In The Broken Girls, Canadian author Simone St James, has written a deliciously, dark and eerie novel that is part mystery, part ghost story and a hint of gothic suspense that will have readers looking over their shoulders in case the ghost of Mary Hand is lurking nearby.

“Mary Hand, Mary Hand, dead and buried under land…
Faster, faster. Don’t let her catch you.
She’ll say she wants to be your friend…
Do not let her in again!”

The story is set in a small Vermont town, in two different eras. In 1950, readers are given back stories to four roommates, who are some of the 'broken' girls at the Idlewood School, a school where girls deemed 'troublemakers' by their families were sent away. It is a harsh and lonely place, but the four fifteen-year-old girls find friendship and strength in each other .... until one of them goes missing.

In 2014, someone has plans to renovate the long abandoned Idlewood school which locals have always thought to be haunted. Fiona, a local journalist, is still troubled by her sister's murder, which occurred on the grounds of Idlewood twenty years before. The impending renovation brings up many feelings and theories about what really happened to her sister. The more Fiona digs into her sister's murder, the deeper she becomes enmeshed in Idlewood's questionable history.

The Broken Girls is a well-written and chilling tale that will keep readers riveted and may have them believing in ghosts by the final pages. With wonderfully placed twists and characters who show the importance and strength of friendship and family bonds, this atmospheric ghostly mystery is filled with secrets in both story lines that finally converge into a spine tingling, yet very satisfying ending.

Disclaimer: This Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) was generously provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Simone St. James has crafted a rich historical mystery (with ghostly elements) that also satisfies the suspense reader. THE BROKEN GIRLS tells two stories, one in 1950 and one in 2014 - both surrounding Idlewild Hall, a boarding school for troubled girls. St. James has linked these two separate times beautifully; I was impressed by the through lines she was able to construct between the generations of women. AND I was blown away by the reveal after trying (and failing) to solve the mystery myself. The atmosphere of Idlewild Hall is not one that I will soon forget, nor will I forget the fortitude and strength of the young women St. James depicted.
I received this book via NetGalley - from Berkely Publishing Group - in exchange for an honest review. taylorhavenholt.com/thhbooks.html.

I loves this book. I couldn't put it down. Part murder mystery spanning decades and part ghost story this book was wonderful. #netgalley #brokengirls

is a quintessential Gothic novel. We have the gloomy setting complete with decaying school buildings and grounds that may or may not be haunted. There is the fact that Idlewild is purported to be cursed. There are girls needing to be rescued, and there is romance. But this is not a traditional Gothic novel in that the hero is not a knight in shining armor or even a man coming to rescue the damsels in distress. This is, to some extent, a feminist Gothic novel, making it timely as well as entertaining.

I quite loved this. This was quite haunting and spooky and really encapturing. This truly deserved my five star rating without any hesitation.

Loved the fusion of present and past and how it came full circle.

Was invested with characters and felt quite warm to them.

Superbly written with an engrossing storyline and gullible and human characters–The Broken Girls was such a blast to read.

Simone St. James will be on my radar now for great suspense/thrillers.

The novel The Broken Girls switches back and forth between two different time periods in Vermont. Idlewild Hall, the location of a 1950’s boarding school, is where everything mysterious begins. The present-day setting of the book is 2014 in the same location.

Fiona Sheridan, the main character, cannot stop thinking about Idlewild Hall because her sister disappeared and her body was found in a wooded area near the ruins of that abandoned school. Another girl had also disappeared when she was a student at the school in the 1950’s. Her body has never been found. And then there is the ghost story about Mary Hand that has been associated with the school since its inception.

Fiona now a journalist learns that the school is being restored by an unknown benefactor. Due to her ongoing curiosity about the school and the grounds, she resolves to write a story about the past history and present plans to restore the school. Needless to say, she discovers things she had never imagined she would find.

This book offers the reader a good mystery spiced with a little bit of the supernatural along with a few surprise twists thrown into the mix. The attention needed to connect all of the details keeps the reader involved and entertained.

Taking the story from 1950 when the school was being actively used to 2014 when it was abandoned is an effective way to communicate the paranormal atmosphere of the tale. The ghostly scenes are written so that the reader might feel chills when they “appear”. Even though the book is written in two different time periods, the transitions are easy to follow and well planned. The early time period becomes the source of the mystery that the 2014 characters are determined to resolve. And the characters from both eras must deal with paranormal encounters.

