Darling Girls

by Sally Hepworth

First published 2024

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia grew up believing they were the lucky ones. After losing their families, Miss Fairchild took them in and raised them on her farming estate. Everyone called it a rescue, a second chance at happiness. The three sisters knew better. Miss Fairchild made rules that couldn't be broken. She watched their every move. Cross her once and face consequences that lasted for days. The girls learned to stay quiet, stay small, and dream of escape. Years later, they finally broke free and built separate lives far from the farm. They thought Miss Fairchild belonged to their past. Then construction workers find human remains buried beneath their old home. Police arrive with questions about the body, about Miss Fairchild, about what really happened on that isolated farm. The sisters must return to the place they fled and face memories they've spent years trying to forget. As investigators dig deeper, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia realize they're not just witnesses to a crime. They might be suspects. The bond that helped them survive their childhood now becomes their only hope of proving their innocence.

Genres: fiction, abuse, mystery, crime, contemporary, family-drama

Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking

Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator

Setting: Fairchild Estate, Farm

Period: Present Day, Childhood

359 pages · Hardcover · St. Martin's Press

Content warnings: abuse, child-abuse, emotional-abuse, physical-abuse

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