compulsive.
I cannot wait to read what this author writes next!
Very many thanks to Netgalley/Abigail Dean/Harper Collins UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is a debut book by author Abigail Dean and Girl A is an absolute spellbinding book to begin your writing career. It is a story of children in a family who are abused by their parents and when Girl A escapes, the world is riveted by the tales of horror and speculation of events that happened in the family house.
The father is dead when the authorities go into the house and it is then only the mother who faces a trial and a prison sentence. The children are kept separate and they are all placed in adopted homes and they are not told where the other children are going to live or their new names.
The years pass and the mother dies and leaves the family home and £20,000 to Girl A, for her to decide what to do with the home and money.
Girl a or Alexa is a successor lawyer and she has friends Olivia and Christopher from university. She now has to contact her sisters and brothers to get them to agree for the home to become a community centre and the money, plus grants to be used to renovate the old family home.
The storyline is horrible, very moving at times, all of the characters bear the scars of the abuse they suffered and not all of them moved onto make successful and meaningful happy lives.
The book is very powerful and doesn’t leave the reader in any doubt that the children were badly damaged and left to die of starvation by the parents.
Highly recommended.

I have to admit this book gave me goosebumps it is well written and tells of the horrors in the family home of Lex Grace/Girl A.I don't want to say too much about this book as it would ruin it for readers but i can highly recommend it to readers.BRILLIANT 5*

This was probably one of my most anticipated books on my TBR list for 2021, I kept it to read close to publication date as I wanted it to be a 2021 top read and it has not let me down. Seeing it marketed as a book for fans of Room and My Dark Vanessa, I had huge expectations.

The story unfolds through flashbacks and retellings of the lived experiences of the children who were held in the Gracie House of Horrors. The reader gets to see elements of all the children's experiences and how some of them vary greatly. I adored how well we got to see into their lives with tiny details building the atmosphere and totally enveloping you into their devastatingly harsh world. The world-building was so well done that at times you felt you were reading about an archaic story rather than a modern family being help captive in sheer depravity.

I also found the characters were so well created and suited to the storyline. At times it's quite difficult to warm to the main character Lex as she is so closed off and almost wooden, but after those experiences, what else would be expected?

Sometimes books of this genre end quite abruptly at the point that the survivors escape and the reader is left bereft and lost wondering how their lives will pan out and out will their lives be effected, Girl A gives the reader full insight into just how well people can adapt and equally just how horrid people can become.
Another aspect other similar books tend to miss at times is how the captor gets to that point of behaving in such a horrid manner and I loved that we saw Lex's fathers slow demise played out.

This wasn't the easiest book to read with very strong and prominent triggers of child abuse and neglect but 100% is already on the cards to be one of my top reads of 2021.

At the beginning I thought I had made a mistake. A fictional misery-memoir with gory details is not my choice of reading but very quickly I realised that this is a gripping, well-structured, power-house of well-written fiction that is difficult to read in parts but ultimately hopeful. Girl A is the narrator, the oldest of the seven siblings who were kept prisoner in their house by their increasingly delusional and controlling father and a mother who was completely under his spell. It is an horrific tale of abuse and also of neglect by not only the parents but the local community, extended family, school and health service. Nobody looked further than they needed to, nobody raised any alarms, the children had to survive in any way that they could. Girl A grows up into a complex young woman but she survives and that is an achievement in itself.

Girl A tells the story of Alexandra (Lex) Gracie and her siblings and the horrors they endured at the hands of their parents growing up. It was Lex (Girl A as she was later named) who escaped and rescued her siblings.

The story begins with Lex's mother dying in prison and naming Lex as the executor of her will. The siblings have inherited the family home at Moor Woods Road and Lex in discussion with her sister Evie decides that they should turn it into something good, a community centre. To do this she needs to get the backing of all her siblings and thus the story begins.

The story is told in flashbacks of memories and the author does an amazing job of creating an emotional connection for the readers without being distasteful or gruesome. The plot moves along divulging details of what the children enduring under their parent's care and the effects this had on their adult lives. We see their flaws and their vulnerability in the way they interact with the world.

This is a harrowing story and what made it even more so was that this can and did happen. The book moves back and forth through time letting the reader see into the lives of these children and how they went from an ordinary family into captives in their own home. We see the demise of the father through Lex's memories.

This was a gripping read and one I found difficult to put down. It's dark and disturbing and fans of psychological thrillers that enjoy a good twist will devour this. It was beautifully written and a story I will remember for quite some time. It is heart-wrenching in places and a deeply emotional read.

I think I may be the odd one out with this book, I must admit I bought into the hype and all the fabulous reviews, don’t get me wrong it was well written, but I found the characters difficult to like, and the plot underwhelming. Although this may have been down to my frame of mind at the time. I think it’s one that you will need to read for yourself and form your own opinion.

A dark, disturbing story about abuse and how it affects people. 'Girl A' is how the protagonist is known; a familiar label used to protect the innocent victims during investigation, but she is also referred to as 'the one who escaped'.

