Carol Birch is an accomplished writer of novels such as The Naming of Eliza Quinn, Scapegallows and perhaps her most famous the Booker shortlisted Jamrach's Menagerie in 2011. Her latest novel takes us away from famine and hunger in the Victorian Era to a more modern setting of a 1970s all girls High School, which is housed in an old Victorian building which was once an Asylum. With this gothic setting of narrow basement hallways and turreted rooftops, tales of ghostly events are an inevitable consequence for the imagination of the teenage girls.

Sally and Pamela are best friends who enjoy eating lunch on the roof but keep seeing the posh girl Sylvia on the roof which she then goes on to deny. Is it Sylvia or a ghost? One day Sylvia and the other girls witness Pamela throwing herself from the roof to commit suicide. Only Sally believes that she saw Sylvia on the roof with Pamela and believes her to be goading Pamela’s actions. Sally withdraws into herself and ends up breaking up with her boyfriend Rob.

We then move ten years into the future where Sally is living a quiet subdued life as an assistant librarian and living with her parents. She reunites with Rob who is now an architect and is actually living in a flat in the very building that was the school. After Sally is persuaded to move in with him she begins to see the ghosts of her school days as she roams the corridors and attends a New Year Party on the very roof of the building where her childhood best friend committed suicide. The building begins to make Sally feel uneasy and increasingly distressed, she wants to move but Rob insists she seeks medical help and eventually attempts to rectify Sally’s issues by inviting Sylvia to the flat.

The novel does keep you guessing whether it is a ghost story in the traditional sense or the ghosts of sallys own making and her fleeting memory of Pamela covered in bruises hints at the unresolved guilt she may feel. The downward spiral of Sally’s mental health and the frustration of Rob's ineptitude to Sally’s plight provide an unsettling final third of the book.

Slow-burn, intense book that will take you by surprise for how terrifying and creepy it can be at times.

I truly did not want to put it down.

A fantastic and literary novel, with some twists of the supernatural. It's a bit of a slow burn, but it comes together beautifully, the imaginations of teenage girls is such a wonderful plot device to explore, as it makes it difficult to tell whether what they are seeing/doing is "real" or imaginary. I loved the period setting, and it felt very rooted in this.

Shadow Girls has been on my TBR for too long, so glad I finally read it! A haunting (in many ways) story that had a unique tone and drew me in. It had high-tension moments and a sinister undercurrent which came to fruition. I like the female friendship element too. A story I'll remember.

A novel about teenage girls is destined to include bullying... But in this one the bully is the narrator, nit the bullied! I found it hard to engage with the characters and the paranormal is not something I relate to. The novel is well-written as one would expect from Carol Birch, but the characters seemed two dimensional, apart from Sally, the narrator. I guess I am not the target reader!

This is by the author of the Booker Prize-shortlisted Carol Birch – not your usual reading material! – so how did you find this novel?
Surprisingly (to me, who has that worry that, with no degree – at present; working on it – I’ll find prize-nominated writers go over my head) I found this an enjoyable read, albeit one that was somewhat slow to start. It’s set in a girls’ school in 1960s Manchester, and there are three main characters – the narrator, Sally; her best friend, Pamela; and their more well-to-do and strait-laced classmate, Sylvia Birch.

So tell us a little more about each girl…

Sally comes across as a likeable and believable narrator – an ordinary girl who attends an ordinary school. She has a boyfriend, Rob, on whom she isn’t actually all that keen, even though she knows she really should appreciate him. Her best friend is Pamela, who isn’t particularly popular with anyone else, and she is loud and something of a troublemaker. Together, they – well, Pamela particularly – enjoy tormenting their snobbish classmate Sylvia Birch, who’s a talented classical singer.

And the setting?

The culture – the films, music, clothes etc – comes across as very realistic, although it’s before I was born! It’s well-portrayed without it being over-egged. School is like every 15 year old girl’s experience of school – schoolwork, boys, feuds, stresses over their future (some things never change!)

So where does the paranormal aspect begin…?

It’s around halfway through the book (see what I mean about the slow start?) after an experiment with a ouija board. Suddenly Sylvia Birch seems to be places she can’t possibly be – almost in two places at once. It – understandably – freaks Sally and Pamela out.

The only issue for me was that you were unsure whether it was a superstitious happening, like poltergeist activity, or the imagination of teenage girls. Despite this, it still ended up being a thoroughly enjoyable read, if just a trifle slow to start. I do enjoy a touch of spookiness with my books, so for me, it was definitely worth reading.

Highly recommended!

