Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth is a good steady paced triller that will not disappoint.

This book is very character driven, but with multiple POV's and alternation between past and present and along with short chapters the story just flies. Although there is some repetion of days while the story is told in past, it still captured my attention.

I found the book gut wrenching as it deals with children and foster care. I think that children's voices were done very well and are completely believabe. There is also another POV which identity is kept secret until the very end.

The story flows easily, the language is engaging and the end is absolutely shocking.

It is a truly well done thiller which will keep readers on the edge until the end.

I have read and enjoyed several books by Sally Hepworth so knew I was in for a good read when I picked up her latest, Darling Girls. And it certainly didn’t disappoint - Hepworth writes domestic mystery so well, and knows how to nail an ending, though in this book the “family” is a little different but all the more interesting for it and there is a decidely dark element to the story.

Jessica, Norah and Alicia are sisters in all but blood, bonded by their shared experience as foster children looked after by Miss Fairchild at Wild Meadows, in an environment that was far from the idyllic set-up it appeared to the outside world. Each carries the scars of their childhood, though it manifests itself in very different ways - and when many years later the house is knocked down and human remains are found the three women return to a town full of unhappy memories to see if they can help shed some light on the the discovery as part of the murder investigation.

Told from the point of view of all three women, the story moves between the present and the events of their childhood. Intertwined are conversations between a psychiatrist and an unnamed individual that had me somewhat confused at first, wondering if I had missed something, but whose significance eventually becomes clear.

The book’s strength lies in its depiction of the women, the shocking events they were forced to endure in their childhood and the bond they share. Each carries the burden into their adult life, albeit with very different coping strategies.

With plenty of twists as the story unfolds, and some moments of real humour that provide a little light relief amongst the darkness, it is a heart-wrenching story that keeps you guessing. And just as you are left with an element of hopefullness as the women come to terms with their past and “find their people”, Hepworth throws in an ending that will leave you with your jaw on the floor.

💭 ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ:
What a wild ride! I absolutely loved this psychological thriller. It’s dark and twisted and the ending *chefs kiss* 👌🏻. The character built is incredible; it’s hard not to connect to Jessica, Norah & Alicia. I had an instant connection and absolutely devoured this book. The multiple timelines and POVs added so much to the storyline. Highly recommend this one!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🤓 ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
Continuous mystery
Multiple POV’s and Timelines
Childhood drama
Sisterhood
Psychological thriller

❌ ᴛʀɪɢɢᴇʀ ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢ:
Child abuse
Sexual assault

ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ:
𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢, 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘈𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥, 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘺𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴. 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴. 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴. 𝘖𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴?

After binging her entire backlist in under two months, I was super excited to get an eARC of her most recent work.

Darling Girls is the story of three foster kids, now grown women, dealing with the ongoing effects of the traumas experienced during their youth. A decade spent with their foster mother on an idyllic farm near Melbourne has left its marks and when the remains of a child are found buried beneath their former home, their past takes them back to the place of sisterly bonding and countless unhappy memories. In true Sally-fashion, this book goes deep and dark and the ending, well, it left me gasping.

If you’re a fan of domestic suspense, aka mentalist fiction, fast, furious and oh so entertaining (in the darkest sense of the word), don’t miss out on this one.

I love Sally Hepworth's writing, she draws you in to her stories so that you are completely absorbed by them, only emerging only the other side with a head full of wonderful powerful writing. 'Darling Girls' is the story of three sisters who are bonded through childhood experiences, all meeting in a seemingly perfect private foster home where the owner Miss Fairchild switches from sweetness and light, to utter cruelty without warning.
They have all come from different backgrounds before they arrive at Wild Meadows but quickly form an unbreakable bond. Their relationship is tested to its limits years later when the police contact them to say that a skeleton has been found in the grounds of the home; are they strong enough to help the police uncover the case?
The story is a real page turner, moving between the girls' awful experiences at Miss Fairchild's hands to the present day, where their current lives are permanently shaped by what happened to them as children.
Well worth a read.

This was fantastic! It’s the best thriller I’ve read in a very long time.

We follow three women, Jessica, Norah and Alicia, who were foster children living with their foster mother (but does she deserve to be called mother?) Miss Fairchild.

