A trio of foster sisters must confront their worst memories of the home that brought them together when a police investigation makes a discovery there. As the women travel back to the place of their adolescence, they carry with them secrets that they’ve managed to keep from one another but that tie them together. Author Sally Hepworth returns doing what she does best in the domestic thriller genre with her latest page-turner, Darling Girls.

In Melbourne, Australia, Jessica Lovat has the most perfectly ordered life. As an expert in home organization, Jessica is sought all over the city for her ability to bring even the most chaotic living spaces into submission. So what if she happens to swipe a few bottles of Valium here or there? The uber rich women she works for probably don’t even miss them anyway, and it’s much easier than getting her own prescription. It’s also easier than admitting she needs one.

On the way home from working with her latest client, Jessica gets a call that forces her to pull to the side of the road. During the routine demolition of a building in the small town of Port Agatha, two hours away from Melbourne, construction workers came across human remains. Now the police want to talk to Jessica, because the remains were found under the foster home where she spent a decade of her life.

Jessica wants absolutely nothing to do with the investigation. The foster home, Wild Meadows, provided her with some of her most painful memories. The foster mother, Miss Fairchild, leaves Jessica feeling angry and confused and sad and desperate to please.

In the early years, Miss Fairchild loved Jessica best. After the others came, she gave her affection to them. Even though she knows Miss Fairchild was the problem, Jessica has been fighting a twisted sense of loyalty ever since.

Fortunately, Jessica wasn’t the only witness to Miss Fairchild’s erratic behavior. Her sisters, Norah and Alicia, each have their own complicated relationships with their former foster parent. Although Jessica, Norah, and Alicia aren’t sisters by birth, the awful upbringing they experienced at Wild Meadows bound them more closely than any blood bond could.

It makes sense, then, that the police reach out to all three women about the human remains at Wild Meadows, but the sisters aren’t surprised by the call. The world thought Wild Meadows was a safe home for children. No one knew better than Jessica, Norah, and Alicia that it was a place where children were punished for the smallest infraction by extreme measures, and a heavy burden they share from their years at Wild Meadows leaves them unsurprised about the discovery.

Now the three of them will have to figure out how much responsibility they bear for that burden. It’s the only way they’ll be able to convince the police, themselves, and each other that what happened during their years at Wild Meadows truly wasn’t their fault. Unless the police call them out first for what is looking more and more like murder.

Author Sally Hepworth’s latest book carries her trademark dedication to strong female relationships and the complications that run between them. All three sisters are flawed and relatable. It’s easy to draw a line between their years at Wild Meadows and the personality traits that develop later in life as a result.

Hepworth’s storytelling shines as she switches points of view from one character to the next, giving each of the women their own voices. Jessica, Norah, and Alicia all share time on the page and get to tell their stories. Readers will find themselves sympathizing with the girls in a narrative that, despite being a world away, will sound unfortunately familiar to anyone with experience connected to any kind of foster or home care system.

The book is compelling enough to be read in a single sitting but, at times, lacks the depth of Hepworth’s earlier books. Readers follow the sisters from Melbourne to the town of Port Agatha and through the police investigation at a breakneck pace. The narrative would have benefited from a little more nuance and time spent with each of the women to build tension and allow the sense of drama to grow. Instead, it feels like the novel is running toward its conclusion, and it doesn’t give readers time to settle into any one plotline before jumping lanes.

Still, Hepworth’s books are always a delight. Those who enjoy her work will not be disappointed with this latest addition to her list.

This was my first Sally Hepworth book, and I will definitely be reading more!  "Darling Girls" is a dark and twisty thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat from the first chapter until the jaw-dropping ending. The story alternates between past and present from multiple viewpoints, including the perspective of an unknown patient during psychiatric sessions. I loved the alternating POVs to learn more about the girls' pasts and how they've adjusted to life outside of the foster home. In addition to this being an enthralling mystery full of twists and turns, it is also quite a poignant story about the three sisters grappling with their childhood traumas. This is one page-turner you won't be able to put down!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ooooweee! This was a fantastic novel. I loved watching the mystery unfold and was immediately drawn to the characters. Hepworth had a lot to say about childhood trauama and overcoming your past and did so with care. There are some very disturbing scenes in this one but the jumps between the past and present helped to break the harder parts up. The narration was fantastic and I would highly recommend listening to this one!

In Darling Girls, you are introduced to Jessica, Norah, and Alicia, three girls placed into the foster care system for various reasons. They all end up under the care of Miss Fairchild on her large, country estate, Wild Meadows. Jessica is the first to arrive, and her bond with Miss Fairchild is almost instant. Since Jessica is pretty young, their bond grows enough for her to call Miss Fairchild "Mummy" (this book is set in Australia, so Mummy for mom). Things remain wonderful for "mother and child" until Jessica becomes school aged. They are now separated for part of the day, throwing off their natural rhythm. Then Norah shows up at the house, and everyone's world is turned upside down. Norah is a fighter. She has to be given the circumstances she was put in with her previous foster homes. Her fighting instincts don't go away even in this idyllic new life. Alicia is the last one to enter into the home. It was only supposed to be temporary, but sadly, it was not. As each girl enters into the house, the dynamic shifts. Miss Fairchild acts more and more strangely. The girls form a bond stating they are sisters in every single way except by birth. Nothing and no-one will rip them apart. Then comes Amy, a beautiful toddler, and their lives will permanently change with her arrival.