At around the quarter-mark I nearly gave up with this slow-starter of a novel, apparently merely about a bunch of tedious schoolgirls with all the usual teenage angst, bullying, pettiness that goes in in a school. But before I stopped I had a quick look at the reviews and such was the enthusiasm with which so many had written that I decided to plough on – at least for a while. And I’m so glad I did, because from the halfway-mark the book takes off and becomes something much darker. A possibly supernatural element works its way in and the story becomes increasingly creepy and ambiguous. There’s a haunting – or is there? Is it a real haunting or a mental health issue? Is the protagonist suffering from guilt, regret or is something or someone really out to get her? The atmosphere of threat and menace pervades the book and the reader’s mind just as it does that of the main character, and ultimately I found this a really compelling and unsettling read. Well worth persevering with even if the beginning doesn’t seem to promise much.

I really wanted to love this novel because it was a mystery. However, there were many graphic scenes that made me uncomfortable. Still, I recommend this for fans of mysteries!

I made it to 17%, during all of which time nothing happens except for reminiscences of schoolgirl days. And now, in the last few pages, our delightful heroine has regressed to infancy and is giving us graphic descriptions of her vomiting and urinating on herself. No more. I had hoped for a literary novel and some psychological suspense, since that's what the blurb promises. Sadly, I'm seeing no signs of any of that, and am not willing to plough through any more in the hopes that at some point a plot and/or some depth may appear. Abandoned.

From the description, this sounded very Carrie/Heathers/Mean Girls and those are all my jams so I knew I had to check this out. The book is told from the POV of Sally. Sometimes it feels like a really long monologue. Her narrative is dreamlike and a bit surreal. The story moves slowly and for quite a while it seems to lead nowhere.I found this to be an accurate account of those difficult adolescent years, when we’re at our worst and often project our own securities onto others. The lack of that fully formed pre-frontal cortex causes girls of this age to take things so much further than grown-ups would, and yet during this time for Sally her mind is either tricking her or something unexplained, almost supernatural is happening. The trauma from the tragedy never gets dealt with, so it returns. Is it mental illness or is she truly haunted? This is a question that's been asked for hundreds of years, especially in cases of schizophrenia- mental illness or possession?

I feel this book is a bit let down by its blurb. It mentions an inexplicable incident and "elements of the ghost story," but that incident doesn't happen until halfway through, and there is very little of the ghost story to the book. Also, while the voice seemed good as an approximation of a teenager's eye view, I prefer this kind of narration to be approached with a more literary style, even if that makes it a bit unrealistic!

“I can tell you this right now: I’m not going to do that stupid thing like they do in films, that stupid thing where they go out and wander about in creepy places: oh yes, I’ll just take a look in the basement, no particular reason, oh dear the light’s gone, well, it would, wouldn’t it, better take a candle, wait for the jump scare.”

My thanks to Head of Zeus for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Shadow Girls’ by Carol Birch in exchange for an honest review.

Carol Birch’s latest is a work of literary psychological horror. Among other things it examines the Jungian concept of the shadow as a hidden part of the unconscious mind that can manifest via dreams, behaviour, and possibly as something more sinister.

‘Shadow Girls’ opens in mid-1960s Manchester and focuses on two fifteen-year-old schoolgirls. Sally is clever and cynical. Her best friend, Pamela is the kind of girl always on the look out to push boundaries. They play truant and explore forbidden areas of their school. Yet their favourite activity is tormenting the posh Sylvia Rose, whose beautiful voice ensures that she wins every singing contest.

While so far this sounds like a fairly typical period coming-of-age tale, things take a darker turn when there are a series of unsettling incidents at the school. An interest in ghost stories, seances, and superstition among the students ultimately leads to a tragedy that will send Sally down an uncanny rabbit hole... No further details in order to avoid spoilers.

I found ‘Shadow Girls’ a well-written, character-led novel with a strong period setting. It was a quiet novel that relied on a subtle sense of creeping dread and unease over more overt horror tropes.

I was very much drawn to the description of this novel, and the spooky schoolgirls vibe. I wondered at first whether I would like it, as the voice took a little while for me to ‘get’ but once I did I absolutely ripped through the book. It’s just the right level of eerie for me, a kind of unsettling, creepy undercurrent with a very satisfying plot. Really good.

Atmospheric, eerie, disturbing, gripping, and well written. It's one of those book that makes use a long list of adjective trying to describe what they made you feel and your impression.
Carol Birch is a talented writer and storyteller, she deliver a story that mixes paranormal aspects with a story about coming of age and confused identities.
I think it's one of the best book read this year.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Shadow girls by Carol Birch.
This was a slow read. A girls school set in the 1960's. A tragedy happens after the girls play with the quija board. Is Sally seeing a ghost or not? Very slow but readable. 3*.

2.5 ⭐️‘S
This book was quite slow and never really went anywhere. There was the mean girl vibe and bullying that led to an eventual tragedy that you knew was coming, and the inevitable haunting from said tragedy, but it just didn’t really click in the paces it should have.

