A wild ride! This was Sally Hepworth at her best! Darling Girls explores the struggles for children growing up within the foster system. The story surrounds a murder, with a body showing up buried underneath an old foster home. Just as you think you know what happened, Hepworth changes everything! The bonds between foster sisters were powerful. All of them were uniquely troubled but came together with love for one another. All three perspectives were shared and there were flashes from "then vs. now." You will find yourself rooting for them and being filled with absolute disgust for their foster mother, while also questioning--who can be trusted?

This is my new favorite Sally Hepworth novel, I read it in under 24 hours. I was completely hooked in less than twenty pages. The flashbacks to present were done so well, where sometimes it can get a little muddled. Every time I thought I figured out the twist, a new twist blew me out the water. I appreciated how the story wrapped up for each character dealing with what they went through in childhood and finding their happiness in the end. I also enjoyed that it wasn’t buttoned up perfectly with the final twist at the end.

Three foster sisters receive a phone call that human remains have been found under the foster home they met in. This brings them and their old foster mother, back to the small town to help find out whose remains they are.

The three girls all have their own issues as adults after their troubled upbringing under the care of Miss Fairchild. Told between the past, the present, and another story line of someone in therapy recounting their time at the home, we see the abuse and learn the story of what happened at the home.

The characters were well thought out and defined, both in childhood and adulthood, and the story flowed well. I really enjoy the writing of Hepworth.

Sally Hepworth has done it again! Its very hard to describe the book without sounding degrading toward foster families/mothers, but I did think the author did a great job telling the story without disgracing all fostering families.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

Throughly enjoyed this book with all its twists and turns. I also enjoyed the different points of view. It kept me entertained and I didn’t want to put it down.

4.5 stars

A twisty thriller that had me speeding through it. I loved the alternating povs between Jessica, Norah, and Alicia - my heart really went out to them for all that they endured. It was quite difficult for me to get through those chapters.

The twists at the end were so satisfying as well! I did correctly call one of them and I'm so happy I was right.

Darling Girls focuses on three girls who ended up in the same foster family. Jessica arrived first and stayed the longest. She viewed her foster mother, Miss Fairchild, as her mother. Miss Fairchild doted over her, until she didn’t. Norah arrived next, an angry bitter girl. She had a mean temper and despised Miss Fairchild from the beginning. Alicia arrived last, as a temporary respite while her Granny recovers from an illness. The three girls bond like sisters. Miss Fairchild is viciously mean, manipulative and conniving to all three girls. They clean the house constantly, often have little food to eat, have no outside contact except at school and their social worker. To earn more money, Miss Fairchild eventually fosters infants and toddlers. When they turn to dislike her, she pushes them onto the three girls to take care of. Eventually, the three girls are able to break free from Miss Fairchild, in the hopes of never seeing her again.
Twenty-five years later, Jessica, Norah and Alicia are notified by the police from the town they grew up in, that human bones were found under the house as it was being destroyed. This all brings back horrible memories of their life with Miss Fairchild at Wild Meadows. Whose body is it? How did it get there? Who buried it? The three women decide to go to the police station to find out more regarding the human body. As they are being questioned, they wonder, are they considered to be witnesses or are they suspects?
This novel is told in dual time lines, before and current. There are three narrators, as well as a psychiatrist, Dr. Warren. Who is he listening to? Who is talking? This is not revealed until the end.
This book was a page turner for me. It was easy to follow the past/present chapters and listen to the voice of the main characters. The chapters with the psychiatrist was disturbing and upsetting to read, especially not knowing who was involved. The ending of this psychological thriller is quite shocking.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Published on April 23, 2024.

Trigger warnings- child abuse

I have really enjoyed Sally Hepworth’s previous books. She writes a great domestic thriller. I was excited to get an advanced copy of her newest release about three foster sister who return to the farm where they grew up after a body is found buried there. It’s told from multiple point of views, and in multiple timelines. Sadly, it was completely predictable and not nearly as good as her other work. It’s out now, but I’d give this one a pass.

Sally Hepworth never disappoints when it comes to a bingeable book. This was very much a 'who is it' and a 'who did it' book. Lots of twists and second guessing.

TW: This one does have child abuse.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.
P.S. I read this book before it was published, and I completely forgot to do the review. Soooo... Sorry.

Darling Girls takes you down a windy, dark hallway filled with intriguing twists and turns. Just when you get to the end, with everything all wrapped up all nice and neat, you find that there’s one last door – one final chapter – and when opened it blows everything you thought you knew right out of existence.

But let me take a step back.

Jessica, Norah (“without a t”), and Alicia come to live under the foster care of Miss Fairchild. As lovely as Miss Fairchild appears to be, dressing herself in youthful pink and ruffly costumes, she has a twisted & dark side that she can barely contain. Delivering psychologically damaging back-handed compliments, emotional abuse, and passive-aggressive remarks, Miss Fairchild deviously manipulates her dependents. Lovely Miss Fairchild uses the young girls’ fears and insecurities against them. She keeps them secluded – keeps them out of school to care for other younger foster babies that come to stay with them. What are these defenseless young girls to do?