We learn that the girls experienced abuse in the home of Miss Fairchild, most often in the form of psychological and emotional abuse. We have chapters in present day and 25 years ago from each of the women’s perspectives, alongside other chapters of someone talking to a psychologist, but we don’t know who this individual is.

Remains are found at the home the girls lived in and the mystery behind who the remains belong to and who buried them there.

This was so so good, but a difficult read at times. It was awful to read what the girls went through but I feel that’s a testament to how well the book was written.

I loved the three main characters, they were developed so well and I was rooting for them throughout.

The twists really surprised me, particularly the last one. I couldn’t believe what I was reading.

I highly recommend this book, one of my favourite thrillers ever!

I loved this authors book, The Good Sister, so was very keen to start this one.

The book started off really well but I found as it went on it started to loose a little momentum and the ending felt a bit rushed.

There is lots of brilliant praise for this book so I am sure it will do well and I’d love to read some of the authors other books.

Thank you to #NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This book starts with a bang - the opening chapter had me hooked! Sally Hepworth really knows how to draw you in! However, the more the book went on, the more I felt it lost momentum.
I found the girls to be too similar. I didn't find them different enough, and sometimes I got a bit confused between them.
The pacing starts racing, but over the course of the book it feels like it grinds to a halt.
I also feel like the ending was all wrapped up a little too conveniently.

I enjoyed reading, but not anything that will stay with me, or nothing that wow'ed me. Just OK!

The story is told in two parts, as young girls in foster care and as young women living with the experience and consequences of that.

It cleverly tells the story from the perspective of three very different females, Norah, Jessica and Alicia. It grabs you and you want to know how it ends when you find out that the body of a child is found at Wild Meadows, the idyllic home where they grew up, gets pulled down. Who is the murderer?

I loved with what empathy Sally Hepworth described the girls and the situations they came from and ended up in, the twists and turns, and how the book ended, were brilliant.

Fabulous read.

Alicia, Jessica and Norah were raised together in a foster home called Wild Meadows - decades later when a body is found underneath the home, the three sisters are forced to confront their past and what really happened in that house.

This is a fast paced thriller set between two different timelines and is told from the POV of all of the girls as children and in the present day.

It’s a dark and tense read that I sped through, wanting to know how it ended. I grew to love all the girls and felt so sorry for them and what they all went through. There are also some big twists that I really didn’t see coming which is always a sign of a great thriller.

I’ve never read any of Sally Hepworth’s books before but after this i’ll definitely be giving her others a go.

Now here's an author who never fails to both entertain and surprise me!

Jessica, Norah and Alicia were all fostered together and have the tight bond of sisters, even though they are not related by birth. They have listened to many telling them how lucky there were to be raised on an idyllic farming estate by a loving foster mother - but their memories are quite different. When a body is discovered underneath the home they grew up in, the adult women are thrust into the limelight as key witnesses. The question is - are they suspects?

This is a wonderfully well-plotted novel which had me hooked from the beginning - I couldn't have stopped reading even if I wanted to! Full of revelations and surprises, it is a fabulous read. Always something going on and my suspicions were everywhere except, perhaps, where they should have been. A terrific read from a superb author and one I'm very happy to both recommend and give a full house of stars! 5*.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

The Darling Girls in the story are Jessica, Alicia and Norah, all who were rescued as young children from dangerous home situations and moved to live with Foster carer Miss Fairchild. But sadly, it didn't turn out to be the loving home that they all desperately needed and they counted down the days until they could get out of there.
Catching up with the girls, now as adults, they are forced to confront their past when a detective gets in touch to ask them about their time at the foster home and the foster mother they hoped never to hear of again.

This was a great domestic style thriller. Going back and forth in time, showing the girls in the present as well as back when they were at the home, making it a very well rounded and compelling read.

I always enjoy Sally Hepworth's books. I love how each one is different in style and setting yet consistently excellent. Despite never not enjoying one of her books, I was a slightly put off going in to this one when I read it was about a foster home, it didn't appeal to me. I was wrong, obviously. Hepworth brings originality to every one of her books , a master storyteller.

