The Broken Girls

In 1950, Idlewild Hall is the place for girls that no one wants. It is home to troublemakers, the outspoken, and illegitimate girls. In the small town, the boarding school is rumored to be haunted and when one of the young boarders suddenly mysteriously disappears nothing will be the same again.

In 2014, it has been twenty years since journalist Fiona Sheridan's older sister's death, but Fiona is having a hard time letting it go. She makes frequent trips to the overgrown fields where the ruins of Idlewild Hall sit. When Fiona hears that someone is buying Idlewild Hall and reopening the school, against her better judgement Fiona decides to take on the story. While researching her story, Fiona comes across a shocking discovery that someone would do anything to keep buried. Who is behind the murders of the two young women?

I love how interesting and thrilling this story was. It was a modern day ghost story and the fact that two young women lost their lives around a school that should serve as sanctuary made this gruesome tale even more delicious. I love the strong female friendship along with the many plot twists. A highly recommended read for anyone who loves thrillers. Also, if you are reading this at night, be sure to keep a flashlight handy. ;)

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and Netgalley for the chance to read and review this novel.

The Broken Girls is everywhere on social media right now as one of February’s Book of the Month choices, and definitely seems a worthy pick. This book has been beckoning me since November when I was approved to read it on Netgalley, but I haven’t had a chance to fit it in until now. Based on the blurb alone, I knew this would be an interesting story, but it ended up being so much more than I expected.

Torn between four and five stars, I decided to round up because of Simone St. James’ clever and deep plotting. There are numerous layers to the story, slowly fed to eager readers through the course of the book. The story effortlessly weaves through the past and modern day, interconnecting the two in the most interesting and unexpected ways.

Idlewild Hall shows its smiling, jagged teeth to every girl dropped at its doors. With a past as haunted as that of each of its inhabitants, it’s only fitting this boarding school is a place for the misfits and discarded girls of 1950. Four girls bond over their murky pasts and current fears, when suddenly one of them goes missing.

In 2014, the spooky Idlewild Hall is purchased to undergo renovations. When Fiona Sheridan, a local journalist, hears of the upcoming project, she decides it is the perfect chance to dig into the history of the eerie place where her own sister’s body was found 20 years prior. The circumstances surrounding Fiona’s sister’s murder never sat right with her, and she is determined to uncover the truth.

There is a shift happening in our culture, a huge wave of “out with the old, in with the new” in terms of mental illness awareness and the acceptance of women as equals in our world. Of course, there are still leaps and bounds to be made, but with modern books like this one and numerous others boasting these topics, it sure feels like our world is quickly changing. As we delve into the past perspectives of the girls at Idlewild Hall in 1950’s Vermont, it was easy to see how different life was in regards to both of the topics I’ve mentioned. Simon St. James does an exquisite job of capturing the past’s “buck up and get on with life” attitude through the stories of the forgotten girls at Idlewild Hall. I especially loved the bond between the girls at the boarding school, allowing them to become the family they didn’t have. Society’s rejects found love and acceptance in each other.

I can’t get enough of books with spooky homes or buildings holding long-buried histories, allowing the reader to uncover the pieces while getting a few chills up the spine in the process. I wasn’t expecting to be quite as spooked as was, however! This was definitely one I preferred to read in the daytime, but with a story so gripping I wasn’t able to put it down at night, staying up well past midnight to figure out the conclusion.

One of my favorite parts of The Broken Girls was learning about real-life Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany. I have a huge passion for being able to learn through the stories I read, and it’s all the better when real history meets fiction. I was especially interested to learn about the female Nazi guards at Ravensbrück, as this was something I was completely unaware of. This was a well-researched and interesting read all-around.

I hope you will pick up The Broken Girls now!

A mystery set in New England, at a dilapidated school for troubled girls, the grounds of which are supposedly haunted? Yes, please!

The back and forth from then to now, the slow and methodical path to the truth, and the connection between the girls, these are all things I loved about this book. The character development, the storyline, the pacing, the mood – they all hit the mark. The one thing I think could have improved the story for me was a heavier hand with the haunting aspect. While it was well done, it felt more like a tease than a solid part of the story. Despite that, the creep factor was more than adequate.

A truly enjoyable read that I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys a good mystery with great character development.

Note: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley. I pride myself on writing fair and honest reviews.

Idlewild Hall was once a boarding school where wayward girls were sent. Since the opening of the school, there were rumors that it was haunted. The school closed in the 1970s and set abandoned until 2014. When the owner of the property decides to restore it, old secrets are revealed.

Told with the multiple timelines of 1950 and 2014. In 1950, four students at Idlewild bonded during their time there, but one of them mysteriously disappeared. In 2014, Fiona can’t stop thinking about her sister’s death twenty years earlier. Her sister’s body was found on the grounds of the abandoned boarding school, and Fiona can’t shake the feeling that there was something off about the case. Fiona is a journalist, and when she learns that a restoration project is set to begin on the school, she thinks it will make a good local interest piece. During Fiona’s visit to the school, a new discovery is made during the renovations.

This novel has a lot happening. For one, Fiona wants to know if there was more to her sister’s death. This is not a story about the wrong guy being caught and convicted for her sister’s death. It’s about there being more to the story than people were led to believe. While working on the article about the boarding school, Fiona discovers clues to an old cold case concerning a missing girl. Concerning the cold case, Fiona interviews old staff and students to connect the pieces. In amongst all of this, there is a ghost story. With so much happening, it is easy for a story to get messy, but this one came together nicely.

I’m not a big fan of paranormal mysteries, so I put off reading this one for a long time. Finally, I caved and checked it out at my local library. Even there, the librarian said how good it was and that she recommended it. So, while not exactly my genre, I had high hopes due to all the praise I’ve heard about this book. I’m happy to say that it was a captivating and suspenseful thriller, and I’m so glad I gave it a chance. Atmospheric, eerie, and compelling.

When I first picked up this book after reading the summary, I wasn’t sure what to expect going into it, as I saw that it would be yet another dual timeline narrative, plus not being familiar with this author, I thought it would follow the typical mystery / suspense / thriller pattern similar to all the other books in this genre that I had read over the years. Well, after having finished this book now, I would say that the experience reading this was nothing like what I expected. For me, what set this book apart from others in the same genre was the fact that there was actually a legitimate ghost story woven seamlessly into both the past and present narrative, as well as a few elements of historical fiction included as part of one of the back stories – taken together, all of these elements combined made this a fascinating read. I don’t typically read ghost stories or books with paranormal / supernatural element to them, but this one was done in a light-handed enough manner that I found it within the bounds of what I was able to accept. With that said, the author did such a good job establishing a mysterious, creepy atmosphere with the backstory of Mary Hand and her connection to both narratives that there were moments when I was reading where I actually did feel a little spooked out, though not to the extent where I had to stop reading or set the book aside.

The narrative in the past (1950s) was told from the alternating perspectives of Katie, Roberta, Cece, and Sonia – 4 teenagers who roomed together at Idlewild Hall, which was a boarding school for “wayward” girls. With each chapter, each of the girl’s stories slowly unfolded and we would learn their backgrounds, how they ended up at Idlewild, and most of all, the secrets that each girl wanted to keep hidden – secrets that, when dredged up, drove overwhelming fear into their hearts. The present narrative, set in 2014, revolved around journalist Fiona Sheridan, whose beloved sister Deb was murdered 20 years prior, her body dumped in the fields near the ruins of Idlewild, which had closed down in 1979. Even though Deb’s murderer was already in jail, Fiona could not stop the relentless urge she felt to revisit the case, which she finds the perfect opportunity to do so when she discovers that the abandoned boarding school was bought and being restored by a rich benefactor. The two narratives intertwine when a discovery is made during the renovations that links Deb’s death with long-buried secrets about Idlewild and the girls who once attended school there.

