The Lost Girls: A Novel

Enjoyed every word of the The Lost Girls, byThe Lost Girls: A Novel the very talented Heather Young. Excellent book!

This book is engaging, but I found it difficult to really draw me in. I wanted to read this book because it was recommended to be similar to "Girl on a Train" and "All the Missing Girls". I found the other two books to draw me in more. This is a still a good book with mystery, just not as good as the other two.

This book is trying so hard to be "literary." The writing is so heavy handed in places. The metaphors are blatantly obvious. This is almost a YA novel, or maybe it is. I agree with the other reviewers that the book takes too long to build to the climax/resolution, which is so obvious from the beginning. Justine's story is interesting and is the only reason I finished the book.

The lead-in book description, editors' reviews, and readers' reviews all encompass anything I could think to say, thus do not want to repeat.

This probably will be the best book I'll have read this year. And to think it's a debut - I can hardly wait for Young's next novel.

I love novels that take you back and forth - weave the past with the present. Very intriguing to me.

Anyone who has ever spent a summer in an old house on the water will FEEL the memories - Young describes every aspect of such a location perfectly.

This story has it all for me - the brilliance of the story itself, the fascinating characters, mystery, suspense, and perhaps most of all the way the author writes. I am a huge highlighter of passages and can offer but a smattering to give examples, to hopefully depict the mastery of this author's writing:

"When I was young we took car travel less lightly, and the men had businesses to run, so they came to the lake only on the weekends, leaving the weekdays to the women and children. Because of this, our lake retreat was really two places: one when the men were there, and another when they are not."

"Lilith would say that an old woman's secrets should be allowed to sink beyond the reach of recollection."

"As she talked, I closed my eyes and let her voice replace my blood with air until it seemed all I had to do was take her hand and we would float away, as light as the fireflies that blinked all around."

"All around were the sibilant sounds that libraries make: the turning of pages, the shelving of books, and the whispering of librarians colluding to make a shush like the ocean on a still day. Sometimes Justine imagined this was how the world sounded to babies listening from the womb."

"...but the cold here was unlike anything she'd ever experienced. It was a raw, windy, toothsome thing that shipped through your coat when you were outside and forced its way through windows and floorboards to trace its icy fingers against your cheek when you were inside."

"Of all the places she and her mother had lived, she'd liked the small towns best, because the people there made for better watching. Unlike city people, who moved quickly and cultivated a lot of artifice, small town people were slow and transparent, even when they thought they were being secretive."

"After that summer we never played together again. I suppose it was to be expected. We'd become friends at one of life's sweetest but ,most fleeting times-the last days before childhood gives way to adulthood and all its complications."

"She thought, then, that she had been saved. SAVED. What a word that is! So full of power, yet so passive. It speaks of a force greater than we, of an agency that is strong enough to redirect the flow of our lives when we cannot. God, the love of a man or a woman, the birth of a child, the simple act of growing up-these are all things we think can save us."

As I sit in this dark house, listening to its exhalations that have worn the walls as smooth as vellum, it occurs to me that the whole tragic history of our family comes down to this: none of us knew how to save ourselves."

"The night waited, infinitely patient. The wind had died away, and the water glinted like obsidian between the dark shoulders of the forest. The sky was a cathedral of stars, their reflections glowing like candles in the depths, held aloft by a silent, watching congregation."

"Mother put her hand to her mouth and moaned, a wrenching shuddering sound that came from a territory beyond weeping."

"They were her family. The family she'd brushed against as a girl and forgotten, the family whose legacy she'd planned to take with her now, in photographs and books and brass-faced clocks. As if legacies lay in things that could be bought and sold. As if families could be left behind or taken with you as you chose."

"Lucy's story had directed her life even though she'd known nothing about it. It was a legacy of loyalty and betrayal. Weakness and regret. Love, and tender, harrowing violence."

"The things we do for love are the hardest things to regret."

"Please, remember her. Remember all of us. We are the ghosts of lives stolen, and lives never lived. Once we were heavy, but now we are light. I promise we will not burden you."

Do you understand now why you absolutely MUST read this exquisite novel?

