A great historical fiction book filled with mystery and intrigue.
The characters are well developed. The story was so good that I didn’t want to put the book down.

I really enjoyed this book once i got into it, full of twists and turns and you're kept guessing to the very end.

I very much enjoyed this book. It has a good story and excellent main characters. I would definately recommend this book.

A captivating historical fiction. Mystery and suspense will pull you into this story. Thank you NetGalley!

I loved this story.

It is a very complex story, despite being quite forward in the unfolding of the events. There’s a mystery at its heart, and yet it isn’t a mystery in the true sense of the narrative genre. And even if it isn’t a ghost story, it still has that surreal atmosphere to it.

It’s a story with many souls, I could say. It is set in 1937, but also in 1912 when a terrible event happened that nobody could ever truly explain. Two girls disappeared the same day, though only the disappearance of beautiful Iris, Lord Howard’s daughter, is remembered. Nobody ever remembers plain-looking Nell, Iris’s maiden. But this is her story as she tells it and as her mother, Agnes, understands it.
It’s a story of discovery, and not just of mystery solving. There are many epiphanies here. Characters who slowly understand each others and themselves. There are bravery and sorrow and painful truths.

There’s also a great historical setting, or should I say two, since the 25 years that separate one plotline from the other separate two different worlds and realities.
I especially love the way the experience of women – their struggle for equality and the way that equality was often denied – are woven into the plot seamlessly, so that we absorb it as part of the events rather than as information we are given.

All the characters are so real. They all have something special, something unique to their personality. They all have a quirk that is part of that surreal atmosphere and partly creates it. And still, they are undoubtedly real. They are characters who might be people I meet every day.

It is truly a great story. Read it!

A gripping historical mystery--I couldn't put it down! Add this to your beach bag pronto!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I do love a historical with an added mystery which makes you really think about the story that as you read along, and this is one of those books that captivates and engages with its wonderfully intriguing tale.
I did think that the story started off on the slow side, and it wasn’t until further into the book when the mystery of the two girls and their entwining lives and tales that the story really picked up the pace. But I thoroughly enjoyed it when the story started to flow and I was turning the pages like a flash wanting to know what happened next.
One day in 1912, two completely different girls go missing, a mystery that stands the test of time until something is revealed many years later, which makes those involved wonder.
Nell and Iris shouldn’t have been friends, they were at opposite ends of the social spectrum, yet they were. One a bit of a rebel, an heiress and the other a good vicars daughter, but were they as their social standing perceived them to be? There was more about these two young girls that met the eye and that caught my attention straight away I was intrigued by them. Then May the first 1912 they went out and suddenly these two young girls were never to be seen again, that is until a crackly old film is discovered which proves that one of the girls may not have been murdered on that fateful day as the people of the village thought, but what happened?
You know I am not going to divulge that little snippet, you will just have to read it for yourselves, but one thing though you won’t be disappointed with the outcome.
I can’t fault the authors writing at all I really loved the way this was written split between two era’s and two women, Nell’ smother; Agnes in 1937 and then back in 1912 with Nell, it has to be said that I am rather fond of the split timeline, even though some can be a bit tricky to follow this is done beautifully, the two perspective’s flow so easily from one to the other.
This is the first I have read by Jennifer wells, and I hugely enjoyed her captivating and fluid writing, that made this book a real joy to read. Her writing really captures your attention and keeps you hooked and you never want the story to end, and at the same time, you are desperate to know what happens. The characters jumped off the page and drew you into their world, I love the vividness with the historical detail, it captured my imagination and I was transported to each era.
This is a great story, it’s fresh, clever, engaging, surprising, richly detailed and hugely enjoyable to read. Highly recommend if you love our historicals and mysteries.

A beguiling blend of evocative saga and nail-biting thriller, The Lost Girls is the latest multi-layered, intriguing and captivating tale from master storyteller Jennifer Wells.

May Day 1912 is a day the inhabitants of Missensham will certainly never forget. On that fateful day, two girls had disappeared and were subsequently murdered. This dark and difficult day has cast many a shadow upon the lives of the Caldwell and Ryland families, two families who were as different as it is possible to get but who were united by a shared grief as both lost one of their own. Socially worlds apart, the Caldwells and Rylands moved in different circles, had different outlooks, perspectives and ambitions yet both have known misery, anguish and heartbreak as they know that they will never see Iris or Nell ever again.

