Review: The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

The Broken Girls by Simone St. JamesPublished: 03/20/2018
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Genre: Literary Fiction / Mystery
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As mentioned in my review of The Lake House by Kate Morton, I love a book that alternates between the past and the present. When it's done well, the stories will seamlessly fuse together at the end, bridging the gap between the generations in unexpected ways. The Broken Girls by Simone St. James follows this pattern and is a wonderful mystery told between 1950 and 2014.

Idlewild is an all-girls school for the girls that no one wants. In 1950, four friends are doing the best they can to make it day to day, each dealing with their own private tragedy and horror. But the students and teachers aren't the only ones at the school - rumor has it that Idlewild is haunted.

Fast-forward to 2014, where Fiona is still trying to cope with the murder of her older sister twenty years before. Fiona is connected to Idlewild because her sister's body was dumped on the sports field at the school. Fiona learns that the property has been purchased by an elderly widow with no obvious connection to the school and plans have been put in place for the restoration of the school. Finding new purpose, Fiona decides to write a journal article on the history of the school and the restoration.

The title The Broken Girls couldn't be more perfect for this novel because all of the women in the story are broken in some way. They don't have to stay that way, though. Woven through the story is the hope that what is broken can be put back together, the breaks healing over time. The friendship of the girls in 1950 gives them new strength and healing occurs as they share their individual stories and take their power back. Fiona hopes to find healing as she confronts the past and finds new connections with her father in the present.

The spooky tale of the haunted Idlewild campus stays in the background of the events, present in both the present and the past. The ghost known as Mary Hand is just one element driving the storyline and connecting the characters. Simone St. James does an amazing job of creating connections over the generations and moving the story forward. She does a masterful job of giving the reader just enough information to answer the present question while posing five more. I ended up reading late into the night, promising myself it was "just one more chapter" until I finished the book.

The mysteries of The Broken Girls will grab you from the very beginning. The prologue is one of the best I've ever read - it starts things off with a bang and forges an instant investment in the outcome of the lives of the characters. I've read a LOT of mysteries in my life and this quickly became one of my very favorites. I had NO IDEA how the book would end or how the past and present would be connected, and I was very pleased with the outcome. Truly, I had no idea how Simone St. James would tie things together.

I enjoyed this book so much that I immediately bought another...and another...and another. As of the writing of this post, I just finished a fifth book by St. James, which only leaves one other that I haven't read. I'll need to savor it. I can't wait to see what else Simone St. James comes up with. She's a talented author with a gift for telling a story that the reader cannot help but become invested in the characters. The characters themselves are flawed and beautiful with their own vivid personalities.

I hope you enjoy The Broken Girls by Simone St. James as much as I did! For more on the author, check out her website.

Review: The Lake House by Kate Morton

The Lake House by Kate Morton
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date:10/20/2015
Genre: Literary Fiction / Mystery
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Living on her family's idyllic lakeside estate in Cornwall, England, Alice Edevane is a bright, inquisitive, innocent, and precociously talented sixteen-year-old who loves to write stories. But the mysteries she pens are no match for the one her family is about to endure...
One midsummer's eve, after a beautiful party drawing hundreds of guests to the estate has ended, the Edevanes discover that their youngest child, eleven-month-old Theo, has vanished without a trace. What follows is a tragedy that tears the family apart in ways they never imagined.
Decades later, Alice is living in London, having enjoyed a long successful career as an author. Theo's case has never been solved. though Alice still harbors suspicion as to the culprit. Miles away, Sadie Sparrow, a young detective in the London police force, is staying at her grandfather's house in Cornwall. While out walking one day, she stumbles upon the old estate - now crumbling and covered with vines, clearly abandoned long ago. Her curiosity is sparked, setting off a series of events that will bring her and Alice together and reveal shocking truths about a past long gone...yet more present than ever.
A lush, atmospheric tale of intertwined destinies, this latest novel from a masterful storyteller is an enthralling, thoroughly satisfying read. {Goodreads}

I dearly love a book that alternates between the past and present, and Kate Morton is the master. She gives you just enough information to keep to story moving forward and keep you wanting more. Just when you think you are about to get the clue that will break the case, you are sent back in time or flung into the future and hanging on for more!  The past and present story lines are seamlessly blended together at the end to give you the answers you've been looking for with a lovely twist thrown in for fun.

The Lake House brings together the past of a mystery writer protecting a secret and the present of a detective constable trying to salvage her career and future. Both women are trying to reconcile with the consequences of their actions and assumptions. They have many similarities and yet are so different. Both of the women have stories that tug at your heartstrings and help you understand why they won't give up - in the tenacity to solve a mystery and determination to keep their secrets close.

It took me awhile to warm up to Sadie. She seems to think she's above certain consequences and has to come to terms with a broken past. her personality is such that you have the urge to reach through the pages to give her a good shake. As she gains some distance from her actions in another case that resulted in her suspension, Sadie is able to get her feet back under her and move forward as she comes to terms with her past.

I want to be like Alice when I'm elderly. She's a spit-fire woman who has high expectations of herself and everyone around her. Like Sadie, she is wrestling with a painful past and is carrying a burden than what one person can manage. As Alice and Sadie develop a relationship, they help each other come to terms with the skeletons in their closets and move into bright futures.

I had several moments while I was reading when I paused to take in Morton's writing. Her style is amazing and so enjoyable - it's a perfect example of why I love to read so much.