One of the things that really drew me into this book was the writing, which was exceptionally good. The way the story was told – the prose descriptive without going overboard, the writing smooth and seemingly effortless – it was difficult not to feel fully immersed in the narrative from the getgo. In fact, once I started reading, I was so engrossed in the story that I just wanted to keep going. This is one of those books where the writing pulled me in and set the tone, the story captivated me enough to hold my attention for an extended period of time, and the characters were endearing to the point that I enjoyed spending time with them. The dual timeline actually worked extremely well with this particular story, though I do have to say that I enjoyed the 1950s narrative more, as I really liked the 4 girls and the special sisterhood that they shared and also found their backstories much more interesting than Fiona’s story in the present time. With Fiona’s narrative, I felt that the author tried to cram way too much “drama” into her story, especially in the second half of the book – I would’ve preferred for some of the unnecessary elements to Fiona’s story be taken out and instead, more time be given to the Idlewild girls’ stories. Also, there were a few parts of the book that did drag a little and caused the momentum to slow at times, however in the overall scheme of things, this was a relatively minor issue.

This was a book that I enjoyed immensely, even with the ghost story aspect that usually would make me hesitant to read. The story is definitely intriguing and the overall setup is unique enough where I didn’t feel like I was reading “yet another thriller.” I would definitely recommend this one, though with the warning about the ghost story element in case that may be an issue for anyone deciding whether to read this or not.

Received ARC from Berkley via Edelweiss

“Mary Hand, Mary Hand, dead and buried under land.”

The Broken Girls is a masterful Gothic suspense that will keep readers turning pages long into the night.

The story unfolds in the rural countryside of Vermont, in the small town of Barrons, a place that is hiding many dark secrets all linked to the ominous boarding school known as Idlewild Hall. The storyline shifts between two different timelines, 1950 and 2014. In 1950 the boarding school is home to unwanted and unloved girls, those deemed undesirable or shameful to a rigid society. In 2014 it is an abandoned shell of its former self, a place where only secrets exist hidden in the shadows.

The atmospheric setting of the Idlewild boarding school creates not only a chilling backdrop for the ghost that haunts the grounds but is also an appealingly character. Idlewild Hall echoes the secrets of its inhabitants, those whose stories unfolded within its walls and those whose lives ended under its dark, watchful presence. A link to the past and the present that both defines and changes each individual character through their interaction with it. Idlewild Hall is a presence that cannot be ignored and creates an effective link to the storylines of both eras.

Along with the boarding school, St. James’ cast of characters is dynamic. Focusing a lens on the ‘broken girls,’ those whom society has either trodden down, tragically discarded, or pitied. Each of these characters are interesting, well developed, and relevant. While I did not connect to Fiona as much as to the 1950s Idlewild girls, I found that each of their stories helped develop their character arcs, moving their storylines forward and creating a deeper more developed theme to the book.

St. James has created a paranormally-infused gothic suspense novel that entices the senses with engaging characters, haunting settings, and intriguing and authentic storytelling. The Broken Girls is a captivating read that I highly recommend.

A thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Berkley Publishing Group for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Take a 1950s boarding school for unwanted girls, a ghost that shows you your darkest fears, the murder of two girls found at the boarding school, a mystery, and you have one gripping novel.

THE BROKEN GIRLS engaged my interest from page one and kept me turning the pages. I was so engrossed in this story and didn’t want to wait to get home to read it, that I also got the audio version and listened to it during my cardio session. There was so much I liked about this book from the different timelines (1950 & 2014), the bonding and friendship of unwanted girls, a woman determined to find out the truth about her sister’s murder, and the boarding school girls’ haunted past. I also love it when an author brings things to light or teaches how past generations thought of certain things like children out of wedlock, PSTD, and what society thought women needed to learn in the 1950s.

Simone St. James did a fantastic job weaving the past into the present and making you think how the two will tie together. I like how she handled the ghost aspect of the story; it was subtle and brilliantly done where it was chilling and not melodramatic. She had me guessing the whole time about the two girls murdered decades apart and if there was a connection, why it was done and by whom. This story had my interest, and I finished it one day between reading and listening to it.

THE BROKEN GIRLS is an addictive read that lovers of paranormal ghost stories, mystery, and suspense would enjoy tremendously. I know that I did.

 

Award-winning, bestselling author Simone St. James has outdone herself in her novel, The Broken Girls, a fascinating thriller with a (supposedly) haunted old boarding school, the unsolved disappearance of a student, a murdered girl found on the school grounds with a convicted murderer and facts that don’t quite add up, and a journalist, Fiona Sheridan, who decides to write a story on the events. Although the old school has been abandoned for years, a mysterious person begins work in restoring the property; during the restoration, a body is found by a construction crew. Fiona busies herself in unraveling the mysteries surrounding the events and gets caught up in the mysterious happenings, putting herself and others in danger.

St. James is a skilled storyteller, and this story is one that has enough twists and turns that it is impossible to put down. And while there are a few seemingly supernatural aspects, it would definitely not qualify as horror - just plenty of suspense that builds throughout. The dénouement is unexpected and things aren’t worked out until the very end of the novel, which will keep readers on the edge of their seats and guessing during the entire book. The story flows well and is easy to follow, validating the author’s excellent writing skills. The characters are well developed, and readers will be able to relate them to real people.

Highly recommended, The Broken Girls is a unique and well-written thriller that will appeal to almost everyone. There is no graphic violence, language or sex, so it is suitable for readers of every age.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I seem to be on an interesting reading "roll" - thrillers, mysteries, suspense, historical fiction - you name it and I'm reading it and I'm loving it! Go figure! When I saw this book, The Broken Girls by Simone St. James, available for review through my association as a book blogger with NetGalley, the cover of the book intrigued me and I hit the "request" button based on that.  I didn't read the back cover information and didn't know the story; I just dug right in.

It's 2014 and Fiona Sheridan is a journalist who just can't find a way to resolve her feelings about her sister's murder twenty years ago.  Fiona obsessively goes back to the events surrounding her sister's death in the overgrown fields of a school. The boarding school known as Idlewood Hall, was for troubled unwanted and delinquent girls, and rumor has it the school is haunted by a ghost named Mary Hand, died years before the school was ever founded.

The story is told in two separate timelines - first in 1950 when readers are introduced to four friends and classmates at Idlewood Hall. The four roommates bonded, helped each other stay strong, and leaned on each other until suddenly one of them disappeared returning from a weekend to visit family. The school labeled her a runaway and her body was never found, but the girls never gave up believing that something terrible had happened to her.

Flash back to 2014 when Fiona learns that someone has purchased the old school and that renovations have already begun, Fiona feels absolutely compelled to cover the story. A shocking discovery during the renovations links the loss of Fiona's sister to secrets that were supposed to remain hidden in the past and a voice that won’t be silenced

I loved this story and I suggest you put this in your "TBR" summer read stack right away!

