Zoe Fairchild is living in Santa Fe with her 15 year old daughter Isabel, when she gets a call that her childhood best friend Diana has disappeared. So, Zoe and Isabel pack their bags and travel to Zoe's childhood home town on the Devon sea coast of England. The small village is scenic with thatch roofed buildings and quaint shops and gets lots of tourists. It also holds many memories for Zoe, some happier than others. She remembers running around with her best friends Diana and Sage.
When Zoe was just seven, her mother Poppy left Zoe to live with her grandmother, Lillian, in an old manor house. Poppy took off for India and didn't return for over a decade, leaving Zoe feeling abandoned and bitter.

Now, Zoe and Isabel are living with Lillian, while Zoe tries to avoid Poppy and look into what happened to Diana. There are many tensions and things left unsaid between the 4 generations of Fairchild women. They all try to work their way through it while also trying to figure out what is going on in town.

This novel was a good mix of family drama and mystery. The chapters alternated between the perspective of the 4 lead female characters. The village itself was charming and I could totally picture it in my head after my visit last year to some English villages (though I didn't get to Devon). It made me want to go back to the English countryside. So, good character development and a scenic charming atmosphere made this a satisfying read for me.

From the time I was an infant, I've loved my maternal grandmother better than pretty much anyone else I can think of, so I knew I absolutely had to read the latest novel by Barbara O'Neal. The Lost Girls of Devon is about a woman who returns home to find her missing best friend, but even more importantly, to help her grandmother deal with the dementia she's recently been diagnosed with. From the start of the book, I was utterly captivated by Ms. O'Neal's writing. The struggles of her characters resonated very deeply with me, and I'm so glad I picked this book up, even though it's not always an easy read.

It's been years since Zoe Fairchild has visited the small village where she grew up. She's in close touch with Lillian, the grandmother who raised her, but Devon holds disturbing memories Zoe isn't quite ready to face. Plus, Poppy, the mother who abandoned Zoe at the age of seven, has returned to town, and Zoe is determined to stay as far from her as possible.

All that changes when Lillian calls Zoe, telling her that Diana, Zoe's childhood best friend, has gone missing under mysterious circumstances. Lillian begs Zoe to come home in order to help with the search, and Zoe grudgingly agrees. She and her fifteen-year-old daughter Isabel pack up and head to Devon where Zoe will be forced to come face-to-face with all manner of ghosts from her past.

When Zoe arrives at her grandmother's house, she is instantly struck by how frail Lillian appears. It's obvious she's dealing with some memory issues, and it doesn't take Zoe long to realize she won't be able to return home the way she initially planned. Instead, she's going to have to help care for Lillian as she grows increasingly more forgetful.

As Zoe begins digging into Diana's life in hopes of uncovering some hidden fact about her disappearance, she is forced to join forces with Sage Cooper, her first love, and the boy she betrayed nearly twenty years before. Both Zoe and Cooper are determined to learn what happened to their missing friend, and it doesn't take them long to put the past behind them and fall back into the kind of close relationship they'd once enjoyed. I really appreciated this aspect of the story, since there was a lot of room for angst here, and I worried I would get frustrated by their inability to make amends. Fortunately, Cooper and Zoe are both relatively self-aware, and neither seemed willing to hold drawn out grudges.

Some might call this novel a mystery, but despite the search for Diana taking up quite a bit of the page count, The Lost Girls of Devon is first and foremost a story about relationships. Lillian, Poppy, Zoe, and Isabel each have some kind of internal struggle to contend with, something they're not dealing with very well on their own. Finding peace will require each of them to come to terms with the mistakes she's made in her past, something that proves more difficult than any of them expect.

Poppy was the only character I struggled to like. She abandoned Zoe at the age of seven and made a new life for herself in India, and when she eventually returns home, she expects Zoe to instantly forgive her. No one, aside from Zoe herself, seems to hold Poppy’s selfishness against her, and I found myself more than a  little annoyed by her inability to understand why her daughter wasn't ready and waiting to repair their relationship. Fortunately, Poppy does wise up toward the end of the book, and I was able to empathize with her a bit, but she definitely was not my favorite person.