The story opens in a rather slow way way, showing the cold response by Girl A as she learns of her mother's death in prison. There are practicalities to sort out such as the family home that stands empty, and the eldest daughter is named as the executor of her mother's will. She has to find her other six siblings to discuss what happens to the house and some cash that was also left to them. This is what the book is about - how their experiences and perceptions have shaped them, how some have tried to distance themselves from it, exploited it, or have been exploited by it.

A fascinating read, each character is developed to provoke sympathy, apathy or in some cases, distaste. The protagonist becomes very complex and not totally likeable and yet the reader is always on her side. Told in the first person (although not obviously so) the story unfolds as she connects with each of her siblings, and is intersected with scenes from the past so the abuse by their paranoid, delusional and mentally ill parents is uncovered gradually. Well written, intense, unsettling and very, very good.

This book has got prize-winning debut written all over it (not literally). It's gripping, thought-provoking and unique - I loved every page of this revealing and artfully told mystery/family drama like no other. Thank you to the publisher for approving me to read it! I will be recommending it to everybody!

All you need to know is: I devoured Girl A in a weekend. I just couldn’t stop reading this fantastic debut from Abigail Dean. It’s a psychological thriller with depth and drive. Some parts were very difficult to read but you just HAD to keep turning those pages to hear Girl A’s story.

The story opens with Lex Gracie (Girl A) having been made executive of her mother’s will after her mother dies in prison. Lex and her siblings are infamous for unpleasant reasons: they were held captive in their home, abused and starved by their parents. Their father ended his own life when Lex escaped aged 15 and raised the alarm. Their mother ended up in prison.

What we then get is a really interesting story about what happens to people who have had an experience like this in their childhood. Each child reacts differently, remembers what happened in an individual way and are doing what they can as adults to thrive or just survive.

There are chapters about each sibling, all told through Lex’s POV, set both in the present day and in flashbacks that reveal what happened to lead their parents to commit such terrible acts against their own children. This was an excellently crafted part of the story. The abuse happened gradually, over years, to the point where, by the time it hit extreme levels, it was too late for Lex and her siblings to do anything.

Lex is the second eldest sibling and a damaged and complex character. Determined not to let what happened to her stop her succeeding in life, yet unable to stop the psychological damage that come with an experience. She is strong and resilient and wonderfully written.

I have always been morbidly fascinated and appalled by real-life stories like this. I think it’s the level of corrupt human nature – I just can’t fathom that people exist who would do this. Prior to reading Girl A, I had heard of the Turpin family – a mother and father who abused and neglected their 12 children, truly horrific to read about. Author Abigail Dean says in an interview that she was partially inspired by this case.

Also, a book that sprung to mind while reading Girl A was Educated by Tara Westover. Not fiction – and not to the extreme levels of the story that Girl A tells – Educated is a memoir that details Tara’s life with her religious-zealot father who tries to contain and control his children.

The traumatic theme of Girl A is not the easiest to read about but the way Abigail Dean tells this story is wildly compelling. It is a dive into the deprived depths of human nature and the consequences for the people who are victims in that. I was totally immersed in this story and I know it will stay with me for a long time.

*** Trigger Warning*** There's some Sexual, Emotional & Physical Abuse covered in this story

Lex Gracie doesn't want to think about her family. She doesn't want to think about growing up in her parents' House of Horrors.
she doesn't want to think of her identy as Girl A: the girl who escaped when her mother dies in prisonand leaves Lex and her siblings the family home, she can't run from her past any longer. Together with her sister Evie, Lex intends to turn the House of Horrors into a force for good.

A family of seven children are neglected and tied up. But one of them manages to escape and raise the alarm. The story is told in the past, when the children were little snd the present dsy, where they are now adults. The children were adopted by several families. Now the mother has died, the siblings get together to sort out her will and decide what to do with the house. I did find the ending a little disappointing plus the pace was slow in places.

i would like to thank #Netgalley, #HarperCollinsUK #HarperFiction and the author #AbigailDean for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It's a page turner - set to be this year's must read.

Bit of trauma, religious fervour, sibling rivalry, mystery and who did what to whom - all adding up to a jolly good read. The story is harrowing - think along the lines of 'Room', and deals with the different interpretations of the situation by the various siblings. I don't want to give anything away - just go and read it for yourself!

Sadly this book wasn't really for me. I had high hopes for this book as I had heard so much about it but it fell flat for me. I found the twoing and froing between past and present confusing at times. Yes there was bad things happening to the children but I expected to be more horrified by everything.

Girl A by Abigail Dean will be published with Harper Collins on January 21st and is being described as ‘the book that will define a decade. Beautifully written and incredibly powerful…a story of redemption, of horror, and of love.’ Girl A is a book that comes with great expectations, with the literary community very much enamoured by it….

