'The Beloved Girls' by Harriet Evans travels between 1959, 1989 and 2018 to tell the story of Vanes (a strange west country mansion), the gilded family that lived there and the summer ritual that is a catalyst for unsettling and catastrophic events. Throughout the novel permeates a sense of unease, ghosts from the past, and questions.

I have to admit I found this novel difficult to get into; a sense that remained with me as I was reading. I didn't like many of the characters, I found the nursery rhyme irritating, and far from encouraging me to read on, the uncertainties and foreshadowing felt too stagey and dramatic. However, I know many other reviewers have felt differently and I'm sure this book will do very well.

3.5 Stars

Harriet Evans is a writer who has really developed over her novels. She started with lighter romantic novels (really good ones) and gradually added more and more depth to her stories. 'The Beloved Girls' is filled with depth and mystery, traveling though three time periods, revolving round a peculiar family, a house called Vanes and a strange Summer rituals. There is a lot I liked about this book, it is fabulously well written, the characters are fascinating, the landscapes atmospheric and there is a evading sense of wrongness throughout the book which made me a bit shivery. However, the main driving force of the plot is 'the bad thing that happened', pretty much everything revolves around this but when we got there I found myself slightly confused and not quite sure what was happening so the novel lost some of it's impact for me. Still, a good book which I have no doubt will be thoroughly enjoyed by many other readers. I will definitely still be checking out what this author writes next.

This is my first Harriet Evans book and I was impressed, very well written. Book is told through 3 timelines of 1959,1989 and 2018 of main character Janey and her stays at the Vanes house. Reading the summary I was expecting a thriller, though I would say this is more a family drama. The main twist I guessed correctly quite early on but book was still enjoyable. One criticism is that I found the book a bit too long, I skipped a few parts cause it was dragging too much. Would recommend.

Many thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

There are many good reviews for this book but sorry to say mine isn't one of them. I have always enjoyed the author's books but I cannot get into this one. I have tried and tried and still not finished it or got to the whole point of the story. I'm more than half way through and it has become a chore so I'm going to leave it for a while and return to it later. If I do begin to see the point of the book I will write my Amazon review then.

I managed to eke this captivating, gothic tinged book out for four days which was incredibly restrained of me because I wanted to glom it. And if you like books about secrets, families, outsiders, obsessions, old family homes and the moment they all collide set in several time periods then you will want to glom it as well.
In the present day we have barrister Catherine in her perfect house with her gorgeous (so gorgeous) husband and lovely in a teenage trying way children - and a past she's not sure she can ever outrun. In the late eighties we have outsider Janey, ill with grief, spending the summer with the glamorous family who so captivated her on a brief visit five years before. She wants to be part of them; aristocratic and autocratic father, artistic mother, gorgeous twins Joss and Kitty, watchful Merry, as they offer her a place in their annual honey collecting ceremony as one of the Beloved Girls. But it doesn't take long before she sees the fractures beneath the glamours and the darkness within.
And then in the fifties we have Simon, full of dreams for his future as he tries to outrun the nighmares he saw as as soldier in Naples at the end of WW2. A chance encounter with a lonely child and a promise to her mother sets in chain a motion of events which will reverberate down the generations.
Beautifully written, page turningly paced, The Beloved Girls is a book from a writer at the height of her powers. Dark, original and very very good indeed, highly highly recommended.

This was way too long and it really dragged. I also found it very confusing and was struggling with who was who and how they were all connected. As the book progresses, I did connect a bit more with it, especially the chapters set in the past but I think the glimmers of excitement got lost in the book being too long and it went back to being dull again. This does have a very beautiful cover though so points for that.

Primarily disturbing, evocative and haunting. The brilliant new book from Harriet Evans is an addictive page turner, that had me second guessing right to the end.
Janey Lestrange first meets the Hunter family with her dad Simon, when he takes her to the Vanes. The family are glamorous and fascinating, they draw Janey into their world, and family traditions, the main one being The Collecting from their bees on the estate.
I found the book highly disturbing so took me a while to read it. The characters and families are dysfunctional, with psychology issues everywhere, but also strangely interesting and fascinating.
The book spans across from the 1940's to the late 1980's to the present day.
Historically and musically wonderfully accurate.
Recommended as a completely different type of reading.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read early.

"'It's not about winning, or losing. The ceremony is about our relationship with our surroundings. We need the bees to survive, and they need us to survive. Once you understand that, you understand the history of Vanes, you understand our family.'"

At the start of "The Beloved Girls" by Harriet Evans, it is 2018, and Catherine Christophe is a barrister with a well-ordered life and a happy, ordinary family. But all is not as it seems; on returning from a family holiday from France after a disastrous case in which she has failed to save a young man accused of murder from conviction, the Christophe family find that their house has been broken into and Catherine's study ransacked. This triggers a chain of events that starts to unravel Catherine's carefully created life.

In 1989 we meet 18-year-old Janey Lestrange. Still reeling from the recent loss of her father Simon, she is invited to spend the summer with old family friends the Hunters at their country home, Vanes. Sylvia Hunter was Simon's ward, and is keen to welcome Janey into her household, despite the apparent reluctance of the other Hunter family members; Sylvia's cold and tyrannical husband Charles, the twins Kitty and Joss, and younger sister Merry. Alone in the world with her father gone and an indifferent, re-married mother, Janey is desperate to fit in, to the extent that she is willing to overlook the oddities of the Hunter's lives. Vanes has been their home for several generations, and each year they carry out a traditional ceremony - the Collecting, in which they and many local villagers process to a chapel in the grounds of Vanes to collect honey from the bee hives that have been there for 200 years. Janey is delighted to be asked to take part in the ceremony as one of the Beloved Girls, but as the summer progresses the atmosphere of Vanes becomes more and more oppressive, and disaster seems inevitable...