Iris and Nell were never meant to be friends. After all, while Iris was the heir to the Caldwell estate and fortune, Nell was a humble vicar’s daughter. One girl was born into money while the other was destined for an ordinary life of duty and responsibility. The girls had next to nothing in common, but they ended up forming a very tight bond and the friendship between the two of them was rock solid. They both were in possession of dangerous secrets and had endured events in their past they didn’t want getting out. The two girls had found solace in one another and little did they know that their fates were going to entwined for all eternity…

It was long believed that on May Day both girls disappeared and then died in the most tragic of circumstances – until many years later it emerges that Iris was not murdered on that fateful spring morning, plunging the village in another mystery as they uncover what really happened on that day and the truth behind Iris and Nell’s disappearance…

Jennifer Wells mixes intrigue, mystery and deception in her latest captivating novel, The Lost Girls. Written with style, flair and heart, The Lost Girls will keep readers turning the pages as they find themselves completely engrossed in this brilliantly written novel where nothing is what it initially seems. An emotional, engrossing and entrancing read that will be enjoyed by fans of Lesley Pearse and Santa Montefiore, The Lost Girls is another spellbinding novel readers will not easily forget by the talented Jennifer Wells.

The Lost Girls is the second novel by Jennifer Wells that I have reviewed after The Secret.
In The Lost Girls May Day 1912, a day that haunts Missensham. The day two girls dissappeared. The day the girls were murdered.

What really happened to Iris and Nell?

The Lost Girls is an excellent historical fiction novel. Full of suspense, mystery and sisterly relationships and how a whole place can be affected by the disappearance of two sisters. I was hooked!

Thanks to Jennifer Wells and Aria for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars.

Book #3 for Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon 2020.

When one reads a story like this, set in 1912 (does not seem so very long ago) you begin to realize what advances have been made in police procedures, methods, detective work. When May Day dawned and when the May Queen and her chief attendant are missing it sets up a furore in the small village especially since one was the local manor's daughter and the other the daughter of a former vicar.

Discovery of blood stained clothes found near the house of a vagrant sees that he is in prison for the abductions and murders despite no bodies being ever found. Fast forward decades and an old grainy film is shown from the archives and an image of the girl and this man at the time of the fair, seals his fate and he is bound to hang.

The story goes along from that point with a surprising ending. Told from the point of view of one of the victims mothers - you can see the idea and morality of the time that whatever happens you must seal over the cracks and even though presumed dead you must maintain the characters of the girls and nothing must sully that - truths or untruths all hidden so that it all becomes very palatable. The hypocrisy and moral standards of the time.

Very good language and descriptive this was a good read.

This was a historical fiction with plenty of intrigue, mystery, and suspense.. Iris Caldwell with her maid Nell Ryland both disappeared on May Day. 25 years later an old home movie, showing Iris, believed abducted and murdered, becomes the catalyst for a surprising chain of events. The characters are deep and rich, the story captivating to the point you cannot put it down.

I have a little confession to make. Yes another one. Although I have Jennifer's other books on my ever increasing 'to be read' mountain, I haven't actually got around to reading one yet.....until now that is. When I was invited to take part in the blog tour for 'The Lost Girls' I thought that it was an ideal opportunity to acquaint myself with her work. Now I am rather cross that I left it this long to discover how flipping fantastic her books are. I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'The Lost Girls' but more about that in a bit.
It took me next to no time to get into this story. In fact the first couple of chapters were enough to convince me to keep reading and also convince me that I wasn't going to be able to do anything else that day because I just wouldn't be able to put the book down. I must be psychic because that's exactly what happened. I fell under this book's spell from the moment I first picked the book up and was only released from the spell after I had read the last word on the last page. I was intrigued by the characters and by the storylines and I had to keep turning those pages because I needed to know what happened and if I was right in my suspicions as to what was going to happen. The pages turned over with increasing frequency and at one point the pages turned that quickly that the page numbers became a blur. All too quickly I reached the end of the story, which I had mixed feelings about. Don't get me wrong I was pleased to finish because at least it meant that I knew how the story ended but I was enjoying the book so much that I just wanted it to continue.
'The Lost Girls' is very well written and very well plotted. I was drawn to the book by the synopsis alone and the story within the book's pages was enough to seal the deal as it were. I completely immersed myself in the story to the extent that I really did feel as though I was part of it myself and that's all down to Jennifer's fantastic storytelling and very vivid descriptions. This was one of those books that had me gripped throughout the story and on the edge of my seat on several occasions. There were several twists and turns along the way- some of which I saw coming and others, which when they hit, felt as though I had been slapped across the face with a wet flannel.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'The Lost Girls' and I would definitely recommend this book to other readers. I will be reading more of Jennifer's work in the future- starting with her other books that are already on my 'to be read' mountain. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