Fast forward to the future, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are summoned back to their foster home. Bones of a young child have been found, and they are questioned about everything that happened in that house. Suddenly, the past they have run so far from has collided with their future.

This was such a good, good book. Lots of twists and heart wrenching scenes. The characters were so well developed. Each of the three girls had a uniquely different personality before, during, and after staying at Wild Meadows. My emotions were so tied up into each one of them. And, wow, wow, wow! What an ending to a twisted story! I thought I knew what had happened, but I did not expect THAT!

I will say there should be a trigger warning due to all different types of abuse being portrayed. If you are sensitive to this, please be aware.

Sally Hepworth is one of my favorite authors, her books never disappoint. Darling girls is a fast paced plot that you will not want to put down. The characters are a perfect fit and described so vividly, you feel as if you know them. Darling girls should definitely be put on your bucket list of books you want to read.

So well written. I loved this book. I read a lot of thrillers and seem to either love them or tolerate them. This one was a definite winner.

This book. SO GOOD. So cleverly written with multiple perspectives. I absolutely could not put it down and had to see where it went. I didn;t guess a single thing, and absolutely loved the way it wrapped up. I have been super picky with thrillers lately and struggling to keep my interest, but after so many good reviews, I can now see why. I can not wait to check out more from this author. Thank you NG for the advanced copy!

Darling Girls tells the story of three adult women who return to the foster home where they were raised following a mysterious discovery. The plot takes a few diversions that don't entirely add up, but it kept my attention until the end when all came together.

3 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wow. That was very dark and graphic.

This is my 4th book by this author and my reviews have been mixed. While I think she is really good at writing books full of twists, secrets, lies and drama I hope she doesn’t write anymore books like this because this was not what I expected.

This one centers around three troubled women who are brought together again after some bones of a small child are found under foster home they grew up in as children.

I enjoyed the alternating POVs, back and forth in time periods and the chapters with the psychiatrist. For the most part, I found the story fast paced and it was holding my attention enough for a few stars.

I did not enjoy the child abuse scenes. The foster mother - Miss Fairchild - was a heinous, gaslighting, manipulator. Is the foster care system really this horrific? I hope not.

Lots of triggers in addition to the child abuse. Be prepared.

The ending was very sick and disturbing, which ultimately knocked this down a star.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced copy to read and review.

When Jessica is sent to Wild Meadow farm as a foster child when she’s 5 years old, she thinks she’s found someone to truly love her in Miss Fairchild. It doesn’t take long for her to realize the love Miss Fairchild has for her is obsessive. Trying to please Miss Fairchild is a constant struggle for her. When she’s ten years old, another “darling girl”, as Miss Fairchild refers to them, comes to live with them. Norah is tough as nails, even as an early age. Jessica is booted to the side, as Norah is now the favored one. Shortly after, another darling girl enters the household. Unlike Jessica and Norah, Alicia is well loved by her grandmother, but due to recent health issues, is unable to care for her. The girls form a sisterhood, realizing they must bond together to make it through the manic moods of Miss Fairchild.

Twenty years later, they are called back to Port Agatha when bones were found under the house at Wild Meadows. As they face their past, they must again rely on their strong bond to put closure to their painful memories, and face Miss Fairchild once again. If you enjoy psychologicall thrillers, you should like this one. Thanks to Netgalley and St Martins Press for an ARC of this one; all opinions are my own.

This is a beautifully written book about the hidden power of women. Characters are well developed and likable. I thought the author did a commendable job interweaving different perspectives throughout the story.

“They might not have been related by blood, but their time together in foster care had made them closer than biology ever could.”

If anyone knows how to write a domestic suspense, it’s Sally Hepworth. Hepworth’s ability to weave a family dynamic into a twisty, all consuming mystery is second to none. The same is true for this story of a fiercely loyal and loving found family. Jessica, Norah, & Alicia are sisters of circumstance, not birth, but that does not diminish the bond that kept them together and helped them escape their incredibly abusive childhood.

“When it came to vengeance, Miss Fairchild preferred to play the long game.”

This story is full of heartbreak and trauma but it’s also full hope and love. There’s humour here too. Yes, it’s used as a vehicle for escape but it also serves to shine a light on these 3 strong and capable women.

“One thing to be said for having a horrific childhood is that pinpointing the happy parts is easy.”

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia were foster children with Miss Fairchild. The girls have stayed close. When a body is found at their old foster home, they come home to unravel what really happened there. I really liked the three sisters.