Idlewild Hall in Vermont is a boarding school for troubled girls. It is a dreary place that has become home to the kind of girls nobody else wants to deal with. This type of establishment is commonplace in the 1950's. An odd cross between school and psychological asylum, Idlewild has become a dumping ground for the girls who won't end up getting the kind of help they truly need. Amongst the halls of this sad place, a group of students ban together for support and refuge. But their sanctuary is threatened. It is threatened by the internal turmoil that lies just beneath the surface of each girl. It is threatened by the strict rules and discipline of the staff of the school. And perhaps most frighteningly so, it is threatened by the ghost of Mary Hand.

The year is 2014 and reporter Fiona Sheridan is about to stumble upon the biggest story of her career. the long vacated and dilapidated Idlewild Hall has just been purchased by a private buyer who intends to renovate and reopen the school. All viable businessmen agree that restoring the Idlewild property is a losing venture, but the owner is adamant that the school function again. Fiona is determined to dig deeper into the mysterious owner.

Through alternating chapters, Simone St. James tells the story of the girls who inhabited Idlewild and Fiona's investigation into the school's reopening. We quickly discover that there is more to the halls of the institution than meets the eye. The students tell the story of Mary Hand, a local girl who was said to have died on the property long before the school was built. We also learn that Fiona's sister was killed and left on the grounds of the abandoned property. A scorned boyfriend has been in jail for the murder, but Fiona has always posited that something more was afoot. Could the local legends of a ghost on the property have something to do with her sister's death?

The Broken Girls hits all the right notes for a solid thriller. The combination of a decades old murder case and ghost story instantly drew me in and left me riveted through the final page. I'm not usually a fan of the overused tactic of alternating time periods from chapter to chapter, but St. James deftly uses the technique to slowly reveal her story and creates an ever building sense of suspense and dread. St. James expertly takes the "less is more" approach to conjuring the horror elements of her story by only giving short glimpses and subtle hints to Mary Hand's presence in both past and present portions of the story. The terror that my imagination summoned from this lack of information about the ghost was far more frightening than anything that could have been described.

The best fiction is built not upon the premise of the plot, but on the characters who inhabit it. St. James weaves a deep thread connecting the past and present characters in a way that is both believable and satisfying to her narrative. Through the students at Idlewild, we see how a system abandoned the people who were in dire need of help. Whether facing the trauma of domestic life or the horrors of war, the girls were ultimately left to fend for themselves and made more susceptible to the fancies of a supernatural entity. In the present day, Fiona's dealing with grief and small town politics highlight the struggle of a woman in a male dominated field. Add in the spooky atmosphere of the small Vermont town, and St. James has a real winner here. It is still pretty early in the year, but I'm almost certain The Broken Girls will end up being one of my favorites.

In 1950, four teenage girls become friends at Idlewild Hall, a boarding school for troublemakers and illegitimate children. When one of the girls mysteriously disappears, her friends decide to investigate. Over the decades, the boarding school slowly becomes discontinued and eventually abandoned. However, in 2014, Idlewild Hall is being renovated by a wealthy benefactor. Journalist Fiona Shaw wants to write an article about Idlewild Hall’s restoration because in the 1990s her sister was found dead on the school grounds. As she searches for clues to her sister’s murder, Fiona unlocks the hidden secrets of the school’s past.

These Broken Girls is told in third person that switches from the past in 1950 to 2014. I thought the past storyline was more intriguing than the modern storyline. I found the past characters to be very compelling, and I loved each of them. Each of them had a distinct personality. One of the girls was the leader, another was tomboyish, one was a follower, and the fourth was very quiet. Each of them had a tragic past that is slowly revealed to the reader. However, they bonded and helped each other through their most difficult moments. These characters were very realistic and engaging and I could not wait to see what happened to them.

Fiona was not as intriguing as the characters in the 1950s. There were times in which I wanted to skip her story and move on to the chapters set in the past. Fiona still has questions surrounding her sister’s murder and wants to know the truth. She is very persistent in finding her sister’s murderer. She is in a relationship with a cop but does not want to be tied down. Besides these details, there is not much character development to Fiona. There are moments in which she shines and uses her wits, but information comes easily available to her.

Overall, These Broken Girls explores love in various forms. The novel’s main themes are families and friendships. The story starts out slow, but quickly picks up speed towards the end. The Gothic setting made for a spine-chilling and bloodcurdling read. One thing I did not like about this book was the ghost character of Mary Hand. There were moments in which her character did not make any sense. The ghost element did not enhance the story and should have been eliminated from the novel. I have to add that I was very impressed with Mrs. St. James’s latest novel. I have read all her works and was getting tired of them because she kept using the same formula in her novels. However, These Broken Girls was a very refreshing read because it had a different setting and plot. This latest novel restored my hopes with Simone St. James, and I’m excited to read her next work! This novel is perfect for fans of Kate Morton, Karen White, and Susanna Kearsley!
(Note: I read an ARC copy of this book in courtesy of Netgalley.)

Oh, Mary! There’s a rumor that she roams Idlewild, a boarding school that once served young women, providing these women their last opportunity. The school closes in 1979 but Mary still roams, the rumor becomes a reality. Mary preys upon her victims, touching their lives forever. Mary is connected to Idlewild, her connection runs deep and she is not leaving until her business is finished.

The story of Idlewood is told in two time periods. The past and the present day. I found both stories fascinating and I enjoyed following the characters. In the past, we are introduced to the characters as they are students at the boarding school and we get to know their personalities. The girls learn firsthand about Mary and they try to learn about her history. It’s not an instant friendship as each of the girls adjust to their new surroundings, as these girls have each come from different backgrounds. They form ties with each other, some more connected than others.

In the present day, we learn that Idlewood has been vacant for some time but that is about to change. The school is being restored which is causing quite a commotion. Why would someone decide to reopen the school now and what about Mary? There has also been a murder committed on the school grounds a while back that Deb cannot get over. Her sister was the victim but the evidence surrounding the case just didn’t add up to satisfy Deb. There is an individual serving time for the murder but Deb again, is still not satisfied with the results of the case.

I liked how the each of the stories dug deeper and deeper into the lives of the characters. I learned some of the history of each of the characters and as the story was being led out, I enjoyed seeing how things were being placed together and how some things just did not fit. I liked how Mary’s character pulled in a mysterious and creepy element to the story. This was a deep-rooted story, a twisted story that brought the past back to life.

I received a copy of this novel from NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for sharing this title with me.

I don't usually gravitate toward ghost stories, but I'm glad I did with this one. Sixty-four years ago a girl living in a boarding school was murdered. But this isn't your ordinary boarding school. It houses unwanted girls, troubled girls, broken girls...and it's haunted.

Flash forward nearly three decades and a young woman is murdered--protagonist Fiona's sister, Deb. The killer was caught, but the pain still looms large.

Every year on the anniversary of Deb's death Fiona finds herself stalking the place where Deb's body was found--the same boarding school, now defunct, that is haunted. Except that apparently it's being renovated. Fiona's journalist instincts tell her this is news, so she investigates. But what she finds is more than a story. She unravels a murder mystery, a chilling history, and brings closure surrounding Deb's death. While Fiona's character felt somewhat traditional as that of a journalist, that would be the only flaw I found--that nothing really "unique" stood out about her. But it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the book or the characters.

The cast, particularly the boarding school girls, is engaging, and while there are several points of view to follow, they flowed seamlessly. It's a haunting, riveting tale that I relished, and while the supernatural elements aren't my usual cup of tea, it added a dark flavor that I enjoyed (and which kept me up at night). St. James brings history to life and creates an entrenching read.