The Lost Girls is a surprisingly poignant story of two girls, from different social classes, who dared to defy society's norms. An old home movie, showing a girl who went missing, believed abducted and murdered, is the catalyst for a surprising chain of events.

The characters are complex and flawed, and their story is full of dark secrets, and desperate emotion. An absorbing, engaging story, with a uniqueness that keeps you reading.

I received a copy of this book from Head of Zeus- Aria via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I honestly requested this book as I thought it was another book entirely. I normally hate historical fiction so really was not looking forward to reading it.
However I was pleasantly surprised. The way the book changed from different characters points of views and also timelines really kept me interested. I was completely invested to find out what happened to Iris and Nell right until the very last page.

A solid 3.5 rounded to a 4.

There is a lot of reading in this one and it kept me interested to the very last.

In the early 20th century, two young girls with nothing in common are thrown together when one is appointed the companion of the other. Iris Caldwell heir to the local estate whilst Nell Ryland is the local rebel. This unlikely pair disappeared on May Day 1912, with evidence being found of Iris's murder.

I thought that something was familiar about this novel; only now that I'm preparing my blog post do I twig that I've previously read The Secret by this author which is also set in the village of Missensham, albeit it at a different point in time. The characters in this one are complicated and intricate; beautifully drawn and each one is a puzzle in themselves. I found myself invested before I knew it but, even so, I couldn't have seen where this was heading. As the story begins to unravel, things get into even more of a twist! An endearing tale, one I enjoyed and which I'm happy to give four stars.

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

Told by Nell in 1912 and Nell's mother in 1937, this is the story of Nell and Iris. Two girls from two different backgrounds but so much in common. Did Iris die that day in May 1912 or is she still alive? Lots of questions, lots of secrets, and a plot that shines a light inside relationships that were considered shameful at the time. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Interesting historical fiction.

The Lost Girls unfolds in the most unexpected way. You make up your mind that one thing has happened to Iris or Nell, then another twist in the story makes you reconsider. Then to blow that out the water you get the most unexpected ending. Loved it. Will recommend it.

This book intrigued me - initially I expected just a typical whodunnit, but as it unfolded, it turned into a beautiful story of love and forgiveness. There were moments that the pacing felt a little slow - moments that felt overwrought. However, I enjoyed the development of the characters and there was a neat little twist at the end.

Iris and Nell went missing on May Day. After that May Day was never celebrated in the village. Bloodied clothes presumed belonging to Iris had been found. So much on blood on the garments made everyone believe she had died. No trace was ever found of Nell.
Sam a stable hand is now being charged with the murder of Iris. There was a picture found of the two of them together that May Day. Obviously he must be responsible. At the end of the day he will most likely hang.
This is a novel written about the wealthy and the poor. The thought that two young girls from different classes could not be friends. Or that someone couldn't fall in love with someone of a different class. It's also a story of a subject that was taboo in that era. The subject of same sex relationships.
Ultimately it is a story of survival, love, courage, and devotion.
Great story!

I found this book kept my interest until I read the last page. This was my first book by Jennifer Wells. I found her to be an excellent writer. She takes you on an adventure you will not soon forget. I wished that books had PG 17 ratings like movies do. There was some content in the book that took me by surprise, many readers would not have a problem with. But this is my review and I feel I need to include a gentle warning, for more mature readers. I received a copy of this book from Aria through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.