Pip looks out into the darkness beyond her garden gate. The party has finished but the garden is still alive… She needs to find Grace so that she can lock the door and go to bed. But she doesn’t want to wander these gardens in the dark on her own, however lively they are.

Dark, chilling and full of secrets – follow the lives of the neighbours linked by an enchanting but dangerous garden in the centre of a city.

Title: The Girls

Author: Harper Lee

Genre: Thriller/Drama

Published: 2nd July 2015

Publisher: Century

ISBN: 9781780893594

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The Girls follows a group of teenagers centred in a housing estate around a mystical communal garden in the middle of London. Each day seems endless, and lazy, until a young girl is discovered, half dressed and unconscious. Who should you trust? Who has a secret? The answers unfold as the story is told, and we realise that none of us truly know everything about our neighbours.

All the characters are believable, but not necessarily likeable. There’s the younger ones, the angst ridden teenagers who struggle to deal with the pressures and emotions of growing up, the parents of the estate, all try and sometimes failing to raise their dysfunctional families. Then there’s the older generation, including Rhea, a constant in the ever changing face of Virginia Terrace, the woman who sees everything that happens in the community.

It’s a strong, solid tale, with many twists and turns to keep you interested. Often unsettling, I failed to connect with many of the main characters. Not because they weren’t believable, Jewell makes them beautifully real, but because I didn’t know who to trust. At one point I could’ve accused every one of our main characters of the disturbing act of violence, each one of them has at least one terrible secret. I need a character I can like, who I want to find out more about, who I can associate with, who I can cheer on and will to do well. However, we have do have Pip, the young sister of the girl who is attacked, struggling with her new life in a different place, without her dad, and a mum who is barely coping. Pip is a wonderful character who struggles watching her sister grow up, and gain independence, losing their tight sisterly bond.

But I did struggle to connect with anyone else until the very end, all very complex characters and all with something to hide.

Other books by Lisa Jewell – 31 Dream Street, The Third Wife and One Hit Wonder.

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