Some thrillers start out with a bang. The action kicks off in the opening chapter with the suspense building to a fever pitch from the first sentence. Other thrillers are more subtle, taking their time to create the mystery and build the suspense. Neither is better than the other; both are quite effective storytelling methods in the right hands. Yet, some readers will prefer one versus the other. For those readers, The Broken Girls falls into the latter category.

In The Broken Girls Ms. St. James allows the story to build organically, allowing readers the chance to immerse themselves into the boarding school world of Idlewild during its heyday and in the present day before upping the ante. She does so by flipping back and forth in time and in narrator, providing readers with not only a well-rounded view of the school, its rules, and its inhabitants but also Fiona's world of love and loss. Therefore, before readers understand that there is a mystery, they are already sympathetically inclined towards all of the girls, which in turn creates the necessary tension that makes a thriller a good one.

One other thing to note is the fact that The Broken Girls is a quintessential Gothic novel. We have the gloomy setting complete with decaying school buildings and grounds that may or may not be haunted. There is the fact that Idlewild is purported to be cursed. There are girls needing to be rescued, and there is romance. But this is not a traditional Gothic novel in that the hero is not a knight in shining armor or even a man coming to rescue the damsels in distress. This is, to some extent, a feminist Gothic novel, making it timely as well as entertaining.

The Broken Girls is highly entertaining on several levels. The otherworldly aspects are extremely effective, lending itself to more than one frisson of fear. There is a historical fiction element that reminds readers not only of history's greatest tragedies but also of a certain societal mindset that made it allowable to hide young women in a rundown boarding school in the guise of help. Plus, there is Fiona's story as she comes to grips not only with her past but with her future. Blended into all of that is a mystery that keeps you guessing with the many surprises thrown into the narrative's path.

Take a 1950s boarding school for unwanted girls, a ghost that shows you your darkest fears, the murder of two girls found at the boarding school, a mystery, and you have one gripping novel.

THE BROKEN GIRLS engaged my interest from page one and kept me turning the pages. I was so engrossed in this story and didn’t want to wait to get home to read it, that I also got the audio version and listened to it during my cardio session. There was so much I liked about this book from the different timelines (1950 & 2014), the bonding and friendship of unwanted girls, a woman determined to find out the truth about her sister’s murder, and the boarding school girls’ haunted past. I also love it when an author brings things to light or teaches how past generations thought of certain things like children out of wedlock, PSTD, and what society thought women needed to learn in the 1950s.

Simone St. James did a fantastic job weaving the past into the present and making you think how the two will tie together. I like how she handled the ghost aspect of the story; it was subtle and brilliantly done where it was chilling and not melodramatic. She had me guessing the whole time about the two girls murdered decades apart and if there was a connection, why it was done and by whom. This story had my interest, and I finished it one day between reading and listening to it.

THE BROKEN GIRLS is an addictive read that lovers of paranormal ghost stories, mystery, and suspense would enjoy tremendously. I know that I did.

 

Award-winning, bestselling author Simone St. James has outdone herself in her novel, The Broken Girls, a fascinating thriller with a (supposedly) haunted old boarding school, the unsolved disappearance of a student, a murdered girl found on the school grounds with a convicted murderer and facts that don’t quite add up, and a journalist, Fiona Sheridan, who decides to write a story on the events. Although the old school has been abandoned for years, a mysterious person begins work in restoring the property; during the restoration, a body is found by a construction crew. Fiona busies herself in unraveling the mysteries surrounding the events and gets caught up in the mysterious happenings, putting herself and others in danger.

St. James is a skilled storyteller, and this story is one that has enough twists and turns that it is impossible to put down. And while there are a few seemingly supernatural aspects, it would definitely not qualify as horror - just plenty of suspense that builds throughout. The dénouement is unexpected and things aren’t worked out until the very end of the novel, which will keep readers on the edge of their seats and guessing during the entire book. The story flows well and is easy to follow, validating the author’s excellent writing skills. The characters are well developed, and readers will be able to relate them to real people.

Highly recommended, The Broken Girls is a unique and well-written thriller that will appeal to almost everyone. There is no graphic violence, language or sex, so it is suitable for readers of every age.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I seem to be on an interesting reading "roll" - thrillers, mysteries, suspense, historical fiction - you name it and I'm reading it and I'm loving it! Go figure! When I saw this book, The Broken Girls by Simone St. James, available for review through my association as a book blogger with NetGalley, the cover of the book intrigued me and I hit the "request" button based on that.  I didn't read the back cover information and didn't know the story; I just dug right in.

It's 2014 and Fiona Sheridan is a journalist who just can't find a way to resolve her feelings about her sister's murder twenty years ago.  Fiona obsessively goes back to the events surrounding her sister's death in the overgrown fields of a school. The boarding school known as Idlewood Hall, was for troubled unwanted and delinquent girls, and rumor has it the school is haunted by a ghost named Mary Hand, died years before the school was ever founded.

The story is told in two separate timelines - first in 1950 when readers are introduced to four friends and classmates at Idlewood Hall. The four roommates bonded, helped each other stay strong, and leaned on each other until suddenly one of them disappeared returning from a weekend to visit family. The school labeled her a runaway and her body was never found, but the girls never gave up believing that something terrible had happened to her.

Flash back to 2014 when Fiona learns that someone has purchased the old school and that renovations have already begun, Fiona feels absolutely compelled to cover the story. A shocking discovery during the renovations links the loss of Fiona's sister to secrets that were supposed to remain hidden in the past and a voice that won’t be silenced

I loved this story and I suggest you put this in your "TBR" summer read stack right away!

Idlewild Hall in Vermont is a boarding school for troubled girls. It is a dreary place that has become home to the kind of girls nobody else wants to deal with. This type of establishment is commonplace in the 1950's. An odd cross between school and psychological asylum, Idlewild has become a dumping ground for the girls who won't end up getting the kind of help they truly need. Amongst the halls of this sad place, a group of students ban together for support and refuge. But their sanctuary is threatened. It is threatened by the internal turmoil that lies just beneath the surface of each girl. It is threatened by the strict rules and discipline of the staff of the school. And perhaps most frighteningly so, it is threatened by the ghost of Mary Hand.

The year is 2014 and reporter Fiona Sheridan is about to stumble upon the biggest story of her career. the long vacated and dilapidated Idlewild Hall has just been purchased by a private buyer who intends to renovate and reopen the school. All viable businessmen agree that restoring the Idlewild property is a losing venture, but the owner is adamant that the school function again. Fiona is determined to dig deeper into the mysterious owner.

Through alternating chapters, Simone St. James tells the story of the girls who inhabited Idlewild and Fiona's investigation into the school's reopening. We quickly discover that there is more to the halls of the institution than meets the eye. The students tell the story of Mary Hand, a local girl who was said to have died on the property long before the school was built. We also learn that Fiona's sister was killed and left on the grounds of the abandoned property. A scorned boyfriend has been in jail for the murder, but Fiona has always posited that something more was afoot. Could the local legends of a ghost on the property have something to do with her sister's death?

The Broken Girls hits all the right notes for a solid thriller. The combination of a decades old murder case and ghost story instantly drew me in and left me riveted through the final page. I'm not usually a fan of the overused tactic of alternating time periods from chapter to chapter, but St. James deftly uses the technique to slowly reveal her story and creates an ever building sense of suspense and dread. St. James expertly takes the "less is more" approach to conjuring the horror elements of her story by only giving short glimpses and subtle hints to Mary Hand's presence in both past and present portions of the story. The terror that my imagination summoned from this lack of information about the ghost was far more frightening than anything that could have been described.