Friendship is a significant theme portrayed in the book. Family ties or lack of them is also an essential element that contributes to the plot. And what would a book be without a little bit of a romantic interlude?

This book offers a mystery with just the right amount of intrigue. It will hold your interest and might even cause your skin to prickle now and then.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel.

... wow.

Okay, first of all, this is not the twisty genre of suspense. In fact, there are not a ton of shocking plot reveals, which we all know are my favorite thriller things. But nonetheless, this keeps you engaged because of the supremely good ghost stories. The thing with ghost stories is they have to get the atmosphere down, and I think this book did. The Vermont boarding school has the perfect creepy and beautiful vibe to bring out the fear, and the writing is so engaging that it makes it impossible to put down.

But it’s not just the atmosphere; this has some of the best theme work I’ve seen in a thriller. I mean, it’s essentially a book about four girls at a boarding school where they’ve been forgotten all coming together and becoming close friends. The other theme here is a spoiler, but I loved it: [murdering Nazis. (hide spoiler)]

The Broken Girls is told via dual story lines, past and present, with one following friends Katie, Roberta, Cece, and Sonia in 1950 and one following journalist Fiona in 2014. The past timeline… is way more interesting. I’m sorry, but we know it’s true. Perhaps it’s because the past chapters, despite less ghost activity, are the scariest.

Seriously, did I mention: the past chapters are deeply terrifying on both a simple and existential level. The author plays up the feeling of being trapped that our leads are going through, the feeling of being unbelieved as their friends are threatened. It’s incredibly difficult to put the book down, but it’s also so difficult to keep reading.

overall this book was a fantastic read, eerie and interesting and with excellent characters. exactly what I wanted out of thriller.

The Broken Girls is a haunting yet captivating story. There are 4 schoolmates back in the 1950's at Boarding School , that is a scary place in itself. Who is the mystery ghost like figure that has scared people for years. Which one of the four disappears?

The story is told from the perspective of the four girls in 1950 and from Fiona, a journalist , whose own sister was found murdered on the same school grounds years ago. Her story is told from 2014

I loved this book and I am wondering how I have never read this author before. You just want to keep turning the pages to see what happens. Make sure you do your chores first before starting The Broken Girls.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

Trying my best to get caught up on review books this month starting things off with The Broken Girls.

I throughly enjoyed this book! Set in Vermont, spanning 50 years in a boarding school for girls, we follow four girls lives. When one girl goes missing, things start to come out of the woodwork. Part thriller, part drama, and part supernatural. This book kept me engaged the entire time.

Almost any story that spans several years and flips from past to present I’m going to like. This particular story was very haunting but in a smart way. The “ghost” elements were handled in a way that didn’t reflect horror but heartache. I felt for these girls and how misunderstood psychiatric care was in the 50s. All girls who were sent to Idlewild Hall were considered broken (orphaned, behavioral issues, or traumatized by a tragic event) and their teachers didn’t know how to handle them because the subject of psychology was pretty much unknown territory. Very interesting to read about though and what it must have been like.

Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group for allowing me to read an advanced copy! I will for sure be recommending this to others!

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James is a dual time-line novel (2014/1950). In Barrons, Vermont at 3 a.m. Fiona Sheridan is back on Old Barrons Road near Idlewild Hall where her sister’s body was found twenty years ago. Everyone tells her it is time to move on, but Fiona has unanswered questions. Tim Christopher, her sister’s boyfriend, was convicted of the murder and is in prison serving his sentence. When Fiona finds out that Idlewild Hall has been purchased and is being renovated to turn it back into a girl’s boarding school, she decides to write (freelance journalist) an article about it. While touring the school with Anthony Eden, son of the new owner, a body of a teenage girl is discovered in the old well. Who is she and how did she end up there? Fiona dives into the past to discover what happened to this poor girl. If she happens to turn up information in her sister’s case, all the better.

In 1950 Idlewild Hall is a girl’s boarding school for troubled girls (too independent, rebellious, illegitimate, traumatized, unwanted). CeCe, Sonia, Katie and Roberta room together and, as they get to know each other, become close friends. The lessons are boring, the teachers are rigid, and the luxuries are few. The school is rumored to be haunted by Mary Hand and one room seems to be more sinister than the others. Then one of the girls disappears-never seen again. What is going on at Idlewild Hall? Will Fiona get the answers she seeks?

