Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

-

 



This book had me hooked. The Darling Girls is about 3 fostered girls, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia, who lived with Miss Fairchild at Wild Meadows as children. Miss Fairchild was an evil woman who abused them and mentally manipulated them. There was a 4th child, Amy, that also lived with them but she was only 2 at the time. Concerned with Amy's safety when the others were at school, the 3 girls decided to turn Miss Fairchild in. Shockingly, they were told Amy doesn't exist as the police found no signs or records of Amy. (Spoiler alert: Jessica who was desperate to win affection from Miss Fairchild, warned her that the 3 sisters were about to turn her in that day so she got rid of Amy and all her things.) Fast forward to present day, a child's body was discovered at Wild Meadows. The 3 women who remained close wondered if the body is Amy. Through Miss Fairchild's sessions with a prison psychologist, we find out that Miss Fairchild had an abusive upbringing from her stepfather John. John sexually molested Miss Fairchild. It's implied he impregnated her while she was in high school although she was dating a classmate Troy who she was sexually active with as well. After the baby was born, Miss Fairchild named that baby Amy, and tried to run away with the baby. She got caught, and John killed the baby. Miss Fairchild ended up fostering children because of losing her baby Amy, eventually naming one of the foster children Amy years later. Miss Fairchild was put away in prison for illegal adoption. Plot twist: Her stepfather actually never molested her. Baby Amy was John and Fairchild's mother's baby. Miss Fairchild hated the baby because she wanted all the attention on herself. When John and her mom left her to babysit one night, she killed the baby. Her mom buried the baby at the property and they protected her from getting caught.

I can honestly say I didn't see any of the twists coming. Although I think I would have liked it better without the final twist. Now I feel like Miss Fairchild got off way too easy!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica

-
Image
  I loved this book. It kept me at the edge of my seat and I didn't see the final twist coming. The story follows two couples. First is Jake and Nina. Jake is a successful neurosurgeon, and their relationship seems perfect from the outside world. But it's really been going downhill and they've been arguing more, mostly stemming from Jake complaining about Nina spending so much time with her mother due to her mother's ailing eyesight. Second couple is Christian and Lily. They are not as wealthy, and struggling to conceive. Christian seems to be the perfect husband but Lily is cheating on him with Jake. Lily and Nina work together as teachers at the same school. After a big fight with his wife, Jake goes missing. At first, Nina is concerned but doesn't think there's any foul play involved. He's been threatening about leaving her so she thinks that's what happened. She starts to worry when she learns that he's been missing work as well, and she alerts t...
Read more

Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman

-
Image
  Incidents Around the House is a horror story about a girl named Bela and her family. The author Josh Malerman has done a phenomenal job of setting up that creepy eerie feeling throughout the book.  Incidents Around the House tells the story of an 8 year old girl named Bela who is haunted by an entity she refers to as "Other Mommy". She lives in a house with her father Russ and mother Ursula. Other Mommy would appear in her room quite often and ask to enter her heart. Bela always tells her no, but Other Mommy is increasingly more demanding. Other Mommy becomes more and more omnipresent as Russ and Ursula's marriage deteriorates. They argue often and get drunk often. Ursula also cheats on Russ and often comes home late (or sometimes doesn't come home at all). Bela tells her parents about Other Mommy, and eventually gets their attention. They bring a woman, Lois Anthony, who says she can sense ghosts.  Lois tells them they need to get rid of Bela's innocence - tha...
Read more

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

-
Image
  Oof. Another one that started out pretty strong and got more and more boring as the book went on. The Last Thing He Told Me is told through the narration of Hannah Hall, a 40 year old woodturner who is looking to solve the mystery of her husband Owen's disappearance. Initially, it is believed that her husband is on the run from some illegal activities involving his company, but as thriller readers, we know that we will likely find out this isn't the case. I was quite intrigued at the beginning, but the book turned out to be more of a mystery than a thriller - I never felt like I was on the edge of my seat, I was merely curious of where the story was going to go. Another pet peeve - the book introduces a lot more characters in the final third of the book to explain the mystery, something I don't like because it comes across as a cheap device to me.  The Last Thing He Told Me tells us how Hannah Hall met Owen Michaels through her high end furniture showroom. Owen was accomp...
Read more