The best fiction is built not upon the premise of the plot, but on the characters who inhabit it. St. James weaves a deep thread connecting the past and present characters in a way that is both believable and satisfying to her narrative. Through the students at Idlewild, we see how a system abandoned the people who were in dire need of help. Whether facing the trauma of domestic life or the horrors of war, the girls were ultimately left to fend for themselves and made more susceptible to the fancies of a supernatural entity. In the present day, Fiona's dealing with grief and small town politics highlight the struggle of a woman in a male dominated field. Add in the spooky atmosphere of the small Vermont town, and St. James has a real winner here. It is still pretty early in the year, but I'm almost certain The Broken Girls will end up being one of my favorites.

In 1950, four teenage girls become friends at Idlewild Hall, a boarding school for troublemakers and illegitimate children. When one of the girls mysteriously disappears, her friends decide to investigate. Over the decades, the boarding school slowly becomes discontinued and eventually abandoned. However, in 2014, Idlewild Hall is being renovated by a wealthy benefactor. Journalist Fiona Shaw wants to write an article about Idlewild Hall’s restoration because in the 1990s her sister was found dead on the school grounds. As she searches for clues to her sister’s murder, Fiona unlocks the hidden secrets of the school’s past.

These Broken Girls is told in third person that switches from the past in 1950 to 2014. I thought the past storyline was more intriguing than the modern storyline. I found the past characters to be very compelling, and I loved each of them. Each of them had a distinct personality. One of the girls was the leader, another was tomboyish, one was a follower, and the fourth was very quiet. Each of them had a tragic past that is slowly revealed to the reader. However, they bonded and helped each other through their most difficult moments. These characters were very realistic and engaging and I could not wait to see what happened to them.

Fiona was not as intriguing as the characters in the 1950s. There were times in which I wanted to skip her story and move on to the chapters set in the past. Fiona still has questions surrounding her sister’s murder and wants to know the truth. She is very persistent in finding her sister’s murderer. She is in a relationship with a cop but does not want to be tied down. Besides these details, there is not much character development to Fiona. There are moments in which she shines and uses her wits, but information comes easily available to her.

Overall, These Broken Girls explores love in various forms. The novel’s main themes are families and friendships. The story starts out slow, but quickly picks up speed towards the end. The Gothic setting made for a spine-chilling and bloodcurdling read. One thing I did not like about this book was the ghost character of Mary Hand. There were moments in which her character did not make any sense. The ghost element did not enhance the story and should have been eliminated from the novel. I have to add that I was very impressed with Mrs. St. James’s latest novel. I have read all her works and was getting tired of them because she kept using the same formula in her novels. However, These Broken Girls was a very refreshing read because it had a different setting and plot. This latest novel restored my hopes with Simone St. James, and I’m excited to read her next work! This novel is perfect for fans of Kate Morton, Karen White, and Susanna Kearsley!
(Note: I read an ARC copy of this book in courtesy of Netgalley.)

Oh, Mary! There’s a rumor that she roams Idlewild, a boarding school that once served young women, providing these women their last opportunity. The school closes in 1979 but Mary still roams, the rumor becomes a reality. Mary preys upon her victims, touching their lives forever. Mary is connected to Idlewild, her connection runs deep and she is not leaving until her business is finished.

The story of Idlewood is told in two time periods. The past and the present day. I found both stories fascinating and I enjoyed following the characters. In the past, we are introduced to the characters as they are students at the boarding school and we get to know their personalities. The girls learn firsthand about Mary and they try to learn about her history. It’s not an instant friendship as each of the girls adjust to their new surroundings, as these girls have each come from different backgrounds. They form ties with each other, some more connected than others.

In the present day, we learn that Idlewood has been vacant for some time but that is about to change. The school is being restored which is causing quite a commotion. Why would someone decide to reopen the school now and what about Mary? There has also been a murder committed on the school grounds a while back that Deb cannot get over. Her sister was the victim but the evidence surrounding the case just didn’t add up to satisfy Deb. There is an individual serving time for the murder but Deb again, is still not satisfied with the results of the case.

I liked how the each of the stories dug deeper and deeper into the lives of the characters. I learned some of the history of each of the characters and as the story was being led out, I enjoyed seeing how things were being placed together and how some things just did not fit. I liked how Mary’s character pulled in a mysterious and creepy element to the story. This was a deep-rooted story, a twisted story that brought the past back to life.

I received a copy of this novel from NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for sharing this title with me.

I don't usually gravitate toward ghost stories, but I'm glad I did with this one. Sixty-four years ago a girl living in a boarding school was murdered. But this isn't your ordinary boarding school. It houses unwanted girls, troubled girls, broken girls...and it's haunted.

Flash forward nearly three decades and a young woman is murdered--protagonist Fiona's sister, Deb. The killer was caught, but the pain still looms large.

Every year on the anniversary of Deb's death Fiona finds herself stalking the place where Deb's body was found--the same boarding school, now defunct, that is haunted. Except that apparently it's being renovated. Fiona's journalist instincts tell her this is news, so she investigates. But what she finds is more than a story. She unravels a murder mystery, a chilling history, and brings closure surrounding Deb's death. While Fiona's character felt somewhat traditional as that of a journalist, that would be the only flaw I found--that nothing really "unique" stood out about her. But it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the book or the characters.

The cast, particularly the boarding school girls, is engaging, and while there are several points of view to follow, they flowed seamlessly. It's a haunting, riveting tale that I relished, and while the supernatural elements aren't my usual cup of tea, it added a dark flavor that I enjoyed (and which kept me up at night). St. James brings history to life and creates an entrenching read.

Some thrillers start out with a bang. The action kicks off in the opening chapter with the suspense building to a fever pitch from the first sentence. Other thrillers are more subtle, taking their time to create the mystery and build the suspense. Neither is better than the other; both are quite effective storytelling methods in the right hands. Yet, some readers will prefer one versus the other. For those readers, The Broken Girls falls into the latter category.

In The Broken Girls Ms. St. James allows the story to build organically, allowing readers the chance to immerse themselves into the boarding school world of Idlewild during its heyday and in the present day before upping the ante. She does so by flipping back and forth in time and in narrator, providing readers with not only a well-rounded view of the school, its rules, and its inhabitants but also Fiona's world of love and loss. Therefore, before readers understand that there is a mystery, they are already sympathetically inclined towards all of the girls, which in turn creates the necessary tension that makes a thriller a good one.

One other thing to note is the fact that The Broken Girls is a quintessential Gothic novel. We have the gloomy setting complete with decaying school buildings and grounds that may or may not be haunted. There is the fact that Idlewild is purported to be cursed. There are girls needing to be rescued, and there is romance. But this is not a traditional Gothic novel in that the hero is not a knight in shining armor or even a man coming to rescue the damsels in distress. This is, to some extent, a feminist Gothic novel, making it timely as well as entertaining.

The Broken Girls is highly entertaining on several levels. The otherworldly aspects are extremely effective, lending itself to more than one frisson of fear. There is a historical fiction element that reminds readers not only of history's greatest tragedies but also of a certain societal mindset that made it allowable to hide young women in a rundown boarding school in the guise of help. Plus, there is Fiona's story as she comes to grips not only with her past but with her future. Blended into all of that is a mystery that keeps you guessing with the many surprises thrown into the narrative's path.

In the 1950s, Idlewild Hall in rural Vermont was a place where families sent daughters they’d rather forget. The residents of the boarding school are illegitimate, traumatized, criminal. But the school may be haunted by more than bad memories; a spirit called Mary Hand is said to stalk the halls, and four roommates, bonded over shared misery, will face the spirits of Idlewild when one of them disappears.

