Darling girls

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.

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.)