Two girls who were subjected to the same abduction, at different times and in different countries, but by the same controlling and abusive preacher, were targeted because of a possible mysterious ability to heal. The second, Claire is haunted by the fate of the first, and cannot return to normal life, her mother concerned for her welfare. Following both girls, we are left almost to the last to find out their fates, and indeed the preacher’s.
I really enjoyed the way this was put together, from the different perspectives.

I had not realised that this was a sequel and so found it more difficult to be fully integrated with the storyline .
Carmel has returned home and is coming to grips with this and this is about those readjustments

this is a follow on from her previous novel by 'the girl in the red coat' and its just as good as this one.
don't be put off reading it if you haven't read the precious book. it also works as a standalone story. This was a new author to me but I will definitely be looking for some of her other novels.
It's a gripping read.

This is story about how Beth & Carmel navigate life now they are back together and what they must to do move forward. Moving in also means revisiting the past, if they’re both strong enough.

It’s told from Beth & Carmel’s perspective again which I enjoyed just as much as the previous book.

This will definitely leave you on the edge of your seat and I sense a third book maybe ?.

Thanks to the publisher for this ARC

Kate Hamer is a beautiful writer. She conveys beautifully both the fragility and the strength of her characters. Reading about Carmel and her mother, Beth is like walking on thin ice. You find yourself holding your breath, wondering which one is going to crack first and plunge into deathly cold waters.

I have not read The Girl in the Red Coat and did not realise The Lost Girls was a return to those characters. I’m not sure it matters, because from the beginning I was caught up in Kate Hamer’s exquisitely painful prose.

Carmel Wakeford was kidnapped when she was only 8 years old. Taken out of the country to the United States, she was taken by a Preacher who used her in his travelling preaching sessions. He renamed her Mercy and together they spent 5 years visiting mainly rural fairs.

Then Carmel was rescued and brought home to her mother, Beth, and the pair now live in England. But Carmel has to live with the blaze of publicity that accompanied her return and to know that her life is the stuff of tabloid fodder that never really goes away. She will forever be that ‘lost girl’.

Beth doesn’t really know how to relate to Carmel. She doesn’t really understand what Carmel went through and she knows her daughter is a very different young woman to the girl she lost. But though Carmel left a trail pointing to her real name wherever she went in the States, she knows that she was not the first Mercy to have preached alongside this man. On her return to her mother, isolated, angry at her mother for losing her, she becomes obsessed about what could have happened to the other Mercy – the one she replaced.

The Lost Girls is told from the perspective of the original Mercy, Carmel and Beth. Mercy’s story is harrowing. She has a harsh upbringing and turned to the church as a way of finding a loving home as much as anything. Each of these women is searching for something to anchor them and make them feel seen and comfortable in their situations.

Carmel is so desperate to find out what happened to Mercy that she does the unthinkable and in so doing, she fractures the uneasy peace between mother and daughter.

The Lost Girls explores, sometimes very painfully, the relationship between mothers and daughters. No-one blames Beth for Carmel’s disappearance more than Beth herself. As both women struggle to re-establish their relationship, the reader feels the pain that flows through both these damaged characters. Yet there is redemption in that pain and Carmel’s quest for answers is her way to help herself repair the emotional connection between her and her mother.

Verdict: Poignant and beautifully expressed, The Lost Girls is an intense and unsettling novel about the complex relationship between mothers and daughters; about the pain and redemption to be found in facing trauma and learning how to survive. It is haunting, emotional, and sometimes really painful and it touches the heart. It has fantastic writing, superior plotting and is a deeply engrossing read.

In 1999, Mercy Roberts, 6, left home, joined a travelling preacher, and vanished. In 2000, Carmel Wakeford, 8, also vanished, but was rescued in 2005. Mercy had left her junky parents in a crumbling shack in the Appalachian Mountains, whereas Carmel had left a solid middle-class couple in Norfolk, England. Both girls were taken willingly by the same preacher, because he believed they could perform miraculous healings. Whether he really believed that, or just found them useful to his travelling ministry, is never made clear. When Carmel was rescued in Texas, it was revealed that he had tried to persuade her to use the name Mercy Roberts, and that she had travelled using a passport bearing that name and Mercy’s picture. The case had become quite famous, but interest had died down. No trace of Mercy had been found in the following eight years, during which Carmel had developed an obsession with missing girls and expressed this to some extent by becoming a Mudlark, searching the banks of the Thames as a surrogate for searching for Mercy. Shortly after her twenty-first birthday, a reporter, ostensibly doing a feature on her hobby, brought her name back into the limelight. This and other incidents drive her to become more focussed in her searching with surprising consequences.
The book is written mainly from Carmel and her mother’s perspective, although there is a lot of background describing Mercy’s childhood and history. The writing is quite elaborate in some ways, particularly in sections describing events in the American deep South, which have a distinctly “folksy” ring. The characters are strong and the resolution to the mystery is revealed after a surprising twist. I think 3.5 is a fair estimate which rounds to 4.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