Meanwhile, in 2014, a local journalist is shocked to hear that long-abandoned Idlewild Hall is being restored. Her own obsession with the overgrown and forgotten school started when her sister’s body was discovered on the grounds twenty years earlier. As she begins to dig into the history of the school, she finds old mysteries entwined with new, and a growing sense that something haunts the grounds of the old school.

This was a wonderful mystery story with a supernatural twist. St. James weaves her narrative between 1950 and 2014, slowly parsing out information and clues to the reader. The book is atmospheric; the boarding school exudes a palpable sense of menace and despair. Fiona Sheridan, the journalist, and the four roommates from 1950 are well-written, with the young students quickly becoming characters to care about and fear for.

The supernatural elements of the story are well done, and fit organically into the plot. Who, or what, Mary Hand may be is dangled in front of the reader, but largely kept teasingly out of reach until the very end.

In all, this is a wonderfully satisfying mystery that avoids the pitfalls of the mystery thriller genre. Anyone who wants a ghost story mixed in with their mystery will enjoy this book.

An advance copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In The Broken Girls, Canadian author Simone St James, has written a deliciously, dark and eerie novel that is part mystery, part ghost story and a hint of gothic suspense that will have readers looking over their shoulders in case the ghost of Mary Hand is lurking nearby.
“Mary Hand, Mary Hand, dead and buried under land…
Faster, faster. Don’t let her catch you.
She’ll say she wants to be your friend…
Do not let her in again!”

The story is set in a small Vermont town, in two different eras. In 1950, readers are given back stories to four roommates, who are some of the 'broken' girls at the Idlewood School, a school where girls deemed 'troublemakers' by their families were sent away. It is a harsh and lonely place, but the four fifteen-year-old girls find friendship and strength in each other .... until one of them goes missing.

In 2014, someone has plans to renovate the long abandoned Idlewood school which locals have always thought to be haunted. Fiona, a local journalist, is still troubled by her sister's murder, which occurred on the grounds of Idlewood twenty years before. The impending renovation brings up many feelings and theories about what really happened to her sister. The more Fiona digs into her sister's murder, the deeper she becomes enmeshed in Idlewood's questionable history.

The Broken Girls is a well-written and chilling tale that will keep readers riveted and may have them believing in ghosts by the final pages. With wonderfully placed twists and characters who show the importance and strength of friendship and family bonds, this atmospheric ghostly mystery is filled with secrets in both story lines that finally converge into a spine tingling, yet very satisfying ending.

Disclaimer: This Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) was generously provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

The Broken Girls is a bone chilling, spine tingling psychological thriller that will leave your head spinning at the end with all of it's revelations.

We follow Fiona Sheridan, journalist, daughter to another well-known journalist, and sister to deceased Deb, found murdered on the property of the old Idlewild Hall. She had never gotten over her sisters death even though the killer had been caught. When she finds out Idlewild Hall is being restored, she sees a story that needs telling. However, in the process of researching this story she finds herself deeper and deeper in a web of secrets, lies, and danger.

The beginning of the story was slow. I found myself wishing it would pick up. The story was jumping between years and I was trying to wrap my head around what was going on and why these two stories that appeared to be separate were going to tie together. That feeling of reading two different stories continued throughout the book but, as it got into the story more, you could slowly tie pieces together and see that somehow, someway it was going to tie up in a bow in the end. I was not a big fan of the ghost story vibe in the beginning, but I later figured out that it wasn't the center of the story and it was just that added creepiness that gave more body to the story. More interesting backstories. It really helped round out the edges of the story, even though it was not the primary focus. This is not just a ghost story. It is so much more than that.

St. James did a great job of developing these characters at a slower pace with the use of flashbacks, moments of clarity, and a show of emotions. We got to learn about the characters from both 2014 and 1950 that was like a a slow build to a peak of their high point or most important decision. I loved Fiona and her independence. She was someone you could relate to on certain levels, but also someone you hoped to be like. That strength she carried even when the world had beat her down over the years was inspiring.

Simone St. James wrote a fantastic mystery novel that will literally keep you guessing until the very end. This is the book for mystery, suspense lovers everywhere. Everyone make sure to check it out.

I am an eclectic reader. There are several things that will draw me to a book. First and foremost is if a book is a mystery. Check, this one is. Are there supernatural undertones? Check again. This book also has multiple points of view and we bounce back and forth between time periods.

We are taken into 1950 and a place called Idlewild Hall in Vermont. Idlewild is a boarding school. This seems to be a school where girls are place when their parents don’t want them around. Considering the time period these girls were shipped off or hidden away so they would not be an embarrassment for their parents. Four of the girls become very close friends, and then one mysteriously disappears.

We are then transported to 2014. The thread that connects the past to the present is the school. In the 1950s when one of the girls goes missing the head of the school figures she has run away. This just shows how little the school administration feels about their charges. Her friends don’t believe that she ran away. They think she was murdered.

In the present time Fiona Sheridan, a journalist gets involved when someone decides to reopen the school. She is going to do a story on the place. Her connection? Twenty years before, her sister’s murdered body was found on the school’s grounds. Her sister’s boyfriend has been in prison all these years, convicted of her murder. Fiona never believed that he killed her. She is determined to find out what really happened. You just know that this is not a good idea.

If I had to choose one of the time periods as my favorite it would definitely be the past. The author made me care so much about the girls that are considered broken. Oh, did I mention the school has a ghost called Mary Hand? What is her backstory? This is what adds that exceptional creep factor. For some reason I seem to start these books at night and then can’t put them down until I finished them. The problem with this one is that is was just creepy enough to scare me whenever I heard a noise. It has been a while since I’ve read a book that has so captivated me. I have not read any of her other works but that will definitely change. There is something about the Gothic period set against the present time that seems to work. I can’t recommend this book enough. You definitely must read this book. I just wouldn’t recommend you read it at night or when it is stormy out, unless you want to have your pants scared off.

A deliciously creepy story that's a bit gothic, heartwrenching, and completely absorbing. Stories involved the supernatural are a hit or miss with me, and I'm glad this one was a hit. The supernatural parts are not overdone at all, enough to be spooky and leave you wanting more, while being easy to imagine. I actually jumped at some point when my reading was rudely interrupted by a knock!

This story has two timelines, 1950 and 2014. I found the older to be more my style, but they were both interesting to read. In 1950, Idlewild Hall is a home for girls. Whether they just didn't have family or their family didn't want them or couldn't handle them, it's a place girls can be sent and practically forgotten about. They're all damaged and hurt in their own way, though some put on a front. The girls of 4C and formed a special bond. They have many differences, but they look out for each other and care for each other. They have a lot to deal with... not only their checkered pasts, but life at the boarding school.

....And then there's Mary Hand. Mary Hand is something of a legend among generations of Idlewild Girls. Many have claimed to see her. Some have heard her speak. Some have been shown things. One thing is for sure: once you meet the ghost in black that haunts the grounds, you will never forget her.

In 2014, the dilapidated school and grounds have been purchased after many years sitting empty and alone. The town usually gives it a wide berth. Not only does it just give one a bad feeling, twenty years ago the body of a young woman was found there. Journalist Fiona Sheridan lost her big sister that night, and she's never been able to let it go. When she learns the school is going to be rebuilt and no doubt games will be played on the very spot where her sister once lay, she gets the idea to write a story about it. She feels the need to learn more about the place where her sister died.