The Darling Girls of the title are Alicia, Jessica and Nora - as young children they were rescued from tragic circumstances and raised by a foster mother, Miss Fairchild on a beautiful farm. However, Miss Fairchild was not the caring and considerate woman she was known as and hid her abuse from the outside world. The girls managed to escape her grip and left the horror before and never seeing Miss Fairchild again but the influence she had on their early years always shadowed them. When a body is found on the farm where they grew up , the sisters are forced to return to the farmhouse of their childhood and their nightmares.

These characters are so well written and well developed as the story goes back and forth between past and present and this was a really compelling read. Well paced , impossible to put down and the conclusion was superb.

Another banger from this author, who writes thoughtful suspense so well. Recommend.. That cover too * heart eyes*

Wow - this was described as a page turner and definitely delivered! I read this cover to cover in two hours with barely a break, as I was so intrigued by what was going on. It was equally devastating, and I was so glad to see healing coming for Jessica, Alicia and Norah after everything they’d been through. Thanks so much to Panmac and NetGalley for this arc!

would like to thank netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this jaw dropping book

jessica norah and alicia all ended up in the foster system at different times but they all found themselves under the same roof with a miss fairchild and so the three girls bonded to each other that would see them into adulthood

but their childhood was filled with dark secrets about their time with miss fairchild in the foster system and its not until they are summoned back by the police where skeletal remains are found under the house after it was demolished to make way for development that just maybe those secrets will be unearthed...

what followed next is a rollercoaster of a ride throughout the entire book... wow just wow and that ending i had a tear in my eye....

Three foster sisters must examine their past after the police begin investigating a historic crime that took place at the seemingly idyllic foster home they found themselves at, under the control of the strange Ms. Fairchild. We follow different narratives as the mystery unfolds and the author does a great job of making them distinguishable and interesting. The bond between the girls feels authentic and despite a more jovial tone at the beginning, the novel becomes darker throughout as the abuse they suffered is revealed. I perhaps couldn’t connect more with this due to the genre, I tend to guess the ending too soon to enjoy! But for thriller lovers, this is a great read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

What a FANTASTIC read! Sometimes a difficult read about three young girls in care and how they bonded together to help one another through the dark days. Lots of deep secrets within this story with great characters. It kept me hooked from start to finish and what an ending!
Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This is the first book I’ve read by Sally Hepworth and what an introduction to her writing! I could not put this book down and devoured it in two sittings.

It has all the right ingredients for a great, addictive story. The three main characters are likeable and relatable; they have a brilliant chemistry and bring humour as well as heart to the story. Miss Fairchild is the consummate villain; equal parts vanity and evil. The plot is expertly paced and the mystery element well handled; with a cunning twist in the tail.

Not only is it a great story but it has a deeply felt message underneath. The author’s note at the end brought a lump to my throat and made me look at foster care from a different perspective.

Sometimes a book just hits all the right notes at the right time and for me this book did exactly that. I absolutely loved it and will most definitely be checking out Sally Hepworth’s backlist.

I really enjoyed this book. There were a couple of times when I found it hard to read (I think having a daughter around the age of Jessica made it worse) but it wasn't too graphic. I didn't expect the slight twist at the end. All in all it kept me gripped throughout with a couple of twisty turns and I really enjoyed it.

I just reviewed Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth. #DarlingGirls #NetGalley

Darling Girls is the first book I’ve read by Sally Hepworth, and it definitely won’t be my last. It’s a dark glimpse into the lives of foster children and their foster parents, and what happens when fairytales go wrong.

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are such compelling characters, and they immediately pulled me into their story. I enjoyed both timelines — their past and their present — and this narrative structure really allowed time to get to know each sister inside out. They’re individually very different, but because of their heartbreaking childhoods, they will always share an unforgettable bond that can’t be diminished. It’s fascinating to unravel these sisterly relationships, and I was continuously surprised by what their stories held.

The mystery at the heart of Darling Girls is sensitively handled, and it kept me absolutely hooked. All my guesses were wrong, as per usual, but I was satisfied with the big reveal and the ending. Sally Hepworth expertly tied many plot strands together, ultimately weaving a sad, shocking tale that left me thinking about it days after finishing the book.

I would recommend Darling Girls to anyone who likes a dark, consuming mystery with a heavy plot and memorable characters. It may not be an easy read for everyone, but it’s a rewarding one, if only for getting to meet three sisters who would do anything for each other. I’m so glad I read it!