Enjoyable mystery.

4 Stars

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Sally Hepworth, and St. Martins Press for an #ARC in return for an honest review!

Hepworth has become an auto-read author for me! They are always full of mystery, unsettling characters, and a good plotline that keeps the reader entertained. I really enjoyed the multiple POVS: Jessica, Norah and Alicia who are three unbiological sisters that grew up in a foster home together. They have grown and moved from the terrors of the foster home and Ms.Fairchild. Now 25 years later, they are back together unleashing the traumas that happened to them. And to help identify the bones that were found at their old foster home. The chapters were short and easy to follow. Each character had their own personality and their own space in the story which was nice to see as it all unwrapped. There was lots of emotion as you flipped through the pages. I did not know who to trust and I was suspicious of all occurring. Suspenseful, traumatic, and a bit cozy.

My only iff? I think this got repetitive at times and I wish there were more emphasis on the ending. It felt like it wrapped up too quickly and left some unanswered questions for me.

I think this is a must read this summer! I finished it in one day.

Read if you like:
- Mystery
- Unreliable Narrators
- Multiple POV's
- Dual timelines

Alicia, Jessica and Norah are sisters by choice and have a bond as strong as any connection by blood. The three always had each other’s backs and now as adults, are as tight as ever when the past comes back to haunt them.

This book played with my emotions from fear to sadness to joy. Each character had her own side story that broadened the intrigue between the past and the present. As I’ve come to expect from a Sally Hepworth novel, she has yet again woven together a family drama into a captivating suspense tale that stays with you.

5😁, 5👏 and 5⭐.

Sally Hepworth really has a way with dysfunctional characters and domestic suspense. I adored The Good Sister and Darling Girls was equally brilliant.

Here we have sisters, not biological, but bonded through their childhood in foster care. The girls suffered trauma which is reflected in their adult lives, but because they had and still have each other, they grew up with a support system and are much better for it.

When bones are found in their childhood foster home and the police come knocking, the girls are suddenly reliving the very memories they tried to forget.

The author of this book has a fantastic sense of humor. She's able to make laughable moments without undermining the girls' situation.

The woman who took them in, Miss Fairchild, was not without her own issues and her backstory is interwoven throughout the book.

There were a couple twists I didn't see coming- one in particular that made my jaw drop.

At the end of the day, we have a mystery, well developed characters, well placed humor, and a whole lot of crazy. I highly recommend this novel!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for the ARC! I loved it! Review to be shared on Amazon, Bookstagram, Barnes and Noble and Goodreads.

This was a great thriller and an interesting view of growing up with intense trauma. Sometimes stories built around foster care and connection can be difficult to read but this one really balanced the topics well. The ending surprised me and I was on the edge of my seat until the final page, great book! Thanks to Sally Hepworth, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first Sally Hepworth book and will not be my last. I absolutely loved this book. The chapters were short and it flew by. Thanks so much for the review opportunity!

Excellent Twisty Thriller With Uniquely Broken Characters Will Be Far Too Difficult For Some. Straight up, I loved this one. It was so *oppressively* dark, yet done in such a way that even though there is truly little light to be had and also with no supernatural element to the darkness at all... you still want to see exactly what happened to make this tale this way.

The reason it will be difficult for some, perhaps many, is because of the *rampant* child abuse, including some sexual abuse and even a rape - though while "on screen" it is more "dark room" based. Still described, but not as... vividly... as it could have been. Showing that Hepworth *does* show restraint when going even more explicit doesn't add anything further to the actual story. There is also a rather horrifying birth scene, though this is far from the "splatterpunk" / "horror" that one reviewer described it as. Though going further would perhaps spoil what happens there *too* much, so I'll show the same restraint in the review that Hepworth did in the text. If such scenes are difficult for you... this may not be the book for you.

The reason I actually enjoyed the book though was because of how the central characters - three chosen sisters bound not by blood, but by shared trauma and survival- were both broken... and how they used that brokenness as adults, showing that even some of the most difficult times, the darkest times of someone's life, *can* be overcome to varying degrees. Not that any of our adults are truly "normal" healthy - again showing a great deal of reality here - but that they're still, to use a term used to describe Autistics that I truly despise but fits here, "functional". Ish.

Ultimately this is one of those books that will likely prove divisive in at least some groups, but I thought was done well, with the author using so many real world horrors (and yes, in my own work through my church as a teen and just generally being an observant adult, I've seen this and so much worse on occassion) to craft the story she is trying to tell... while showing restraint where further graphic details don't add any more needed information to extract the desired emotions from the reader. Showing that Hepworth truly is a master of her craft, even when she is somewhat intentionally pushing some buttons of some people.

Very much recommended.

I love Sally Hepworth! In Darling Girls, we follow three sisters as they are forced to face their childhood foster home after a body is discovered there. The characters were great and the scenes were emotional, thrilling, and, at times, shocking. This book kept me captivated for sure! Thank you, NetGalley.