‘Incendiary, beautifully written debut’ Guardian
‘Psychologically astute, adroitly organised, written with flair’ Sunday Times
‘An astonishing achievement.’ JESSIE BURTON
‘Gripping, beautifully written perfection.’ SOPHIE HANNAH
‘A masterpiece.’ LOUISE O’NEILL
‘Fantastic.’ PAULA HAWKINS

Alexandra ‘Lex’ Gracie, or Girl A, as the world now knows her, had a childhood that reclines in the deep recessive place of most of our minds, the place where the nightmares come from. A child should feel safe, loved, cherished and encouraged by it’s parents but, for Lex Gracie and her siblings, their house was never a home. It was a House of Horrors, a place where their childhood was swept away from them and love was something never experienced. Lex’s parents were, once upon a time, just a suburban couple with dreams and ambitions but, as time passed, something happened, a switch clicked and her father became obsessive about his religious beliefs. The family moved house and eventually the siblings were pulled from school as their father explained that home-schooling was the best option. Their mother was a woman beset with issues. Her mental wellbeing seriously affected by multiple childbirths, a madman for a husband and a slow decline into poverty. Over those early years this creeping slip into a dark and disturbing world was gradual enough that the children were not quite able to comprehend what was happening but, as they developed in mind, body and spirit, those that were old enough came to realise that this was not normal. This was not how a child was supposed to be cared for. The level of cruelty, starvation, deprivation was turning them all into skeletons of their former selves, weak, unloved, unwashed, forgotten.

Now Lex Gracie is a top-class New York lawyer and is back in the UK. Her mother has passed away in prison. There is a will to be executed, a body to be collected. Lex refuses the body but accepts the one item from her mother that she never imagined she would ever want, the family home. Lex has had therapy, years to attempt to come to terms with her early childhood years. She has limited contact with her siblings, having all been adopted following Lex’s courageous bolt for freedom many years earlier when she was fifteen. Lex suffered serious injuries as a result of her escape but, following years of surgery and physical/emotional therapy, she embraced her new life and studied law. Now living life at a very fast-pace, Lex thrives on the challenges, the booze and the hedonistic relationships to keep her mind busy, to distract her from her nightmares. Now she must face them again.

With the house, Lex plans to open up a centre, a place of refuge and hope for other children/teenagers damaged by the life given them. She hopes to turn the House of Horrors into a place where dreams can be made possible for other kids, where there will be people who these deprived children can turn to for help, for support and for love. In order to do this Lex needs the signature of each of her scattered siblings, which requires contact and the unearthing of deeply entrenched memories. Each chapter introduces the reader to each of the siblings with insights into the daily horrors experienced and how it has impacted their lives.

Girl A is very much a study on the lives of these siblings and the impact of their earlier years on their development into adults, into formed people with personalities and new lives. It feels quite authentic, almost like reading the biography of a victim in the aftermath of such atrocities. Definitely not a book for all as it does have descriptions that unsettle, disturb and upset but yet there is some hope to be found. The psychological elements of the narrative are very insightful as the after-effects of years of abuse is evident amongst all the siblings. Girl A is quite a powerful read as it delves deep into a subject area that is very hard for many of us to fathom. Parents are supposed to love and nurture, not trap and abuse, be that emotionally or physically.

Girl A is not a book packed with suspense. It is not a fast-paced read. It is, however, a shocking, intense, disconcerting and yet, quite compelling read, one that will remain with most readers long after that final page is turned.

This powerful thriller has an incredible sense of pace. I dashed through it within a day due the author’s easy-to-read style. The plot reads as an amalgamation of most traumatising True Crime podcasts, it taps into that same sense of morbid curiosity. As much as this novel could be regarded as a thriller it is also a treatise on survival and the after effects of deep trauma.

It is hard to believe that this incredible book is the debut of Abigail Dean- she writes with such assurance and maturity, never putting a foot wrong, yet it is such a harrowing and sensitive subject.. Girl A, Lex, is the oldest daughter of the seven Gracie children, and the one who managed to escape the “House of Horrors,” freeing her them from a family life that had started as repressive and impoverished but had gone on to ever greater extremes of neglect, abuse and imprisonment. As the story begins, Lex’s mother has died in prison, naming Lex as the executor of her will, which involves the bequest of the house and some money. She must now meet up with her siblings, all adopted seperately, and dealing with their past traumas differently, to decide what to do with it. The characters are well- rounded and skillfully drawn: even the children’s father, a bullying failure turned monster, remains believably human, recalling the description of “the banality of evil,” while their mother, who self-victimises even before she meets him, remains criminally passive but is also a pathetic, sorrowful figure. Dean is a sensual writer- you feel that you can see the dirt-encrusted creases of the children’s skin and smell the rot of the dirty rooms. This all sounds terribly grim, but it is not a grim read, and despite the events of the story being the type of case that grabs newspaper headlines, it completely avoids sensationalism. The emphasis is on the Gracie children finding a way to move on and live good lives, to find love, career success and security, and how they are helped to strive for this and to derive some meaning from what happened to them. Despite everything, this is a life-affirming book and a wonderful achievement.