I had trouble wading through The Broken Girls. I believe the author had too many ideas and, instead of picking, she put them all into this one story (murder, 1800s ghost, modern killer, a girl from a concentration camp and so much more). I found the pace to be very slow which made the book seem twice as long. I found the book disjointed with abrupt transitions. It jumps around faster than a Mexican jumping bean. Fiona Sheridan was not a likeable main character. She came across as obsessed and unsympathetic (I kept hoping the killer would make her the next victim). Much of her sections are devoted to her endless questions and speculation (it was repetitious). I found the story from the 1950s to be more fascinating than the Fiona’s. The author could have done a book just on the four girls story (and kept Fiona out of it). There are a couple of interesting moments in the book, but I mostly found the story to be predictable (mystery readers will have no problem predicting how the book will turn out). I wanted to feel the suspense and the scare factor, but I did not. I do want to warn readers that there is foul language in the book. I realize I am in the minority regarding my feelings on The Broken Girls. That is the beauty of books. Every reader has a different perspective. If you want to see if The Broken Girls is for you, download a sample from your favorite retailer.

3.5 to 4 Stars
The Broken Girls follows the story of Fiona, struggling to grasp the senseless murder of her sister twenty years ago; however, it is hard for her to put the past behind her when she finds out that someone has bought the old boarding school, where her sister was found. With plans to restore the school to functionality again, Fiona wants to write a story about the restoration that will cause her to get closer to the buried secrets of it's past and the past of her small town. As she uncovers more, she gets closer to the four girls that were roommates in 1950, one of which went missing and was never found. Will she be able to uncover what happened to her or will she lose herself trying to figure out the past?

Let's talk about the Plot - As I mentioned, we follow two storylines, one from the present day (2014) and the other from the past (1950). It took some time to build up to the point where I was wanting to set everything else aside to read it. I didn't see a few of the twists coming and I loved the historical elements that were sprinkled throughout the story as well. However, I felt like the pacing was lacking throughout the first half of the novel. Just when one storyline would pick up, we were jumping back in time again. Often that shift would pull me out of the story in the beginning. As the storylines both picked up the intensity is when I found myself more invested in reading for longer periods of time, really wanting to know what happened.

Characters - Most of the characters were well described and thoroughly fleshed out, which I enjoyed. The one downside is that there was a lot of characters. I found it hard to keep all of the girls in the 1950 storyline straight. I was thankful that I had my notes to tell me who was who. I would have liked to have seen more of the present day characters prior to just the current situation, like Jamie's father and more of his role in the investigation of Fiona's sister's murder.

Overall this was a very dense and slow building book. It really reminded me of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with the layered depth of it. With a slight twist of a ghost story, we follow two separate timelines that eventually converge into one. I had a hard time deciding on a rating for this book; however, it was a really good read. I would recommend this to others that like a slower pace with an interwoven story that leaves you pieces things together long into the story.

*NetGalley - I requested access to this book prior to publication. All opinions and reviews are my own and not solicited by the author, publisher, or NetGalley.

In THE BROKEN GIRLS we follow Four (4) young girls, all roommates, in an all girl boarding school located in Vermont. It’s a horrible place to live. A place where broken girls are discarded by their families like they are nobody, like their nothing. Four (4) disgraced girls that need to be hidden away so as to not embarrass their families.... And then one of them disappears.

The chapters flip back-and-forth from 1950 to 2014. A 60-year-old mystery unravels as the two worlds collide with a BRILLANT ending. This book is unputdownable and worthy of FIVE (5) stars. Easily one of my favorite books so far this year. I will definitely be gifting this book one to one of my bookish friends on their birthday.

This ghost story was a thrilling joyride. I was surprised I enjoyed this one as much as I did.

Twenty years ago Fiona Sheridan lost her sister to violence. Her sister’s boyfriend was arrested and put in jail for the murder. Fiona’s family was never the same. As an adult, Fiona still can’t forget the tragedy that struck her family. She’s, also, convinced that there is something wrong with the way this case had been handled. She’s sure that the police did not do their job back then. Fiona is now a journalist and plans to put her skills to good use and investigate.

Fiona’s investigation leads her to a mysterious disappearance from 1950 at an all girls school called Idlewild Hall. The school is now abandoned, but it also happens to be the grounds where her sister’s body was found in 1994. Now, a wealthy family is purchasing the old building with plans to renovate the school. Fiona is desperate to uncover all the secrets involved with the 1950’s disappearance, as well as her own sister’s murder.

Talk about edge-of-your-seat reading. This was that and so much more. Fiona is a strong character who doesn’t back down despite the warnings or danger involved.