This was a really enjoyable read and a great book to read with the Traveling Sisters. I found it to be captivating and had a lot of fun trying to guess where it was going. Definitely recommended to anyone looking for a mystery that's emotional and a bit spooky.

I received an ARC of this book from Berkley and Edelweiss, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.

The prologue of The Broken Girls grabbed my interest right away because I was wondering what the heck was going on and then the idea of a wraith like person being behind it, oh heck yeah. This story transitions between a narrative from the year 1950 to the year 2014 all taking place in a small town in Vermont. In the beginning it took me a bit to get into the story because of the back and forth with multiple points of view but once the groundwork was laid the story just flowed. There was a paranormal presence in this story that was a little terrifying and had me asking myself if nighttime was the best time to continue this story, but I persevered. ?

I cannot say enough about the setting for this story and the details in both the past and the present which made it come alive. I could clearly see the setting as the Author intended and it filled me with dread to consider what it must have been like for the occupants of Idlewild Hall. What a miserable place the girls had to live in! There was also the tension and conflict that surrounded the murder of the main character’s sister that kept the story moving right along. Trying to see if there was a connection between the past and present while searching out what really happened to Fiona’s sister added to the overall ‘could not put it down’ feeling that I had!

This was a superb suspense filled thriller that revealed all its secrets bit by bit. There was a romance element to this story but it only added a delicious conflict to the story and did not detract from it at all. As the story developed I was drawn in further and further and really found myself liking all the characters. At the start of the story I was not all that into the 1950’s character’s but the end I wanted the story to continue because they were wonderful! This was the first novel that I read from Author Simone St. James and it will not be the last! The Broken Girls is a page-turner that is chilling, mysterious, and captivating. I highly recommend you get your hands on a copy as soon as it hits the shelves!

This review is based on a complimentary book I received from Edelweiss+. It is an honest and voluntary review. The complimentary receipt of it in no way affected my review or rating.

Once I started this book, except for refilling my beer glass, grabbing a quick sandwich and catching a few zzzzs, I didn't put it down. Yes, folks, I loved it - and I heartily thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review it.

The story opens in 1950 at Idlewild Hall in Vermont, a boarding school for girls who just don't fit in anywhere else. Four of the school's incorrigibles become unlikely roommates, and they band together to try and make their lives less miserable and deal with rumors that the school is haunted by a mysterious woman named Mary Hand. Then, one of the four leaves for an unexpected weekend visit with relatives and is never seen again.

Now it's 2014, when the long-abandoned school buildings and property are purchased by a buyer who plans to restore the place to its former glory and reopen it as a school. Local freelance writer Fiona Sheridan decides to do a story on the property. Fiona's interest, though, goes beyond the typical historical approach; 20 years ago, her older sister Deb was murdered - her body dumped in a field near the school. Deb's boyfriend was convicted and has been in jail ever since, but Fiona always suspected he might be innocent. Fiona's boyfriend, local cop Jamie, is less than enthusiastic about digging up old bones (so to speak); but her father, a well-known but mostly retired journalist, stands behind her.

As the story progresses, flashback chapters offer details of what was going on in 1950 from the perspective of each of the four roommates, while "here and now" chapters outline Fiona's efforts to gather information for her story. But the more she learns, the more she's sure she still needs to learn - and the more she meets resistance from people who would go to extreme lengths to ensure that what happened in the past stays in the past. Interesting connections turn up, including a tie-in with the Holocaust, and there are more than a few twists (some surprising, others not so much) along the way as well.

Definitely a winner for me - highly recommended!

Brilliant and suspenseful, The Broken Girls is a true nail-biter and a 5 star read!

Review:

Ooh my goosebumps have goosebumps!

This thrilling suspense/ ghost story kicks off with a decades old murder and the main character thinking that perhaps the person doing the time, may not be guilty after all. Her obsession leads her to Idlewild Hall. A creepy boarding school right out of a Victorian gothic novel where “troubled girls” are sent not to get a good education, but to be hidden away from the rest of the world. Very soon our protagonist learns that maybe her poor sister wasn’t the only tragedy connected to the reformatory.

This story captivated me right from the start. It’s superbly written, intense, and the characters are fantastic. I quite liked the protagonist ‘Fiona’ but I especially loved the small group of ‘broken girls’ who attended Idlewild Hall in 1950. Their stories will break your heart, but you will applaud their strength and camaraderie under the most trying (and spooky) of circumstances.

Honestly, I really enjoyed everything about this book! Great characters, chilling plot, and an unexpected paranormal twist… what’s not to love?! You absolutely must read this book! I promise you won’t be disappointed. I warn you though, be prepared for a long night of reading because you will not want to stop once you’ve started reading “The Broken Girls”.

Rating… A+

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James is an excellent piece of work, part gothic ghost novel, part modern day thriller, threading three different events that take place at three different times in the same place, together. Freelance journalist Fiona Sheridan regards the ruins of Idlewild Hall as a tragic place where her sister was murdered 20 years earlier, but when someone decides to start restoring the old boarding school she realizes that there is much more hidden in the grounds.

I literally could not put this book down. I love a good ghost story in this genre, and I also love a good thriller. In addition to all that I especially love a good, strong female lead character who follows her instincts and doesn’t back down. Often when I’m reading through a thriller I find myself racing through, skipping paragraphs to get to the end, but The Broken Girls is so well written, you just can’t skip a phrase. I also loved the dual timeline in the novel, it was great to have the perspective from 1950 and from 2014, and it really helped to enhance the eerie ghost storyline. I’m off to get Simone St James’s other books now, because if The Broken Girls is anything to go by I’m in for a huge treat!!

I kept the summary as vague as possible because I don’t want to provide any spoilers – it’s such a smart book that keeps you guessing and really important to live the plot as it unfolds rather than through someone else’s eyes.

Idlewild Hall is a very gloomy place, haunted by the ghosts of young Mary Hand and her baby. It’s a school for girls, those girls who no one wants, those broken girls. It’s 1950 and one of the girls from a close knit group has gone missing. Not much effort is made by the police to find her. But her friends are sure they know what happened to her.

Jump to 2014, when journalist Fiona Sheridan is still battling the demons set loose by her sister’s death twenty years ago. The man who did it is in prison but Fiona can’t help but believe there were things about her sister’s death that have never come to light and she compulsively continues to look into it. When she learns that Idlewild Hall is going to be renovated, she knows she must find out why.

This is a compelling, complex ghost story. The ghost of Mary Hand is quite malicious and often sent chills up my spine. But this book is much more than a mere ghost story, spellbinding as it is. It’s also a complex crime story of two separate crimes, a heart wrenching romance between two very likeable characters and a coming of age story of young girls who have known much hardship in their young lives. This is a well-written novel and the tragedies of each of these girls is handled sensitively. I was completely memorized by this book and thought the author pulled it all together at the end just beautifully. It was such a sad story and one that I will long remember.

Recommended.

This book was given to me by the publisher in return for an honest review.

I literally have no words. This novel has left me utterly speechless, and I don’t even know where to begin. There are many facets of this plotline, and normally that’s something that tends to throw me off (I get confused easily). But Simone St. James is a natural storyteller, and she managed to weld together two separate but similar storylines into a cohesive literary work. If you manage to only read one book this year, I suggest you make it The Broken Girls!