Fast forward 25 years, and quite expectedly, all of the mental torture has led to major coping mechanisms. Acts of violence, stealing (and taking!) pain killers, and self-loathing – these adult women have difficult with trusting in relationships, and with believing they deserve love. The sisters are brought together again when a gruesome discovery is made under the home where they were raised. What really went on all those years ago??

What is it that makes someone your sister? Is it blood, simply shared genetics, or is it shared experience? Darling Girls is the story about sisterhood and the bond that forms between young women growing up together. Although it was a bit of a slow burn, in the end, I have to admit I enjoyed the story and there couldn’t be a better title for this book. Intermittently sprinkled through the book are chapters where “someone” is receiving psychiatric assistance. Color me intrigued.

Thanks to St Martin’s Press & NetGalley for the free ARC, and I am leaving this honest review voluntarily. (Also thanks to author Sally Hepworth for schooling me on a few common Australian words that I didn’t know previously.)

Sally Hepworth has done it again with yet another pageturner! I was hooked on this story from page one. It's about three girls who were raised in foster care with a foster mom who was abusive. As adults, they are all called back to their foster home when a body is discovered, and they are forced to face the secrets of their past.

Any story about children being abused is difficult to read, so be aware that the subject matter in this one is not easy. While it is an entertaining book, it also focuses a lot on the trauma that these girls experienced and how that carried into their adult lives.

The narrative jumps around between characters and between the past and present. This makes for a super fast paced story and a quick read. I found it to be compellling, and I just had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen.

The way I couldn’t put this book down, and ended up binge reading through the night (which I rarely do), switching between the book and audiobook. Sally Hepworth is one of the best when it comes to domestic suspense, and I just love her storytelling writing so much.

I buddy read this with my husband and had a hard time not giving anything away because I ended up finishing before him.

The story features 4 POVs, about three foster siblings with a past/present storyline. When bones are discovered at the home they were raised, everyone comes into question what happened.

With fast chapters and an intriguing storyline, it was the perfect thrill ride that kept me guessing, and would make the best beach or poolside read this Summer.

🎧I loved the audiobook narration by Jessica Clarke, and it was easy to switch between the print and audio formats, keeping me completely immersed into the story.

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧
🏠domestic suspense
❤️found family
🔍a story that will keep you guessing
📖multiple POVs

*many thanks to St Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for the gifted copy for review

Wow! I loved this book and it takes you on quite the ride! I never saw how it was going to end. And then, I got to the end, and thought maybe it was kind of a let down, but Sally Hepworth pulled out a twist at the very end!

This was my first Sally Hepworth book and I was so engrossed with it that I finished it in one day.

Short chapters meant that I constantly wanted to keep reading to find out what happened next. This book does touch on some dark subject matter so it’s not for everyone. But I didn’t find it too disturbing where it stopped me from wanting to read on.

Lots of twists and turns, some of which were predictable but others I didn’t see coming. This is the perfect book to get out of a reading slump.

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth was DYNAMITE! What an amazing story with superb plot points and dynamic characterizations. I mean.... it blew me away. Not just the story, which was amazing but the writing.... the writing! Very, very clever! This is why Sally Hepworth is an auto-buy author for me!

Sally Hempworth is always an author who always holds my attention with her gripping story writing. Told from past and present timelines set in Australia it's a story about a bond between Jessica, Alicia, and Norah where they were raised in the foster care system all 3 girls find themselves together under the care of Miss. Fairchild.
A gripping suspenseful read that is sure to keep you guessing. I'd rate this one a solid 3.5 stars so I rounded up to a 4 star rating.

3.5 Solid thriller that kept me guessing. Great character development and written so well that I could easily differentiate between the girls. I have a tendency to get Sally Hepworth, Liane Moriarty and Rachel Hawkins books mixed up, so it’s great for fans of those books.
The story laid out very well, going between past and present as three precious foster girls who grew up in the same foster home find out a body was found under the house they grew up in. Compelling thriller.

This was a wonderful psychological thriller. I really did not know how the story would end, there were so many twists. The characters were written very well, their stories heart wrenching, and I was rooting for justice for all of them. Thank you NetGalley for providing the ARC.

Darling Girls focuses on three foster “sisters”, who grew up together for a couple of years at Wild Meadows foster home in Port Agatha. They are all grown and living their not so best lives, when they each receive a phone call 25 years later from a detective about the discovery of human bones on the site of Meadows Hill. Ms. Fairchild's scenes seemed monotonous and drug things out.

The book starts with the demolition of a foster home and we meet the 3 sisters who once lived there. Going back and forth present and past we learn about the traumas endured by Jessica, Alicia and Norah from their own points of view. Each character is strong in her own way. The mental abuse they were subjected to make it difficult to understand how they were able to cope and rise above. The mysteries of what happened, what has been discovered and who is telling their stories to the psychologists keeps you on the edge. I enjoyed the book and loved each chapter following up with the girls at the end. But that last chapter, I didn’t see coming at all. Talk about jaw dropping.
4/5 stars easily!