One of the very best things about Barbara O'Neal's writing is her ability to transport readers to whatever setting she's describing. Here, the Devon countryside feels incredibly real, almost like a character in its own right. It's a part of the world I've never visited, but reading Ms. O'Neal's vivid descriptions really is the next best thing. Not all authors possess the ability to bring a setting to life in this way, and I'm so glad Ms. O'Neal continues to share her amazing talent with the world.

There's a lot more I could say about this book and all the complicated feelings it evoked in me, but I don't want to risk ruining the magic for you. This is by far my favorite of the author's many books, and I hope many of you will pick it up and fall in love with it the way I did. It's a deep book, but I never felt overwhelmed by the complexity of the plot, and I hope women's fiction fans everywhere will give it the chance it deserves.

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The Lost Girls of Devon is a very nice summer read. I felt transported to the English seaside and loved the descriptions in the book. I can not wait to be able to travel to this area for myself. The story itself is a multi-generational novel centered around mother-daughter relationships and a mystery disappearance that brings the characters together.

Thanks to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my review.

I wanted to like this book more, but I really struggled getting into it. It is an extremely slow start and it took a while to get each of the characters figured out. I also felt like the mystery part of Diana missing was thrown in there, and made to seem like a bigger part than it actually was.

I've loved her other books and will continue reading, but this just wasn't one of my favorites.

Perfection from the first page...Everything you want in a good book: an intriguing, well-written, thoughtful story with characters of real depth that you fall in love with. This book was charming, heart-warming and deeply satisfying. It was well written and the characters were believable with realistic responses instead of cliches. It was hard to put down and had some twists that I didn't see coming.

Overall, I would read more from this author and I definitely recommend this book, as it was so captivating, Barbara O'Neal is a great story teller. She did an amazing job of drawing me into the story and making all the characters seem real, especially with Lillian. I found myself wishing I could meet her and have a cup of tea. It is rare that I read a book that causes me to have such emotional reactions to the behaviour of the characters.

Telling a great story is like baking a cake.. you need the right ingredients - a bit of mystery, a dash of intrigue, a splash of humor, throw in some heart-tugging tears for good measure... and if it’s mixed just right, after baking you end up with a heartwarming piece that goes great with an afternoon cup of tea. This book had all of that and more. Hope, love, second chances. I am looking forward to reading more from Barbara O'Neal, I can't believe I haven't read her books before now.

Absolutely loved this book! This book is about four generations of women. Pained by events in the past. The family come together when Zoe’s best friend Diana goes missing. In uncovering the mysterious disappearance, the family members heal. The book is set in a quaint small village in the UK and it grabbed me from the beginning. Such beautiful writing, it was sad to leave these characters at the end of the story. Thanks NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to be introduced to this author and wonderful story!

“The best advice was all the same: listening was the thing that could cure most ills, mind or body. No magic. Only listening.”

The Lost Girls of Devon is about four generations of women and the secrets and betrayals that define and unite them. New Mexico based Zoe Fairchild has been away from her home in Devon, England for years when she gets a frantic call from Lillian, the grandmother who raised her. Her best friend from childhood, Diana, has gone missing, and Lillian needs Zoe’s help to find her. Zoe and her daughter Isabel return to England to help, but Zoe is dreading seeing her mother Poppy who left her with Lillian as a child and never returned.

Part mystery, part family drama, The Lost Girls of Devon explores the ties that bind, the power of forgiveness, and the importance of family. The story is told in alternating first-person between all four women, with the main perspective being Zoe, now in her late thirties, as she explores her relationship with the other three women, and Diana, her friend who goes missing at the beginning of the story. I loved this style with alternating perspectives. Each of the characters were wonderful and getting to see their views as individuals added a dynamic element to this story.