SPOILER ALERT. This is the story of two wimpy women, one of whom was an accessory to the murder of her own sister, the other of whom let a man who was clearly deranged with possessiveness kill her child. Neither was interesting enough to care about. I found myself irritated with both of them, thinking on several occasions "Get a spine and wise up, you idiots!" I could not understand Lucy's devotion to her self-absorbed, bossy sister (well there is another subplot that sort of explains it, but not adequately) or how easily she adjusted to the fact that her sister was dead and she had a role in it. Why did Justice not kick her trashy, destructive, selfish mother out of the house, or keep giving her crazy boyfriend a chance after realizing several times over that he was dangerously manipulative, putting her and her children at risk? To me, this story was unsatisfying, contrived, and the characters were not well drawn enough to make it work.

What a stunning debut by Heather Young! Before I even start, I have to say that my mind is still reeling from that phenomenal twist. I should have expected it, but I was so wrapped up in the story that I never saw it coming. Heather Young’s writing drew me in by page 3, and I had no doubt this was going to be a good read.

The second night of reading, I stayed up late – I could not stop! – (yes, I paid for it the next day). I dreamt about the book, and I woke up thinking about the book. The Lost Girls is a book that will stay with me for a long time.

It’s touches on the historical side (1935), while keeping the pace with the current time, which happens to be 1999. Each chapter alternates between Lucy (1935), and Justine (1999). They are separated by generations, but are connected in ways they never knew.

I do think the book flowed at a steady pace, but by a little more than halfway through, I was wondering where the fuss was. *You know how usually at about 55-65%, the start of the climax is working its way to the top? Well, in The Lost Girls, it wasn’t. I kept wondering where all this was going…* At about 80% though, I started to piece things together, and them bam. The plot twist ensued, and it knocked me off my feet! I said in the beginning that I should have seen it coming. I truly should have. But I didn’t. Young’s diction captivated me, and there was no stopping. I wanted more. I needed more.

The motif of The Lost Girls is charmingly hidden as the two perspectives unfold. Young presents it in a way that can be noticed, yet if you’re not looking, you’d miss it. Between Lilith, Lucy, Maurie, Justine, Melanie, Angela, and Emily, each of these female characters represent this motif in a certain way. The story is not complete without all of them.

While Lilith, Lucy, and Justine were the three characters who stuck out and the most complex, the secondary characters were just as developed. There was no lack-of in the characters. There was no doubt to Young’s writing.

The Lost Girls is an extraordinary debut novel. While this is my very first Historical Fiction novel, I enjoyed it immensely. A huge page-turner that kept me up well past the hint of my closing eyelids. This is my new favorite debut book of 2016. Heather Young has just gained another reader!

*I received a copy from Harper Collins / William Morrow, in exchange for my honest review. Thank you!!! A review was also posted on my blog, Reads and Treats.

This is such a beautifully written book telling the stories of 2 female relatives living in the same house on a lake in Minesota 65 years apart. The stories were simple but incredibly compelling....not at all tedious or uninteresting. I enjoyed how each chapter switched from one woman to the other telling their stories in parallel until they intercept to reveal what happened to 6 year old Emily who disappeared in 1935. The author has developed every character so they jump off the page like vibrant and real life people. I also enjoyed the book's core story themes of friendship, loyalty and the cost of sacrifice. Very real and enjoyable book!!

This book kept me reading. There are different definitions of 'lost' that are embodied in all the characters, and this, combined with intertwined mysteries, kept me engaged. Also enjoyed the device of alternating current day with past events.
Good read!!

I really enjoyed this novel. I liked the back and forth between the generations of women. How the past choices and lives effect the current generations. Good writing makes you care about the characters, the back and forth keeps you guessing and interested. Would definitely read more from this author.

This debut novel was meticulously crafted by its creator so that in the end all secrets have been revealed and no thread is left untied. I haven't been this satisfied and completely drawn into the world a book creates since Gillian Flinn debuted her perfect in every way book SHARP OBJECTS!

Lovely language, but slow pacing. I often wanted to shake the present-day main character, and struggled with the behavior of the historical characters until the end revealed a great deal and made much of their actions understandable.

But a lovely debut and I'll look for more from this author.

This book started out with an interesting premise...little girl goes missing, family affected for generations.... CAUTION SPOILERS MAY FOLLOW!!

First, I found the story of Justine weak and almost unnecessary. She was a weak and not particularly likable character whose motivation to leave Patrick was not well presented. Maybe he ended up being a creepy guy, but this was not apparent in the beginning. Justine, who suffered as her mother traveled from place to place and man to man throughout Justine's childhood, suddenly uproots her children and leaves without a word. No really a likely scenario.