"The Beloved Girls" moves between different time periods to tell the stories of its various protagonists from their own perspective - Catherine in 2018, Janey and Kitty in 1989, and Simon in 1959. I have sometimes found in books that move around like this that I race through certain sections to get back to the story/characters I'm most interested in. But this was not the case here, with each section enthralling me equally; the different parts could almost be novels in their own right, such was the depth of the characters and my interest in their lives. The overarching mystery of the book (which I won't spoil for people here!) was wonderfully done, and the claustrophobic atmosphere and tension builds to breaking point as the story progresses. The author managed to make bees and honey incredibly menacing! This is not a book to start late in the evening, as once I started reading I found it impossible to put down. I will be thinking about this book for a long time, and would highly recommend it - a 5-star read for me.

"The Beloved Girls" is released this week, on the 19th August. Many thanks to NetGalley, Headline Review and of course the author for providing an ebook copy.

This, for me is the perfect holiday read, intriguing and immersive with an air of faded glamour. Beautifully written

I've read a couple of books by this author so I was eagerly to read this book and it didn't disappoint. Spanning over several timelines the story begins with a visit to the Vanes. It came across as a strange visit and ended with a dead bee. As the story moves between present day and the past it opens up a past full of secrets. Absolutely riveting from start to finish. I loved it.

I have read all of Harriet Evans books and once again this story did not disappoint. Sometimes uncomfortable to read this story is beautifully written with many twists and turns. An epic story with real depth Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance copy of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC. This book is heavenly - I didn't want it to end. I've read all of Harriet Evans' books and this is in the top three for me! I loved the characters, the sweeping story and the characteristic way Evans weaves the story and the house. I want to read it all over again!

Oh this book is just incredible.

I'm a big fan of Harriet Evan's and was completely drawn in by the cover followed by an addictive synopsis.

I love books set across different time periods so this was just perfect. There are lots of different characters but you dont get lost amongst them.

This book is full of twists and turns and I feel very fortunate to have read this as part of a Tandem readalong.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you love Kate Morton’s books you will love this. A gorgeous, gothic mystery, this is a brilliant read that kept me gripped. Looking forward to reading more of Harriet Evans books as this swept me along. Loved the Cornwall setting too. A dream of a book.

This is going to be an extremely popular read this summer!

The Beloved Girls is largely set in the summer of an English country estate, there's family intrigue and mystery that develops between the different timelines the book narrates and I really, really wanted to know what happened in the midst of a secretive summer celebration in the crumbling Chapel on the estate.

Typically for Harriet Evans, this is well written and the characters pull you into their story. They keep you reading and wanting to pick up the book.

I was fairly certain from early on that I had figured out some of the plot, BUT I am very aware I read a crazy amount of mystery novels and I don't think everyone will do so. It also didn't stop me wanting to read and I mean that as a high compliment - I enjoyed the writing and these characters enough to want to keep reading it even when I had half figured it out. Just half mind you, the other half got a gasp out of me 🙃

Definitely one for the summer TBR this year!

TW: significant references to sexual assault/rape, grooming, violence and domestic abuse.

Catherine disappears from a train station on the evening of her wedding anniversary, but why? Does the answer lie years ago in 1989 at a west county Manor House with the hunter family? An utterly gorgeous story to get immersed in.

Thank you to Netgalley, Headline and Harriet Evans for this ARC in return for my honest review. I adored this book, filled with compelling characters, an epic plot and dark family secrets, what more could you want in a book. . I was drawn into the story from the opening pages. Spanning decades, the story is gently and slowly weaved together. Loved and it would definitely recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley, Headline and Harriet Evans for my arc of The Beloved Girls in exchange for an honest review.

Publishing 19th August 2021

Spanning over 3 timelines, the 1950s, 1980s and present day (2018) this is the story of two families entwined in damage and trauma and strange old traditions that have ramifications for present day.

Catherine is a successful barrister, married to Davide who she met in France in her gap year, with two beautiful children and a beautiful home. But she is haunted by the past.

1989 after the death of her father Janey Lestrange goes to stay at the home of an old family friend. Vanes is a mysterious old manor shrouded in the mystery of a tradition dating back centuries and involving the bees that live in the chapel on the house’s grounds. As the ceremony approaches, Janey becomes bewitched by the Hunter family, desperate to become part of the family, despite the eldest daughter Kitty’s warnings that all is not as it seems.

This is a bewitchingly good novel, it traverses a path of menace and darkness that make it unputdownable as the reader becomes embroiled in the toxic atmosphere of Vanes and the Hunter family. It touches on a number of sensitive subjects which become quite dark in places and are not for the faint hearted. The atmosphere is fantastic, drawing you in from the start as two worlds collide and slowly but surely the layers peel away to reveal the sickening truth. This was my first Harriet Evans novel and I’m looking forward to exploring some of her other novels now that I’ve found her.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I have loved all this authors books and have to say this was up there with the best she has written. Great storyline and great characters. I was hooked right from the beginning.

Fantastic!

Twisty turny, with a slow-building atmosphere of menace. I had so many questions and thoughts about what might happen when I was not reading, always a good sign of a compelling story.

This novel is deftly plotted, with leaps back and forth in time and to completely different settings. 1989 was interesting, the references took me straight back to my teens. Researching (or just remembering?) that period must have been fun.

The characterisation is solid; because despite a large cast I was never confused about who was who.

It also has to be said (because I bet I’m not the only one) that any book which is set within a large country house and grounds gets my vote too. Woodland, a pool and a view of the sea too? Tick, tick, tick!

My heart was beating so hard by the end. Loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an ARC.