Darling Girls: A Novel
(Libby/OverDrive eAudiobook)

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Average Rating
Contributors
Published
Macmillan Audio , 2024.
Status
Available from Libby/OverDrive

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Libby/OverDrive
Titles may be read via Libby/OverDrive. Libby/OverDrive is a free app that allows users to borrow and read digital media from their local library, including ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines. Users can access Libby/OverDrive through the Libby/OverDrive app or online. The app is available for Android and iOS devices.

Description

"Get ready for another twisty domestic thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of THE SOULMATE. From the outside, Alicia, Jessica and Norah might seem like ordinary women you'd meet on the street any day of the week. Sure, Jessica has a little OCD and Norah has some anger issues. And Alicia has low self-esteem that manifests itself in surprising ways. But these three have a bond that no one can fully understand. It's a bond that takes them back decades, to when they were girls, and they livedon a farm with a foster mother named Miss Fairchild. Miss Fairchild had rules. Miss Fairchild could be unpredictable. And Miss Fairchild was never, ever to be crossed. In a moment of desperation, the three broke away from Miss Fairchild, and they thoughtthey were free. But the reach of someone with such power is long, and even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere in the shadows of their minds. When bones are discovered buried under the farmhouse of their childhood, they are called in by the police to tell what they know. Against their will, they are brought back to the past, and to Miss Fairchild herself. DARLING GIRLS asks the questions: what are we capable of when in a desperate place? How much can we hide the demons inside us? And can the past ever truly be buried?"--

More Details

Format
eAudiobook
Edition
Unabridged
Street Date
04/23/2024
Language
English
ISBN
9781250328830

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These Australian authors' smart, poignant novels tackle the full spectrum of women's lives and relationships, delving into health, marriage, and loss. Their characters are complex, relatable, and sympathetic, and their stories intricate and compelling. Both authors also explore secrets and their reveals' fallout. Liane Moriarty also writes older kids' books. -- Melissa Gray
Karma Brown and Sally Hepworth write moving novels in which sympathetic women face all manner of personal challenges. Their engaging, emotionally charged page-turners tackle a wide array of complex yet relatable topics -- family trouble, illness, loss, and marital strife -- but their well-developed protagonists always manage to forge a path to redemption. -- Catherine Coles
Australian authors Nicola Moriarty and Sally Hepworth write moving relationship-based and mainstream fiction as well as intricately plotted domestic suspense novels brimming with secrets galore. Both authors create engaging stories that feature unhappy individuals and emotional themes like coping with death and toxic relationships led by sympathetic and complex characters. -- Andrienne Cruz
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Published Reviews

Booklist Review

When human remains are discovered at the foster home where Jessica, Norah, and Alicia were raised, they are forced to confront the harrowing mystery they've each sacrificed happiness to avoid. All three landed at Wild Meadows after losing their parents, and Miss Fairchild's beautiful farm seemed like a place to heal. Instead, beneath the perfect image that Miss Fairchild required them to present, they suffered indentured servitude, starvation, and psychological torture. Still, the girls were determined to stick it out together--until Miss Fairchild adopted a toddler and they had to go to the police to protect her. But when the police searched Wild Meadows, there was no trace of a toddler, and Miss Fairchild denied the child's existence. Fifteen years later, the police want them to dredge up Wild Meadows' bad old days while Miss Fairchild sweetly feigns sympathy for her wayward foster daughters whose trauma undoubtedly bred violence. As in The Soulmate (2022), compelling themes of trust, betrayal, and brittle façades circle the sisters' relationships, raising the stakes of the investigation painfully high.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Hepworth's fans will be primed for her newest unnerving thriller.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
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Publisher's Weekly Review