I also loved the town in Devon where the story took place. It sounded so charming and cozy, every place that was referenced. I especially loved Lillian’s manor and her gardens, as well as the forests where Isabel is fond of exploring and taking pictures.

Easily one of 2020's best books. Magical and lyrical this book lures you with it's vivid mastery and all of a sudden you realize hours have gone by and when you finally look up your dog is standing in front of you with her legs crossed whining to go outside. An absolute must read. Pick up this gem of a book and prepare to be dazzled. I wish I could give it more than five stars. Happy reading!

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an egalley in exchange for an honest review

In her latest story, Barbara O' Neal introduces us to four generations of women struggling against family betrayals and long-buried secrets. A story of mothers and daughters on the path to redemption, forgiveness, and growing into the person that you are meant to be.

At the head of the family is matriarch Lillian whose health is beginning to fail and becomes very upset when her caregiver goes missing. Her granddaughter Zoe and her great-granddaughter, Isabel return from America to help Lillian. For Zoe, she has to come to terms with the trauma of what may have happened to her best friend, face a ruined relationship, and ultimately decide if she will forgive the mother who abandoned her at age 7. Teenaged Isabel is still trying to figure out how to tell her mother of the humiliation she carries with her every day. Finally, there is Poppy, Zoe's mother who desperately wants her daughter to forgive her and allow a relationship with her granddaughter. But has Poppy really understood how her past actions have hurt the people around her?

I thought this was a heartwarming contemporary novel and I felt that each character "shared" the narration well. Although I must say Zoe was perhaps my least liked character because I felt her romance did get in the way of trying to figure out what happened to her friend and speaking with her mother. Another thing that was very confusing was how O' Neal switches from referring to Zoe's love as Cooper for the first half of the novel and then switches to his first name Sage. For a brief moment, I was lost and asking " Wait, there are two men now she is chasing now?" Hahaha!

Overall, the characters were well developed, their individual stories were intriguing and there was enough dramatic effect to keep me interested.






#TheLostGirlsofDevon #NetGalley

Publication Date 14/07/20
Goodreads review 13/07/20

This was the second novel I've read by Barbara O'Neal, and while I liked When We Believed in Mermaids more, I still enjoyed this one.

Set in a small village in Devon, England, four generations of women in one family -- Lillian, Poppy, Zoe, and Isabel -- try to heal from each other's actions and flaws, while trying to find Diana, Zoe's best friend from childhood who had gone missing. Told in chapters alternating between Poppy, Zoe, and Isabel, we learn about each of their mistakes and successes.

This is primarily a story about the relationships between mothers and daughters, and how easy it is to lose oneself to the title of mother and how it changes the daughter when the mother rebels against it.

I really liked reading about the interactions between these four women and how much they each shaped each other, even when they were trying so hard to be someone else. I thought Isabel's character -- the teenager with a horrible secret -- was the most interesting to read about, and, perhaps, even the most mature. I was also drawn to Lillian's character -- the matriarch who became a successful suspense writer after the untimely death of her husband -- and sees murder and mystery everywhere in the small town.

And, really, any book set in a small village in the UK is a draw for me right away, anyway. And even with the seemingly fast ending, which wrapped up too much too quickly, it was still worth a read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc of this book. It has not influenced my opinion.

The Lost Girls of Devon by Barbara O Neal is a story about the complexity of relationships in a family, Four women who are not only connected by their blood bond but also by their messed up pasts. Although the story being written from multiple perspectives Is a bit confusing but it gives us insights of each character. The characters are well developed and unique in their flawed personalities. The emotions are raw. Overall it is a dark and dramatic book.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of the book for review.

The Lost Girls of Devon by Barbara O'Neal is a recommended "story of four generations of women grappling with family betrayals and long-buried secrets."