"But one thing I've learned it being unlost is not the same as being found."

This is the sequel to Kate Hamer's book "The Girl in the Red Coat" (which is phenomenal!) and I read it straight after finishing the latter, desperate to read more about how Beth and Carmel's stories unfold. I wasn't disappointed.

The Lost Girls was just as mesmerising from the start. Kate's writing transports me to another world entirely and it's like nothing else exists when I'm reading her books.

I was hoping to see some of the other characters from the first book (Dorothy & the twins) and find out what happened to them but maybe that's for a third book in the future? She says, hopefully!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read.

I was completely unaware that this was the second book in a series? Duology? And therefore, I didn't really get the chance to connect as much to the story as I wanted to. Throughout the book, I felt like I was missing some basic knowledge, and only found out that there was another book before this, when I reached the end of the book.

This was a change from my usual read and review material. I understand The Lost Girls is a sequel to The Girl in the Red Coat, which I’ve not read. I therefore have no knowledge of the previous storyline.
Overall, I enjoyed the writing style, and the depth in the creation of each of the three characters – Carmel, Mercy and Beth. Carmel is the central character, abducted as an eight year old and returned her mother five years later. At 21 she still struggles with her relationship with her mother Beth. She’s aware there were other girls abducted before her and wonders what happened to them, particularly Mercy.
It's a complex plot and I really feel reading the first book would have helped me enjoy The Lost Girls a little better. However, there is depth and skill in the writing and for that reason I’m giving four stars.
I would like to thank Fabre and Fabre, Kate Hamer and Netgalley for an ARC of The Lost Girls in exchange for an honest review

Thank you for allowing me to review this book. I'm very glad that I had had read The girl in the red coat first as I think I would have found this very difficult to read. This sequel follows Carmel as she tries to come to terms with the years of her abduction and the affect on both her own mental health and her relationships with her parents. She also feels the need to know more about Mercy, the girl she was abducted to replace.
I thought this book had slightly more pace than the first, however at times the story dragged. It was good to have answers to what happened after the first book finished.

Another great book from Kate Hamer. I was delighted to read this sequel to The Girl in the Red Coat as I felt it had ended suddenly with little closure. It was so interesting to read the back-story to understand Mercy's journey. I read this over a couple of days, compelling reading.

The Lost Girls follows on from its predecessor The Girl in the Red Coat.
A story of abduction and cults. When Carmel is eight years old she is taken by who she thought was her long lost grandfather and he told her that her Mother had been in an accident and she had to stay with him and his family.
The story takes Carmel across America with her preacher of a grandfather but when Carmel discovers that she isn't the only one to have to have to change her name to Mercy she begins to wonder if what her grandfather said is true.

Fast forward and Carmel is twenty one and has been reunited with her mum Beth but as she tries to come to terms with her abduction and normal life she can get the original Mercy out of her mind and needs to find out what happened to her before she can move on with her life.

The story is told from Carmel, Beth and Mercys point of view and all three characters are beautifully written.
Heartbreaking, emotional and a thoroughly enjoyable read.

The sequel to The Girl in the Red Coat and I definitely recommend reading that first as it explain the background to this book. This is told from the perspective of three people Mercy, Carmel and Beth. Three girls/women who have had to death with heartbreak and sadness and I felt compassion for all of them. I thought this was really well written and very enjoyable.

Briefly, after five years with her kidnapper Carmel was returned to her mother Beth at age 13 but we meet her again at age 21. Carmel is still seriously disturbed and her relationship with Beth is difficult. Carmel blames her mother for her abduction; Beth blames herself. Before she can move on with her life Carmel needs to know what happened to Mercy, the girl who was with the preacher before her. Can Carmel finally allow herself to throw off the hold the preacher had over her?

