This was my first Sally Hepworth novel and I was not disappointed. I enjoyed the bond the sisters had. I guessed the twist pretty early but was thrown for a loop at the very end. Very twisted but very good. Thanks for the opportunity to read this.

Sally Hepsworth does it again! This is a psychological thriller that will have you skimming ahead because your anxiety needs to know what’s coming 🫣 t

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The plot shifts from present to past between the three female protagonists. While it is sometimes difficult to alternate storylines, I found it easy to follow.

I’m still recovering from this ending. These three girls endured so much and my heart hurt for their childhood upbringing.

TW: child abuse, narcissistic parent, negative foster care experience

Thank you to St Martin Press for the ARC!

Lots of details…A very slow read…a bit wordy for my taste.

The plot is good with plenty of drama and suspense…but a very slow build up.

I received this book via NetGalley in response for an honest review. Sally Hepworth has done it again. She manages to write well written and fleshed out characters with a story to match. So many newer thriller writers toss together a problem and a twist and readers eat it up, but Hepworth actually delivers substance. The story was harrowing and sad but also a celebration of the bond of families and created families. Of course, a few delicious twists add to the devour-ability of this latest. Brava!!

Much thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Sally Hepworth is and will forever be one of my favorites authors. Such a way to her writing that just connects. This one was no different. Recommend.

I really enjoyed this book. From the very beginning, it had my attention. The plot kept me interested the whole way through, which is sometimes difficult to do. I would have devoured this book in one sitting if I had the time to. Really interesting storyline, with a good twist at the end!

Fantastic! This book will tether you to your chair. Be sure a pot is not on the stove waiting to boil, or a cake in the oven ready to be removed and cooled, or your family is awaiting dinner! Sally Hepworth is a gifted story teller and she writes with clarity, humanity and warmth. The way she wove the storyline was exceptional. Brava! Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for granting me this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I was fortunate enough to receive this book by Sally Hepworth, an ARC through Net galley and the story did not disappoint, The story weaves together the story of 3 girls in the foster care system and their story of hope, strength and survival. Jessica is the one that seems to have her life totally together despite her upbringing. Norah is a fighter right from the beginning and still trying to stay out of jail and get on the right path. And Alicia, the one that knows what love is and wants the world around her to experience it too. Its a story of having to face the reality of their past and what happened to them all and finally receive justice. This is a great read that I am sure has some very strong truths in it that we can relate too. Thank you again for letting me read and review this book.

Wowwwwww!!!! This is my first Sally Hepworth book & I will most certainly be reading all of her other books. I was hooked from the first chapter. The twist in this book blew my mind. Being able to connect with all the characters & feel their pain is amazing.

For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. All three had been through tragedies that brought them together under the care of their foster mother Ms. Hepworth.

But their childhood wasn't the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. All three girls endured emotional and physical abuse. Reuniting years later when a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the foster sisters find themselves thrown into the media and a court case as prime witnesses. I can’t give much more away but they face the question of you can really burry your past….

As usual Hepworth draws the readers in with her suspense, flawed characters and surprise endings! This wasn’t my favourite of hers but that’s not saying it’s not worth a read.

Excellent and engaging! I love this author and she did not disappoint. The story follows three girls as they navigate being foster children under a Mommy Dearest type—fast forward and a body is found under the home and the now young women are called on to help solve the mystery. Highly recommend!

This book was excellent. I read it in a few days. It was fast moving and you really felt like you got to know the characters from children through adulthood. The book did not disappoint with twists and turns. In the style of Sally's other books, many of the characters are likeable, quirky and flawed at the same time. And the premise was one I had not come across before in a thriller. All of this combined to make a wonderful. sit on the edge of your seat read.

5 stars...obviously.

I can't get enough of Sally Hepworth, and it's no surprise that I couldn't restrain myself from reading this one way sooner than my spreadsheet should have allowed. No regrets, though. This is the best one yet.

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are sisters who share perspectives throughout the course of this gripping novel. Hepworth moves seamlessly between each woman's story not only in the present but also in the distant past, and the organizational fortitude is exceptional, not to mention the well-timed revelations that unfold throughout these coexisting timelines. These women arrive at their sisterly bonds in a somewhat untraditional manner: as foster children under the charge of the fiercely memorable, deeply disturbing, and ironically named Ms. Fairchild. Ms. Fairchild's brand of torture is creative and sinister, and the impacts are obvious not only on the girls who face it directly but also on the women they become.

While all of the characters are well drawn and memorable, Norah is a highlight. Even the way she names her dogs is awesome. It's impossible not to root for all of the sisters, but the variations in their presentation make them especially appealing to different audiences, and this is another wise move on Hepworth's part.