Then, the story of Lucy and her family was full of holes. It was never clear to me who actually was Mauri's father, Abe or Charlie. When did the engagement to Charlie actually fit into the story? If Lilith was actually pregnant by Abe, then how and when did she hook up with Charlie? The mother could have been a very interesting character, but instead, she was just a brief weak character who slept with her daughters to protect them from a creepy father. His story, too, could have been interesting, but was too disjointed. He ran the pharmacy, but was extremely religious and molested his daughters, then committed suicide. The whole suicide could have been more, but was really glossed over. Lucy was a likable character, but her story, too, was weak. Why stay at the lake forever, after the mom had died? It was almost like she and Lilith were in denial of what actually happened to Emily. The story of Matthew and Abe also could have been much more, but instead, they were just too loners running a lodge and never leaving. Abe was apparently "slow," but his story too was just not well defined.

All in all, this was a frustrating book to read. I felt she tried to add too many subplots, which made the entire book weak.

I expected this to be a thriller about little girls who are missing but the title is correct. All of the girls and women in this book are lost, haunted by family secrets that determine their fates. A first novel that is well written. A story that stays with you.

This book was a difficult read for me. It resurrected too many awful memories for me being raised in a very dysfunctional family, which is a credit to the author in capturing the scenarios and emotions authentic to this situation. My problem came about halfway through the book when it began to drag. I didn't think I could finish it, so I skipped to the 80% mark and read from there without missing a beat.

Bouncing back and forth between Lucy to Justine, tying their stories together while doing so, is a special kind of talent. Kudos for the continuity and weaving together. After awhile, though, it all became too much. I don't need to keep seeing every flake of snow or hear every dead leaf crunch--i.e., the details soon overwhelm and numb the reader--to get the gist and scope of the story. The "unfolding" of it all could have been cut back and still retained the flavor and nuances, not to mention the very heart.

A multi generation story about one literally lost girl ans several figuratively lost girls. What they have in common is that they are all from the same family and have ties to the same house in rural Minnesota. The central plot revolves around the disappearance of the youngest of three sisters (Emily) in 1935. The girl was never found. Fast forward to the present generation (a woman with two daughters) move to the family home and unravel the mystery. (Many side plots) Well developed characters and a captivating plot.

What a great read! Told from alternating persons between the past and the present. Justine's great aunt Lucy died and left her the house by the lake along with a diary of some sorts. Although Lucy only met Justine once as a 9 year old girl she knew it would be her to uncover the truth about what happened to Justine's 6 year old sister Emily all those years ago. Emily went missing the day her family was supposed to leave their summer house by the lake. As a result of her disappearance, Emily's mother as well as her 2 sisters Lucy and Lilith wind up living the remainder of their lives at this lake house. You don't really understand why they chose to stay there all those years until the very end of the book. As I read through this book I had a mixture of emotions about several of the characters not really knowing exactly who was safe and who wasn't. In the end Lucy's secret is revealed and so is Emily's!

The Lost Girls by Heather Young was an exceptional, well-written, debut novel. I loved it. The chapters alternated between a dying Lucy's account of her younger sister's disappearance at her family's summer vacation home when she was a child, sixty years ago, and the story of Justine, Lucy's grandniece, the sole beneficiary to Lucy's estate. She is a struggling single mother trying to escape a manipulative boyfriend and self-involved mother. Both stories were compelling. The novel builds slowly to a stunning conclusion. 4 1/2 stars. Highly recommended.

Liked Lucy's character, but thought Justine was pathetic. I'm a third of the way through and ready to quit due to overly detailed and unnecessarily descriptive writing and lack of plot progression. This book would have been much more interesting if told exclusively by Lucy.

Though this book was slow and a little long winded, I enjoyed it and found it interesting. I would love to see it play out as a TV movie! I couldn't wait to find out what happened to Emily and at first was annoyed it took so long to get to but afterwards I realized you needed the whole build up of the story to have a strong effect as it did. That was the best part of the book. This is a unique story and well written - bravo!

The beginning of this book hooked me, the premise is great. But, as the book progresses it turns out that every single female character, including the two main characters, are nothing but weak, self-limited people. No one ever stands up for themselves (until the very ending in a very passive way). Disgusting.

This was a recommendation and is quite good. Well worth the read. My heart hurt for all of the women who were affected by the many variations of loss. I enjoyed the four generations of women, and all they had gone and were going through.

Fantastic read!!! Loved this book from the very beginning....Heather Young weaves a suspenseful, intricate tale. It is beautifully written...I just love her use of the written word. Yet the story and characters draw you in as well. It is a must read!