Whilst the stories from Carmel and Beth are good it was Mercy’s tale that really touched me. Her life with addicts for parents is desperately hard but despite that she loves them and does everything she can to help them. I would have liked to know what happened to Carmel, and consequently Beth, in the ‘missing years’ but that aside I can’t say more for fear of spoilers; I found this to be a really good emotional read with some great characters. Reading some of the negative reviews I felt we must have been reading a different book. An excellent sequel to a moving book both of which I enjoyed. 4.5⭐️

The follow on book to The Girl in a Red Cat. Carmel, now 21, is trying to readjust to life back with her mother. She has many unanswered questions and is determined to find out what has happened to Mercy a girl who faced the same ordeal as her. The story is told by both girls.I found the story a bit unbelievable and could not relate to either character. I struggled to finish this book.

I received an E-ARC with a request for my honest review.

This mystery follows Carmel a young woman who after being kidnapped as a child was found and returned to her family.

She is still struggling to fit into normal life, as she has many questions still unanswered.

During her time being held captive she was re-named Mercy, which leads her to want to discover what happened to the original Mercy.

Will Carmel learn the truth? What happened to the Lost Girls?

This is an emotional mystery, as you try to discover the truth along with Carmel. You get to hear from a couple of different timelines, and a few of the different characters.

I felt the emotion of all the characters as they showed the differing ways the kidnappings affected their lives.

I especially liked hearing Mercy’s story, even though it was heart-breaking to hear what she had to deal with at such a young age.

Overall, an emotional mystery where a young woman wants answers from her difficult past.

Was privileged to be offered the chance to read this sequel through NetGalley having loved The Girl in the Red Coat and, while it was very different, I was not disappointed! I loved the uncompromising and real feeling of the difficult relationship between the mother and daughter at the centre of the story. Carmel was found and returned to her ‘home’ but that was never going to be easy and, personally, I was relieved it wasn’t all rosy as that would not have been realistic. Both mother and daughter had to find a way through, a way to ‘be’ with each other and some acceptance of things they couldn’t change.

Alongside this was the story of Mercy and what happened to her. Her upbringing and life before she left home was poles apart from Carmel’s but there were interesting parallels. Their lives with the ‘preacher’ or ‘pastor’ were very similar. Both girls lost their freedom, were caring of others and learnt to serve at an early age.

The Lost Girls is not a book that wraps up everything neatly in a bow for its readers! Instead it challenges you, it forces you to consider what the reality of the situation might really be and it makes you take a good hard look at things. Could you accept what Carmel is like as an adult? Could you even begin to understand what she went through? Could you support her even if what she was considering was total anathema to you? Could you even like her?

So, if you love a book filled with complex characters and lots of challenges, then read this one! I highly recommend it!

Not realising this is a sequel or had more to the story, I read this as a stand alone. It had me at weird, cult like religion. I enjoyed it and was drawn to the characters and their attempts at living a normal life with normal relationships with eachother when their situation proved impossible. The jumps back in time to tell Mercy's story, multiple view points, and a slightly unreliable narrator as Carmel is struggling with her reality.

I had no idea this was a sequel and hadn’t read the first one. I didn’t enjoy this at all. I found it rather slow and tedious and struggled through it to the end. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

A great follow up to the girl in the red coat. A book that hooked me in right from the start Beth ,Carmel and Mercy are all engaging characters who are very convincingly written so you really care what happens to them. Definately a book I could recommend.

An abduction several years before followed by a return to her mother results in a traumatised child , Carmel, unable to overcome past memories. Relationship between mother and the now teenager is even more difficult in that she is living with a guilt ridden mother unable to forgive herself for imagined failures nor breach the impenetrable wall between herself and the child stranger now returned . Carmel still has dreams of another lost child, Mercy, who haunts her memories as does the pastor preacher who convinces each child he is their saviour and that they carry a special gift. A heartbreaking search for answers; desperate to find meaning in a previous life of half remembered recollections; a belief that future happiness can only begin by facing up to past ghosts and putting fears to rest by searching out long lost memories, other lost children and the perpetrator of the crime against them. A conclusion that draws together the numerous loose ends and missing years of uncertainty and grief towards an uplifting positive outcome. Many thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.