In the village of Axestowe in Devon, England, mystery writer Lillian Fairchild is observing some activity that makes her uneasy. She may be near 90, but she knows what she's seeing. Adding to her concern is the fact that Diana, her nurse, caretaker, and the childhood friend of her granddaughter Zoe, has suddenly gone missing. When Zoe learns this, she and her 15 year-old daughter Isabel, travel from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to England to help. Complicating matters is that Poppy, Zoe's estranged mother, is living in the village and has reestablished a relationship with Lillian, but Zoe remains firm in her refusal to have anything to do with Poppy.

The lives of these four women are also complicated. Lillian is slowing down, showing signs of dementia, and needs a caregiver. Poppy, who left Zoe with Lillian when she was seven, is trying to reestablish connections, but Zoe won't talk to her and she's never met Isabel. Zoe is recently divorced, had been feuding with Diana, and is concerned about Isabel. Isabel has suffered some unnamed trauma at school and demanded to fish the school year learning from home.

The novel is very descriptive. There are several lovely descriptions of nature, while at the same time there are almost too many mentions of everyone's hair color and curls. The novel is also very slow to start. Part of the slow start is all the backstory that O'Neal needs to provide for the four generations of Fairchild women. All this is front loaded rather than being integrated into the plot while some plot advancement takes place. Zoe and Isabel supposedly fly to England to help look for Diana, but any action in that search seems secondary and perfunctory. I truly wish either the action/suspense part of the plot picked up the pace sooner OR it was just a novel about the complicated relationship between the Fairchild generations.

The characters are well-developed. They all struggle with relationships, but Zoe takes the most getting used to among them. Her history of holding grudges if anything has to do with her mother, Poppy, can be tiresome. Zoe has never forgiven her mother and her feud with Diana was because she befriended Poppy - that kind of controlling behavior would be hard to tolerate in any friend. I can understand a reluctance to trust or become close to Poppy because her behavior was unconscionable, but once you are in your forties, you should be able to acquiesce that a friend has the right to befriend whomever they chose. Poppy does require some tolerance as a character also. She is not beyond reproach, but she is trying to help young women now.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Lake Union Publishing.
After publication the review will be posted on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

I was feeling homesick for England and my mother who lives in Devon so this felt like the perfect book to read on another hot, humid day in Virginia. It transported me back to quaint seaside villages, the mournful beauty of the moors and the joy of hedgerows, fish and chips and pubs. I loved how Lilian and Poppy called everyone 'love' which is such a Devonshire thing to do.
Each of the main characters were nursing traumas, and questioning their path and choices. Poppy was my favorite with such a wonderfully adventurous life and her 'witchy' abilities. Poor Isabel was the only real victim in this story yet Zoe was the one who played the victim to the max. Call me heartless but her constant inner whining about her mother leaving her so long ago in the care of a loving grandmother grated on me a little. And she was so concerned for her friend Diana but all she talked about was how she wouldn't get to tell Diana stuff and ask her advice! It felt like everything in Zoe's life was take and no give. I also found the whole soul stuff with Sage a bit much, we got it so it didn't need to be covered every time they got together. That was the reason I didn't give it 5 stars.
I was amazed to read that the author was American (with a British partner). Her grasp of Englishness was brilliant and was very authentic. Poppy was the me I wish I had been (without abandoning my child!) and I remember Glastonbury and all the hippy stores from my youth.
Thank you for helping ease my home sickness. I called my mum straight after, just to hear her call me love.
This was an ARC provided by Netgalley and this is my honest review.

This was a well-written, heartwarming book. Four generations of women were each described so clearly, with their individual feelings, emotions, interests and struggles. There were vivid descriptions of scenery, relationships, food, and the passionate pull between a man and a woman. Like this author's other stories, this book was a feast for all my senses and I didn't want it to end. I recommend this book to others and look forward to reading other books by this author.

The premise of The Lost Girls of Devon drew my attention, especially the multi-generational domestic drama. I did find the connections between the women a bit hard to follow at first, this is a book with a lot of intricacies and once I got into it, I did enjoy it for what it is.

