Pages: 320
Format: eARC
Goodreads
Imagine that you live on a picturesque communal garden square, an oasis in urban London where your children run free, in and out of other people’s houses. You’ve known your neighbors for years and you trust them. Implicitly. You think your children are safe. But are they really?
On a midsummer night, as a festive neighborhood party is taking place, preteen Pip discovers her thirteen-year-old sister Grace lying unconscious and bloody in a hidden corner of a lush rose garden. What really happened to her? And who is responsible?
Dark secrets, a devastating mystery, and the games both children and adults play all swirl together in this gripping novel, packed with utterly believable characters and page-turning suspense. Fans of Liane Moriarty and Jojo Moyes will be captivated by The Girls in the Garden, the next unforgettable novel byNew York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell.
I had never heard of this author, but I loved the cover of this book and the the title, The Girls in the Garden. When I read the description of the story, it sounded really interesting too.
Ms. Jewell’s descriptive writing style and character development really drew me into the story right from the beginning. The setting for the story is in a terrace of houses and flats in London, and they all share one picturesque communal walled gardens. After a fire destroys their home, Clare and her two daughters Pip and Grace move into a flat overlooking that garden and all the kids play there. Readers learn the end of the story right from the beginning – with Grace being dead on the ground and we readers spend our time wondering exactly what happened as we flip each page of the book hoping for the answer. Once we learn of the horrible event that has happened, the story then goes back to before this event.
Historic events are woven into the story and with each plot twist, I kept thinking the responsible party was someone else and it kept changing. I hesitate to go into too much detail because each development is important to the progression of the story and as everyone knows, I don’t write spoilers. I will tell you that the depth of description the author, Lisa Jewell uses makes each and every character jump out of the pages and you can honestly imagine these characters are real.
The only negative thing I can really say is that if you are like me and swear words are offending to you – especially when it’s a 12 year old girl dropping an “F” bomb – this isn’t a book for you. The Girls in the Garden is a mystery filled with suspense mixed with drama and if you can read past the swear words, the story itself moves well.
Lisa Jewell is a British author of popular fiction. Her books include Ralph’s Party, Thirtynothing, After The Party, a sequel to Ralph’s Party, and most recently The House We Grew Up In and The Girls.
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