Darling Girls, a review by Kristin

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Darling Girls
By: Sally Hepworth

Publication Date: April 23, 2024
Published By: St. Martin’s Press
361 pages

Find It On: Amazon | Goodreads

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I’m a little late to the game reading this book, but I finally read it! And I’m so glad that I did. This book tackles the hard subject of foster care and what has happened and/or what can happen when one is placed into foster care. Miss Fairchild is a foster parent. She first fosters Jessica, and then gets Norah and Alice. Jessica was treated so well in the beginning, but then when Norah came along, things changed. We learn about the horrors that these girls endured through alternating points of view in the past. In the present, each of the sisters are contacted by a detective – bones have been found under the house they grew up in. The sisters go back to the town they grew up in to answer questions, but as witnesses or suspects?

Ohh I enjoyed this book! Hepworth had me reading so fast. I was on vacation when I started this and it was the fastest book I read on vacation. The sisters were really victims of some horrific abuse, but it was nice getting to know each one of them. All came into Miss. Fairchild’s care, all very different girls. But they bond, and that was so beautiful to see.

I didn’t enjoy the last book I read by this author – it was just okay. But this book was written SO well. It was compelling. She keeps you engrossed in the story, leaving little clues and hints (just the way I like it!). I did figure out one of the smaller twists. However, I had a feeling about the last plot twist, but I wasn’t positive. I was correct that the twist was coming, I was correct about the twist, but I was NOT correct as to the “why” of the twist.

More than anything, this book brings to light the good and the bad of the foster care system. Not everyone acts with good intentions. It’s hard to know who is going to be a good caregiver, and who isn’t. It’s scary to think what some foster children go through. My husband and I have talked about becoming foster parents once our little one grows up a little (he just turned 4 and has some developmental delays). I want my kids to be able to understand what we are doing and why.

Anyway, I digress. This was a great read and I really would recommend it to anyone that doesn’t have any triggers as I can see how this book could be very triggering.

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