While all four of the central women in the family play central roles in each others’ lives, Zoe and her strained relationship with her mother, Poppy is the focal point. I love how Zoe’s abandonment issues are reckoned with, but it’s also balanced by showing Poppy’s perspective on the matter, and that Poppy wanted to chase her dreams because her mother didn’t, establishing a cycle of how mothers’ behavior impact their daughters.

I enjoyed the chapters from Isabel the most, however, because of how it deals with such raw trauma of dealing with sexual assault at the hands of high school “friends,” and how she can’t bring herself to discuss it with her mother, creating yet another gulf between mother and daughter.

I did find myself a bit disappointed that the “missing friend” aspect wasn’t more pronounced, however given how the book had been pitched, I should have expected it would be a mere subplot, although it was the most intriguing part of the blurb for me.

I enjoyed this book, and was moved by the story of mothers and daughters and the traumas and betrayals that caused division between them. If you love stories about the messy relationships between mothers and daughters, I think you’ll enjoy this one.

I am usually a fan of this author's books, but this one just didn't do it for me. It was told in alternating chapters between Zoe, Zoe's mom Poppy, and Zoe's daughter Isabel. I had a hard time keeping it straight who everyone was for the first several chapters, but once I really got into it good, I was able to keep them all straight. I really liked Poppy. She was a free spirit. Yes, she walked out on Zoe when she was seven and left her with her grandmother and didn't come back until after she was grown. However, she does seem to do everything possible to try to redeem herself, and seems genuinely remorseful over what she did. Zoe however, can not seem to move past it. Her bitterness and constant outbursts are wearisome and seem almost immature at times. There was a mystery surrounding Zoe's best childhood friend Diana's disappearance. I wish more of the story had been devoted to that and less to Zoe's hatred of her mother. Also, it really bothered me that Zoe hadn't hardly spoken to Diana for a long time over something childish and now that she was missing, all she could think about was how she wished Diana was there so she could give her advice on something or tell her about something that was going on with her. I am glad I read it, just because I always read her books, but this is definitely not something I will ever want to read again.

Lillian, Poppy, Zoe, and Isabel- four generations of women with secrets, anger, despair, and love. Lillian is dealing with dementia, Poppy first raised Zoe in a commune and then took off when she was seven, Zoe lives in New Mexico, and Isa is coping with bullying and sexual assault. That's a lot to pack into one novel but the characters are well drawn and it all fits. There's a lot of anger but when Lillian's caretaker Diana goes missing and a woman who visited Poppy for a palm reading is found dead, they pull together. Hard to describe but easy to read, this will appeal to fans of the multigenerational family tale. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A rewarding one.

In THE LOST GIRLS OF DEVON, Barbara O'Neal weaves the stories of four generations of women brought together in Devon for the first time to escape and to return home, ultimately forging new relationships and rekindling old ones. As in previous novels, O'Neal is a genius at portraying the young to the old, at drawing the reader into a story so rich in meaning, feeling, and atmosphere that you will find yourself reading way too late to find out what happens next. The Devon setting was brilliantly captured and shared, transporting and inspiring as did this wonderful book. Genuinely loved every moment of reading it -- a terrific gem of family, friendship, and conflict.

This was a beautifully written historical fiction novel with plenty of family drama, magic, and mystery. I liked that it was focused on the relationships between four generations of women in one family. I was drawn in by the mystery that was in the background of the whole book, but ultimately it was the smart and strong women who kept me engaged. Also, who doesn't love a childhood relationship reunited! With something for everyone, this will definitely become one of my go-to recommendations.

I love books set in England so that was a positive when deciding to read this book. The setting of the Devon area in western England was everything I could have wanted, The author did an excellent job of describing the beauty of the area and making you feel that you were right there with the characters.
The story was told from the point of view of four generations of women in one family. I enjoyed the storylines of all four of these women. Of course, there are conflicts for each of them which maybe were resolved a bit too tidily in a quick wrap up at the end. There was also a mystery involving missing women. Again, this was solved a bit too quickly. I still really enjoyed the story and will definitely read more from this author.