My goal is always to know as little as possible about the books I'm reading, especially when they're penned by someone whose work I adore, and that was the correct approach with this one. The reveals are part of what makes this novel a real standout among an already stellar collection of Hepworth's works. I recommend this one highly, though folks sensitive to child abuse in any form should be mindful of the content. The primary focus is a combo of psychological and emotional child abuse, but there are also descriptions of physical abuse and mentions of sexual assault and rape.

I was in a huge reading slump. I hadn’t even finished a single book in the last month. Then along came a new book by Sally Hepworth. Once again, she knocks it out of the park with this one. I was instantly hooked!

The story follows three girls, Jessica, Alicia, and Norah. It goes back and forth between their childhood and the present.

The three girls grow up together in the foster care system on a farmhouse, Wild Meadows, with Miss Fairchild. The girls endure psychological abuse by their foster mother.

Fast forward to the present and the three women are brought together again to face the awful woman who raised them when some bones are unearthed under the farmhouse they grew up in.

The big question, whose bones are they and how did they end up there? Follow the story as the mystery unravels with a jaw-dropping ending that you don’t want to miss.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Sally Hepworth for the digital reviewer’s copy in exchange for my candid thoughts.

Omg!!!! I love Sally Hepworth, imo she can do no wrong and this book is no exception! It tells the tale of a trio of foster kids and their experience while staying with Miss Fairchild and how that also has molded them into the adults they are today. Maybe a bit dysfunctional (who isn’t?!) but one good takeaway is the bond they forged, stronger than blood. Their lives are spiraling out of control and to top it all off, the police want to talk to them about their time with Miss Fairchild when grisly discovery is made. They’ll have to confront the past to get through to the other side.

I've been a fan of Sally Hepworth since The Family Next Door and have rushed to read each new book ASAP.

The Darling Girls centres around three sisters Alicia, Jessica and Norah. They each gave their issues. They aren't really sisters, but called themselves sisters due to the close bond they formed while being fostered as children by the unpredictable Miss Fairchild.

When human bones are found on the site of the house they were fostered in, they are forced to face up to memories from the past. Whose bones are they and who buried them?

With three adult main characters and flashbacks to their time in foster care it isn't the fastest start, but when it gets going...Wow!

This is by far the darkest Sally Hepworth book I've read, life wasn't kind to the three sisters in Miss Fairchild's care. This is closer to Lucinda Berry's dark and disturbing territory than Sally Hepworth's signature sunny domestic noir and I loved it!

Great characters that we empathise with, an intricate plot, humour and big twists.

Once I got hooked I couldn't put it down.

Very powerful, moving, shocking and thoroughly entertaining!

Definitely recommended.


Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press

Alicia, Jessica, and Norah are sisters who from the outside look like your typical mostly high-functioning adults with some moderate issues. From the inside, there’s a past involving a shared foster home with an unpredictable, narcissistic foster mother. They thought they had left their past behind them until a set bones were discovered underneath their foster home and were called by police for questioning. Now they have to face the demons inside of themselves and each other…

This is hands down my favorite Sally book. Masterfully written, I could not put this down!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced release copy. Out April of 2024, this is definitely one for the TBR.

Now excuse me while I go tell all my friends how they need to buy this book….

A great read! I love when a book gets started really early on. I wanted to know MORE every time I finished a chapter. I loved how each of the three main characters were very different and loved the POVs as adults and as kids!

This was a fun murder mystery book. The twists and turns were entertaining. I liked that the girls showed true trauma from their circumstances. Definitely some triggering circumstances in this book but a good read for mystery/thrillers lovers.

In Darling Girls, Sally Hepworth creates an intricate and enticing plot centered on unraveling the mystery related to the childhood of three sisters, Jessica, Alicia, and Norah (with an h), who grew up in foster care under the supervision of Miss Fairchild. Hepworth does such skillful work of developing each character’s backstory and personality traits in a way that makes them distinct and endearing in their own ways. She builds the mystery by shifting from past to present unveiling each sister and her story intermingling humor with the often disturbing details of their childhood. The fierce loyalty of the sisters for one another provides light to the darkness of the traumas each has endured and inspiration in their ability to love, thrive, and survive. The mystery that draws the sisters back to Port Agnes makes the book terribly hard to put down. Like all of Hepworth’s works, the story and characters have a magnetic pull that draws readers in to the book’s world. The resolution does not disappoint and provides well placed surprises along the path. The novel itself reminds us of the power of sisterhood, well-placed loyalty, facing past trauma, and resilience. Hepworth’s presentation of the foster care system portrays both the shortcomings and darkness as well as the potential successes and light that can result.