Title: The Broken Girls
Author: Simone St. James
Read: April 2018
Read: April 2018
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Book Description:
Vermont, 1950. There's a place for the girls whom no
one wants--the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own
good. It's called Idlewild Hall. And in the small town where it's located,
there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over
their whispered fears, their budding friendship blossoming--until one of them
mysteriously disappears. . . .
Vermont, 2014. As much as she's tried, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister's death. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister's boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can't shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case.
When Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored by an anonymous benefactor, she decides to write a story about it. But a shocking discovery during the renovations will link the loss of her sister to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past--and a voice that won't be silenced. . . .
Vermont, 2014. As much as she's tried, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister's death. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister's boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can't shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case.
When Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored by an anonymous benefactor, she decides to write a story about it. But a shocking discovery during the renovations will link the loss of her sister to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past--and a voice that won't be silenced. . . .
My musings:
The Broken Girls formed Part 2 of my recent ghost story
craving (part 1 was Michelle Paver’s spooky & atmospheric book Dark Matter)
– and I am happy to say it lived up to my expectations! The tricky part with
ghost stories is the fine balance between reality and the paranormal, and the
art of making the supernatural elements believable, marrying them seamlessly
into the narrative. In my opinion, St. James has really mastered the art, and
created an intriguing and compelling tale that features not only a ghost story,
but also a contemporary murder mystery and a historical cold case, each of them
linked to the atmospheric setting of an abandoned haunted boarding school.
Doesn’t that sound tempting already? Personally,
I love nothing more than a spooky setting as well as a cold case mystery, so it
was a no-brainer that this book was one of my most anticipated new releases for
2018, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.
St. James uses a dual timeline to tell her story, including various
POVs from the past and present. I really loved the 1950’s setting in a creepy boarding
school for “troubled” girls, which provided just the right atmospheric and
claustrophobic setting to make my skin crawl when listening to the audio book
in the dark confines in my car on my way home from work at night! Here is a
perfect example on how to use a dual timeline to ratchet up tension and
suspense in the best possible way. Whilst journalist Fiona, our present-day
protagonist, slowly uncovers clues about Idlewild, the mysterious abandoned
school grounds where her sister met her death twenty years ago, the reader is also
privy to small snippets of the events
unfolding in the 1950’s through the eyes of four different girls who were
students at the school at the time. Fiona’s frustration over vital information
she is missing to make all the pieces slot into place matched my own as my
curiosity got the better of me and I found it extremely difficult to tear
myself away from this heartbreaking and intriguing tale!
As stated earlier, there is a creepy supernatural element
included in the story, in the form of Mary Hand, a ghostly black-veiled figure
who prowls the grounds at night, sending terror into the hearts of everyone who
encounters her. I loved this eerie character, who added greatly to the suspense
and mystery of the story. Who really is Mary Hand? Is she real or just a
figment of the girls’ imagination? And what is it she shows to her select
victims? I was so intrigued by this last question that I really wanted to know
more about it and puzzled over what she would show me, should I ever encounter
her (God forbid!). St. James portrayal of the forbidding school grounds is
extremely realistic, and my favourite parts of the book were the descriptions
of Fiona walking through the abandoned building, feeling its strange menace. It
still sends shivers down my spine thinking about it!
With a dual timeline featuring two separate murder mysteries,
The Broken Girls is a perfect example on how to incorporate a spooky ghostly
element to ratchet up tension without pushing the story too far into the realm
of the unbelievable. If you love a good suspense story with a historical background
and an atmospheric gothic setting, I urge you to give this a go – even for
readers who are not normally fans of the supernatural. For extra goosebumps,
read this one alone at night with the wind howling outside and the tap-tapping
of spidery branches on the roof – or was it footsteps I heard? I can’t wait to
read more from this author!
You may also like:
Dark Matter, by Michelle Paver
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