The author expertly mixes the past with the present to give us an explosive story. There’s even paranormal tones intertwined with the mystery. It’s suspense meets gothic complete with an old building and a ghost.

The Broken Girls is a fast-paced, riveting story with many twists and turns. It grabs you from the start. This is a new-to-me author that I’ll be looking for in the future.

"Idlewild was an old place, and the fear here was old fear."

"Idlewild was the boarding school of last resort, where parents stashed their embarrassments, their failures, and their recalcitrant girls."
Idlewild is an old, abandoned boarding school in rural Vermont. It opened in 1919 and closed its doors forever in 1979. It was never a happy place. Idlewild was a school where broken girls were sent. You know, the ones who didn't conform to what society thought they should be.

This story is told with dual timelines, sixty-four years apart.
Autumn 1950 - Of the 120 students housed at Idlewild, we come to know four of them very well. Roommates, they are girls who, though very different, form a bond. With no people in their lives that want them, they turn to each other for love and support. All in the same desperate situation, they understand each other. All four girls were damaged in different ways.
Cecelia (CeCe) Frank - the illegitimate daughter of a rich married man and his housekeeper. Her mother, shamed by CeCe's existence, tried to drown her when she was six years old.
Roberta Greene - was rendered mute after she discovered her war veteran uncle with a pistol in his mouth. Roberta was discarded to Idlewild by her unfeeling parents.
Katie Winthrop - smart, bold and fearless, though this was largely a front she put on to protect herself. She had been attacked by a boy. Her parents blamed Katie for bringing shame to their family and ruining 'their' reputation.
Sonia Gallipeau - a French refugee and war orphan. A former inmate of Ravensbrück concentration camp. Small in stature due to being malnourished, Sonia dreamed of working in a library when she grows up. "All Sonia wanted was safety, a place to be. Even if that place was Idlewild, with the misfits and the ghosts."
The reader's heart breaks for these unwanted, discarded girls. Their innocence, their love of books, their loneliness, their longing for family - and for love.
"That was what books did - they turned off your thinking for you, put their thoughts in your head so you wouldn't have your own."
________________________________________
Autumn 2014 - The protagonist of this novel is Fiona Sheridan, a freelance journalist. She is the thirty-seven year old daughter of famous journalist Malcolm Sheridan. There are just the two of them left in their tiny family. Fiona's sister, Deb, was brutally murdered twenty years ago. After their devastating loss, Fiona's parents divorced and her mother died of cancer eight years ago. Her father, always so full of life, lost his will, his verve. Tim Christopher, Deb's boyfriend at the time of her death and the son of the richest and most prominent local family, was convicted of her murder. He has been in prison these last twenty years.
Deb's body had been found on Idlewild's former sports field. Never able to get over what happened to her beloved older sister, Fiona has maintained an unhealthy interest in the place. Now, she learns that Idlewild is to be restored. She convinces her editor to let her write a story about the restoration, and the history of the old school. This is a departure for Fiona as up until now she has only written 'fluff' pieces.
Fiona wonders why the new owner, an elderly widow from New York named Margaret Eden, would want to sink her money into restoring this derelict building.
Fiona is dating a local policeman, Jamie Creel. He is the son of the former police chief, and the grandson of the police chief before that. Younger than Fiona by eight years, he elicits a spark in Fiona like no other man. His family do not approve of their liaison. Police and journalists are natural enemies, they just don't mix.
Fiona's investigative journalism takes her to Idlewild for a tour given by the new owner's son. Whilst there, she comes to believe that the stories that have circulated for years are true. Idlewild is haunted. There was a persistent legend that Mary Hand's baby was buried in the school's garden.
"Mary Hand, Mary Hand, dead and buried under land.
She'll say she wants to be your friend. Do not let her in again!"
During the restoration work, a body of a young girl is found in the school's disused well. Long dead, she had been in the well for many years. Could this be the body of the 'runaway' student from sixty years ago?
"Idlewild had been the resting site for two murdered girls, decades apart."

Part modern crime thriller, part gothic ghost story, "The Broken Girls" is sure to be on my favorites list for 2018.
A story of past wrongs put right. A story about police corruption, about mourning and grief, about the enduring bond of four broken girls...
Highly recommended!
I received a digital copy of this novel, free at my request, from Berkley/Penguin via NetGalley.

