Darling Girls: A Novel Sally Hepworth-Women's Fiction

Hello dear Readers,

My book review of Darling Girls: A Novel by Sally Hepworth.

Title: Darling Girls: A Novel

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Genre: Women's Fiction

Author: Sally Hepworth

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Publication Date: April 23, 2024

Language: English

Paperback: 368 pages
Meet the Author: Sally Hepworth
Buy Me: Amazon

Book Description

SISTERS, SECRETS, LOVE, AND MURDER... Sally Hepworth’s new novel has it all.

For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. As young girls, they were rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother, Miss Fairchild, on an idyllic farming estate and given an elusive second chance at a happy family life.

But their childhood wasn’t the fairy tale everyone thought it was. 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 thought they were free. Even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere in the shadows of their minds. When a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses. Or are they prime suspects?

A thrilling page-turner of sisterhood, secrets, love, and murder by New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth.

“Sally Hepworth writes characters you love.” ―LIANE MORIARTY, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF APPLES NEVER FALL

My Thoughts

I listened to the Audiobook version of this book. It did not affect my opinion on it. 

Actually, I really liked and enjoyed this book. I believe this is the second book by this author I read, and I always appreciate a great story and a great narrator. 

I loved getting to know the three girls in this story, the dynamic of their relationships, the darkness of the story, and how we can see the trauma unfold. A very engaging book, and again, I absolutely loved the audio version.

Thank you MacMillan Audio and Netgalley, for the Advanced Free Listeners Copy, in exchange for an honest review. 

Wendy

Book Review: Everywhere I Look: A Memoir by Ona Gritz/ Memoir

Hello dear Readers,

Below is my book review of Everywhere I Look: A Memoir by Ona Gritz.

Title: Everywhere I Look: A Memoir

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Genre: Memoir

Author: Ona Gritz

Publisher: Apprentice House Press
Publication Date: April 16, 2024

Language: English

Hardcover: 250 pages
Meet the Author: Ona Gritz
Buy Me: Amazon

Book Description

In 1982, twenty-five-year-old Angie Boggs, pregnant with her second child, was brutally murdered, along with her husband and infant son. Ill-equipped for the horror of that violence and the enormity of her loss, Angie's sister Ona, a college sophomore, felt numb. She also felt deeply ashamed of her inability to grieve.

But shame, like her sister's absence, was something Ona knew well. For as long as she could remember, she'd felt ashamed of being their parents' blatantly favored child. The disabled daughter they'd coddled and protected while they alternately punished and neglected Angie, and finally sent her away.

It wasn't until thirty years after the murders, both their parents gone and Ona nearly twice the age Angie was allowed to reach, that she developed the courage and a detective's compulsion to learn all she could about her sister's turbulent life and unthinkable death. The result is Everywhere I Look, a beautifully rendered memoir of sisterhood, longing, true crime, and family secrets. A profoundly moving reckoning and love letter.

My Thoughts

I love reading memoirs. They fascinate me, and usually, I can get into the story fast, however, I had to admit that with Everywhere I Look, it took me a lot of pages, time, and patience to finally get into the rhythm of the story and appreciate it like it deserved it. 

This memoir is so different from any other memoir I have read, not just because it took me time to start digesting it but also because of the way the author tells her story, her sister's story. It is so unique in nature, in time, and also, brutally and cruelly Ona lost her sister. In all honesty, there were times I felt like life was so unfair with this family, especially both sisters but in the end, I am reminded that we can always find a little bit of light in the darkest moments, and for that, 

I am always grateful when authors are kind enough to share their stories, even when their stories are as hard and difficult as they are. 

Thank you Apprentice House Press and Netgalley, for the free advanced copy, in exchange for an honest review. 

Wendy

Book Review: The Forbidden Daughter: The True Story of A Holocaust Survivor by Zipora Klein Jakob/ Memoir

Hello dear Readers,

Below is my book review of The Forbidden Daughter: The True Story of a Holocaust Survivor by Zipora Klein Jakob.

Title: The Forbidden Daughter: The True Story of a Holocaust Survivor

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Genre: Memoir

Author: Zipora Klein Jakob

Publisher: Harper Perennial and Paperbacks
Publication Date: April 23, 2024

Language: English

Paperback: 288 pages
Meet the Author: Zipora Klein Jakob
Buy Me: Amazon

Book Description

The unforgettable true story of a girl born in the Kovno Ghetto, and the dangerous risk her parents faced in defying the barbarous Nazi law prohibiting childbirth.

Elida Friedman was not supposed to have been born. In the Kovno Ghetto in Lithuania, Nazi law forbade Jewish women from giving birth. Yet despite the fear of death, Dr. Jonah Friedman and his wife Tzila, choose to bring a daughter into the world, a little girl they name Elida—meaning non-birth in Hebrew.

To increase their child’s chance of survival, the Friedmans smuggle the baby out of the ghetto and into the arms of a non-Jewish farm family when Elida is only three months old. It is the beginning of a life marked by constant upheaval. When the Nazis raze the entire Kovno Ghetto, Jonah and Tzila are among those killed. Their only child is left orphaned and alone, dependent on the kindness of strangers.

Despite her circumstances, Elida grows up, changing families, countries, continents, and even names, countless times. Surviving the war and the Holocaust that stole her parents, the young woman never gives up hope. In her lifelong pursuit to find love and belonging, she works to rebuild her identity and triumph over her terrible circumstances.

A moving, powerful chronicle of overcoming impossible odds, The Forbidden Daughter is the true story of one unforgettable woman and her will to survive.

My Thoughts

I read this in two days. I really loved this memoir.

It reads fast. Elida's story is one of the best post-WWII Holocaust Survivor stories I have read in a long time. The way the story is written and told, it is just fascinating. 

Thank you Harper Perennial and Paperbacks and Netgalley for the free advanced copy, in exchange for an honest review. 

Wendy