A spooky story set in a girls school during the 1960s. The writing builds a great description of the school and life for the girls who attended, creating an almost nostalgic setting for the story which unfolds. The story has three main characters, Sally, Pamela and Sylvia, who all attend the school. Sally and Pamela are best friends and wannabe rebels, whilst Sylvia is a quiet strait-laced girl who doesn't really fit in with her class mates. The story takes a darker turn after the girls experiment with a ouija board and life changes forever.
I really enjoyed this story, it is a bit of a slow start but is definitely worth sticking with. I couldnt put the book down. Spooky and eerie- absolutely brilliant!

This is a slow burn novel about three young women- Sally, Pamela, and Sylvia-at school in Manchester in the 1960s and the aftermath of something dreadful. Sally was always a good girl until she met the rambunctious and obnoxious Pamela and together they mean-girled the wealthy and musically talented Sylvia. Throw Rob, Sally's boyfriend, in the mix and it's a stew of adolescence. And then Sally sees Sylvia as a ghost (my shorthand) or is she? The first two thirds of this book focus on the school years, the last third is Sally's struggle with what happened, especially after she reconnects with Rob. It's hard to describe this but know that it's thought provoking about how we treat one another and the repercussions that echo into our brains. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

2,5 Stars

When you read a book about teenage girls at school there is always bullying included. Sylvia is a quirky girl. She is quite, posh, her clothes are different and she has an angelic singing voice. But our narrator is not Sylvia. It is one of her bullies, Sally. Sally comes from a big family which seems to be laid back. She has twins as elder siblings and twins as younger siblings. So she runs in the middle and seems to belong not to them. She became friends with Pamela. Her family seems to be different, more complicated although she never speaks of them. But sometimes her body is bruised. But Pamela is not a nice girl. And our narrator Sally isn’t either. One day Sally experiences a creepy situation. She sees Sylvia, or something/someone similar to Sylvia on the roof of the greenhouse which belongs to the school. She gets strangely afraid of this Sylvia thing and runs straight back to her classroom where she sees the real Sylvia sitting quietly. Soon after this weird accident something even more horrible happened and leaves Sally deeply disturbed.

The book is told from the POV of Sally. Sometimes it has the vibe of one long monologue. Her narrative is dreamlike and a bit surreal. The story moves slowly and for quite a while it seems to lead nowhere. The Sylvia accident happens later in the book and up until then you just read about Sally and school, her friendship to Pamela and her boyfriend Rob who she does not really care about. She just enjoys being with a popular boy. I never connected to Sally and I found her voice wavering.

I took me a whole week to read this book and that is never a good sign. At the end it got a bit more interesting when we see Sally as an adult meeting Robin again and moving in with him. Her old school was remodeled into flats and of all things Robin lives in one of them. But living in this creepy building brings back bad memories for Sally. I am not sure what was going on with Sally. Are there ghost haunting her or is she having some mental issues? This is often a question in this kind of books. But the narrative never captured me. We are always close to Sally and every other character stays vague. I wanted something more from this book.

I’m not going to lie, the first thing that attracted me about Shadow Girls was the cover. I found it arresting. And, when I read the description, it seemed to fit perfectly. And the book seemed a perfect fit for me. I love books set in the sixties. And, in the last few years, I’ve really started to enjoy ghost stories. A perfect fit. What could go wrong?

Unfortunately, for me, quite a lot. I’m not sure if my brain was calling out for something different because my last couple of reads have been so dark, but I really struggled to get into Shadow Girls. And, in all honesty, I never truly did (though I did make it to the end). It started off well. The atmosphere of young girls on the cusp of womanhood, rebelling against authority in 60s Manchester. Sally and Pamela pushing boundaries and pushing back on ‘good girls’ like Sylvia. Add in an old school and seances, and I could feel the tension building.

The problem came when the tension never seemed to go anywhere. And neither did the story for a long time. There were a couple of significant acts at the beginning and at the end. In between, it felt like we were building to something that never materialised. Things that I felt would amount to ‘something’, would increase the spookiness level, never came to anything. As a result, very much like Sally, who had lost her way, so did I as a reader. I didn’t seem to be going anywhere. And I didn’t like it.

I also didn’t like any of the characters (which anyone who reads my reviews regularly will know is a big deal for me). I found Sally shallow and annoying and Pamela (whose story seemed to have so much potential), poorly used – a caricature rather than a character. Possibly the only character that really interested me by the end was the school and the secrets it held. Again, though, that wasn’t explored.

All in all, then, this wasn’t the book for me. A shame, but it happens! Have you read it – what did you think? 3/5 stars.