I cannot say enough about this book! I think it would appeal to a large variety of patrons. Lovers of historical fiction will grasp on to the Ravensbruck storyline and those interested in gothic/ghost stories will love the Mary Hand and haunted old school house story line. There's a fine balance of intrigue and paranormal with realistic fiction. I loved the development of Fiona and while the end seemed like a lot of loose ends coming together fairly quickly, I still stayed up late turning the pages until the very end.

Barrons, Vermont -- 1950
A young girl who is a student at Idlewild Hall goes missing. Idlewild is a school for wayward girls. The authorities believe she has just run away with some boy, but her friends and roommates know this is the farthest thing from the truth.

Barrons, Vermont -- 1994
Deb Sheridan another young woman is found dead in the field at Idlewild Hall, which has now been closed for many years. Her killer is her boyfriend at the time, Tim Christopher. Why would he leave her at this place?

Barrons, Vermont -- 2014
Someone has bought Idlewild Hall and plans to renovate it. But why? The place is nothing but a money pit. Fiona Sheridan is determined to find out who is buying the property and their motivation behind it. Will she be able to deal with all the secrets this place holds? When a body is found during the renovations, Fiona's attempts go into overdrive? Will she be able to find out who is behind this before she too becomes a subject of Idlewild?

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Going through this book, I was a little skeptical about what was going to happen. I'm not a big fan of books with ghosts, but this one wasn't too bad. I gave the book a rating of 3.5 stars. While the book was interesting, I found myself going for other things to do besides reading this book. The story flowed naturally even switching from the past to modern day.

Mary Hand is a ghost that haunts the grounds of Idlewild. She will show you things that you may not want to see. But is a ghost behind all the strange things that happen at Idlewild Hall or is there another culprit. We know for sure that Deb Sheridan was killed by her boyfriend, but what about the body found during the renovations? In 1950 the school was full of wayward girls. Girls who in those days, parents could not be bothered by and mental health was a taboo issue. So they sent their daughters away to school. Four girls in room 3C became very close friends. Sonia, Katie, CeCe and Roberta. The book tells their story from 1950 leading up to the disappearance of one of them and Fiona's perspective from 2014, trying to find out the history of Idlewild Hall and the new owners.

Overall, for me the book was good, not great. This is the first book I have read by Simone St. James. If her other books deal with ghosts and spirits, I'm not sure if I will read them or not, but I may give them a chance.

If you like ghosts though, I think you should give this book a try, YOU may enjoy it.

A page turning dual time line Gothic mystery that will keep you up reading way best bedtime. A haunted tale that takes place in Vermont at the Idlewild Hall boarding school in 1950 and in 2014.
This mystery novel is one you will not soon forget and will rush through wanting to find out what happens and to whom. If you are fan of thrilling suspense, then this is the book for you.

If you are in the mood for a good old fashioned gothic mystery, you will love The Broken Girls by Simone St. James. What makes it a little unusual is that the story is told in two different time settings - 1950 and 2014. Otherwise it has everything you would want in a good gothic mystery: a spooky old girls school, a ghost named Mary Hand, and of course a murder.

The setting is Idlewild Hall in Barron’s Vermont. In the 1950’s, it is a school for broken girls - girls who have been placed here by their parents for different reasons, usually for being trouble makers. A group of four girls, Katie, CeCe, Sonia and Roberta become friends. When one of the girls mysteriously disappears, the others set about to try and find out what happened to her.

In 2014, the school has set idle for 20 years, but Fiona is shocked to find out that some out of town investors are planning on reopening it as a girls school. Fiona has never forgotten the school because it was the scene of her sister’s murder. She is drawn to the school to try to find out more about it.

I loved the way the story was told in two time settings. I found the girl’s story a bit more intriguing than Fiona’s - only because Fiona seemed a bit one dimensional.

Such a great story, really set the mood. A very nice gothic mystery, I will definitely be on the lookout for more from this author.

I received an ARC of the book.

3.5 stars!

The Broken Girls was a quick, entertaining, fast-paced and atmospheric gothic mystery novel that was an enjoyable and satisfying read. I did enjoy the dual storylines, but I thought that the past timeline was a little more interesting than the present one though.

I do love a good ghost story and the supernatural and I definitely thought the author delivered a spooky read here, but for some reason when I was reading this novel, I wasn't overly impressed with the author's prose though so that really affected my total enjoyment for this novel. I was the only one from the Traveling Sisters that was reading this that had a problem with that though so I still absolutely recommend this novel!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group, and Simone St. James for providing me with a copy of this book to read and review.