The Broken Girls

by Simone St. James

First published 2018

Fiona Sheridan returns to the abandoned Idlewild Hall, where her sister's body was discovered twenty years earlier. The crumbling boarding school once housed unwanted girls in 1950s Vermont. Local stories claim spirits walk its halls. When an anonymous donor begins restoring the building, Fiona sees a chance to write about the school's dark history. Her investigation uncovers new evidence linking her sister's death to long-buried secrets from Idlewild's past. Four roommates once lived in these rooms, whispering about ghosts and forming deep bonds until one girl vanished without explanation. Now their voices reach across decades to Fiona. She must confront the truth about what happened to her sister and the missing student. The official story never felt right. Her sister's boyfriend was convicted, but questions remain. As renovation work continues, the building reveals what someone wanted to keep hidden forever.

Genres: mystery, crime, contemporary, thriller

Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, suspenseful

Tropes: cold-case, investigative-journalism, unreliable-narrator

Setting: Idlewild Hall, Vermont

Period: 1950s, 20th-century

370 pages · Paperback · Berkley

Content warnings: death

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