Australia's broken foster care system comes into focus through the eyes of three women who've endured it in this bleak domestic thriller from bestseller Hepworth (The Soulmate). Jessica Lovat is a professional home organizer with obsessive tendencies; Norah Anderson takes other people's employment competency tests for money and struggles with anger issues; and social worker Alicia Connelly's low self-esteem keeps her locked away from the world. Though not blood-related, the trio call themselves "sisters" since living together at Wild Meadows Farm under the watch of their abusive foster mother, Holly Fairchild. Now, 25 years later, Wild Meadows has been sold, leading to the discovery of human remains buried under the farmhouse, and authorities bring Jessica, Norah, and Alicia from Melbourne to the crime scene in Port Agatha for questioning. Hepworth toggles viewpoints and timelines, revealing how each girl was placed at Wild Meadows and showcasing Holly's erratic--possibly even murderous--behavior. While Hepworth's vivid prose helps to maintain the plot's momentum, the unrelenting descriptions of child abuse grow grim and tiresome, and the payoff to the core mystery is deflating. Hepworth has done much better in the past. Agent: Rob Weisbach, Rob Weisbach Creative. (Apr.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
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Booklist Reviews

When human remains are discovered at the foster home where Jessica, Norah, and Alicia were raised, they are forced to confront the harrowing mystery they've each sacrificed happiness to avoid. All three landed at Wild Meadows after losing their parents, and Miss Fairchild's beautiful farm seemed like a place to heal. Instead, beneath the perfect image that Miss Fairchild required them to present, they suffered indentured servitude, starvation, and psychological torture. Still, the girls were determined to stick it out together—until Miss Fairchild adopted a toddler and they had to go to the police to protect her. But when the police searched Wild Meadows, there was no trace of a toddler, and Miss Fairchild denied the child's existence. Fifteen years later, the police want them to dredge up Wild Meadows' bad old days while Miss Fairchild sweetly feigns sympathy for her wayward foster daughters whose trauma undoubtedly bred violence. As in The Soulmate (2022), compelling themes of trust, betrayal, and brittle façades circle the sisters' relationships, raising the stakes of the investigation painfully high.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Hepworth's fans will be primed for her newest unnerving thriller. Copyright 2024 Booklist Reviews.

Copyright 2024 Booklist Reviews.
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Library Journal Reviews

LibraryReads Hall of Famer Hepworth (The Soulmate) offers the next in her long list of best-selling domestic thriller rides as three women, bonded during childhood when they endured the strictures of their foster mother, are called back to the farmhouse where they grew up; bones have been found, and the police have questions. With a 300K-copy first printing. Prepub Alert. Copyright 2023 Library Journal

Copyright 2023 Library Journal.

Copyright 2023 Library Journal Copyright 2023 Library Journal.
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Publishers Weekly Reviews

Australia's broken foster care system comes into focus through the eyes of three women who've endured it in this bleak domestic thriller from bestseller Hepworth (The Soulmate). Jessica Lovat is a professional home organizer with obsessive tendencies; Norah Anderson takes other people's employment competency tests for money and struggles with anger issues; and social worker Alicia Connelly's low self-esteem keeps her locked away from the world. Though not blood-related, the trio call themselves "sisters" since living together at Wild Meadows Farm under the watch of their abusive foster mother, Holly Fairchild. Now, 25 years later, Wild Meadows has been sold, leading to the discovery of human remains buried under the farmhouse, and authorities bring Jessica, Norah, and Alicia from Melbourne to the crime scene in Port Agatha for questioning. Hepworth toggles viewpoints and timelines, revealing how each girl was placed at Wild Meadows and showcasing Holly's erratic—possibly even murderous—behavior. While Hepworth's vivid prose helps to maintain the plot's momentum, the unrelenting descriptions of child abuse grow grim and tiresome, and the payoff to the core mystery is deflating. Hepworth has done much better in the past. Agent: Rob Weisbach, Rob Weisbach Creative. (Apr.)

Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly.

Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly.
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Reviews from GoodReads

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Citations

APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)

Hepworth, S., & Clarke, J. (2024). Darling Girls: A Novel (Unabridged). Macmillan Audio.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Hepworth, Sally and Jessica Clarke. 2024. Darling Girls: A Novel. Macmillan Audio.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Hepworth, Sally and Jessica Clarke. Darling Girls: A Novel Macmillan Audio, 2024.

Harvard Citation (style guide)

Hepworth, S. and Clarke, J. (2024). Darling girls: a novel. Unabridged Macmillan Audio.

MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)

Hepworth, Sally, and Jessica Clarke. Darling Girls: A Novel Unabridged, Macmillan Audio, 2024.

Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.

Copy Details

CollectionOwnedAvailableNumber of Holds
Libby840

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