The Broken Girls takes place in two separate timelines – 1950 and 2014. The 1950 timeline was narrated by each of the four girls rooming together at Idlewild: Katie, CeCe, Roberta, and Sonia. Each of these girls was stuck in Idlewild for different reasons, but the one thing they have in common is that they’re not wanted by their families. They’ve become too difficult to deal with. Things were different back in the ‘50s, so I’m not exactly surprised by this turn of events. But then one of the girls goes missing and was never seen again. Her case was also barely investigated, so she was forgotten completely. But not by her friends.

2014 gives us a more modern story. Fiona is a journalist like her father, but she never got over the death of her sister, Deb. She was murdered by her affluent boyfriend and dumped on the old property of Idlewild. And someone has decided to buy at the property and restore it, so Fiona begins work on a news story. Part of her reasoning is she wants closure, but her curious mind is also seeking answers behind the history of the property. Then a body is found, and the two timelines become irrevocably linked.

I can honestly say that there was nothing about The Broken Girls I didn’t like. It made me sad and empowered and angry and fulfilled all in the span of 326 pages. Despite receiving a review copy from NetGalley, I chose this as my Book of the Month pick in February, and that’s not a decision I regret in the slightest. It’s a book for any reader because it’s so multi-faceted, and every single piece of the puzzle complements each other and comes together to create such a rich and engrossing story. Seriously – READ THIS BOOK!

An eerie ambience suffuses The Broken Girls. It is a mystery wrapped in a ghost story or perhaps the other way around. “Ghosts and dead babies and murdered girls. What next?”

Roberta, Katie, Cece and Sonia were all dumped at Idlewild Hall, an all-girl boarding school in 1950 Vermont. Roberta is a victim of a traumatic family event. Katie was a troublemaker. Cece was born on the wrong side of the blanket to her rich father’s maid. Sonia has nightmares about her childhood during WWII. Along with indifferent teachers, the roommates have to deal with Mary Hand, who haunts the school by bringing up each girl’s worst nightmare.

In 2014, reporter Fiona is still shell shocked by her sister’s murder on the abandoned Idlewild grounds 20 years before. When a mysterious elderly woman begins to restore the school, Fiona decided to investigate.

There are many plots running concurrently. There are the 1950 roommates, the 1994 sister, the 2014 investigation and the ghost story shown in alternating chapters. It sounds confusing but it works seamlessly together.

This book works as a “Northern Gothic” but also as a straight mystery. It is highly recommended for fans of mysteries with paranormal twists. I did not see the end coming at all, which is great! 5 stars!

Thanks to the publisher, Berkley, and Edelweiss+ for a copy.

Fiona Sheridan, a journalist, can’t get over the murder of her sister twenty years ago. Fiona keeps going back to where her sister’s body was found in the middle of an open field at the abandoned Idlewood School. Idlewood was a school where troubled girls were sent, and it’s rumored to be haunted by Mary, the ghost of a young woman, who died years before the school was founded.

The story encompasses not only Fiona’s tragedy, but tells the story of four roommates who were at the school sixty years ago. They bonded and became each other's strength until on of them disappeared returning from a weekend to visit family. The school called her a runaway, and her body was never found, but the girls didn’t give up their belief that something terrible had happened to her.

The atmosphere at Idlewood is eerie, just right for a ghost. The description of the school, even in it’s abandoned condition can make chills run up your back.

All the girls in this story are troubled from Fiona to the four roommates. Fiona can’t break free from her sister’s tragedy until she decides to take action and write about the renovation of the school. The other four are difficult girls, but I couldn’t help liking them and rooting for them to become successful women. One, Katie, was particularly resourceful and brave.

I highly recommend this book for lovers of haunting mysteries.

I received this book from Berkley Publishing for this review.

Murders, a boarding school, a ghost, continued hauntings, unfinished business, and twists and turns at every corner.... YES PLEASE. I rarely give 5 stars to a book but this novel had everything!!! This book had suspense, emotions, and an amazing cast of characters.

I feel like there are no words to describe how fantastic this book actually is. A grieving reporter who is always looking to find out what really happened the night of her sister's death uncovers more than she bargains for. She is now covering a story about a restoration of an old boarding school. During her interviews, she stumbles across a body of a young girl from a missing persons report over 4 decades prior. In her investigation, she discovers that some things never stay buried, secrets and bodies. Can the death of both women have any connection? Are ghosts real? Can ghosts commit murder or can the idea of ghosts be a great cover up for murder? I was hooked on this book from page one and I had no idea what was going to happen from chapter to chapter. This is truly an edge of your seat read. Its a novel that you can't wait to find out how it ends yet you never want it to end.

This is the first novel I have read by author, Simone St. James, but it will not be my last.

The Broken Girls is a well-crafted suspense novel that is set in a small town in rural Vermont. It has several narrative timelines, which meld very well together as the different strands of the story come together. The centerpiece of the story is a school for throwaway girls, girls who were trouble, who the relatives didn’t want, who were not quite right, who were the children that the maid or mistress had and a shame that was hidden. In 1950, it was a hidden isolated place, not necessarily a happy place. And, the girls all believed that it was an old haunted place - that Mary and her bastard child were buried there somewhere. And, it was a place the girls ran from, disappearing into the woods.

In 2014, the school was decayed, decrepit,abandoned, but still haunted. And it was a place of rough memories like that of the older sister whose body was found in the field outside the school, strangled, brutalized. And, twenty years later, questions remain as to whether the right man was found guilty and placed behind bars. Things aren’t all adding up.

Using separate narratives in different timelines is a popular technique these days, but few use it as well as here. It is a compelling read, hard to put down, with mysteries from many decades ago, historical pasts, and mysterious ghosts who are calling out.

The Broken Girls is 2/3 psychological suspense and 1/3 ghost story, which, I’ll admit, is not my favorite genre. In fact, it would have worked just as well without the “ghost” parts, but it does add a creepiness to the storyline that might not have been there otherwise. It’s set in small-town Vermont, where a girl’s boarding school has sat empty for decades. Journalist Fiona Sheridan is somewhat obsessed with its locale, as this is where her sister’s murdered body was dumped 20 years ago. Fiona was 17 at the time, and the murder tore her family apart and seems to have kept her in limbo ever since, even though her sister’s boyfriend was tried and convicted of the murder. She keeps her police officer boyfriend at arm’s length, and when she learns that someone is renovating the old school she thinks it would be a good idea for her to investigate and write a story about it. Flashing back and forth between this timeline and the 1950’s, we learn that the girls at the school were all afraid of the ghost of Mary Hand, and that one of them, Sophia, is about to be murdered as well. Through her research on the school, Fiona discovers some clues to Sophia’s murder, and unearths some new information about her sister’s death as well. This book will suck you in, and the final dénouement is riveting, with or without the ghosts.

Not only is The Broken Girls beautifully haunting but it is beautifully written. The kind of story that can both put goose bumps on your arms and tears in your eyes. It keeps you guessing, it keeps you reading, it keeps your attention and more than anything else, it leaves you wanting more by the end.

This story is so complex in its simplicity. It is about a time when women, when girls, still didn't have a voice and were looked down upon and controlled by those both older than them and of a different gender.

It deals with grief, in all its ugly shapes, sizes and forms and makes the outcome of it all so very touching, so very wonderful in it's power of those lost girls coming together and forming their own family, their own destiny, and most of all, not sitting by and letting other dictate who and what they were suppose to be.

Told in alternating times and point of views, this was so easy to fall into. Into the story, into the mystery and into the lives of these five girls who couldn't be more different from one another in almost every way imaginable.

With a blend of historical, mystery and a slight paranormal edge, this really was a read that stood out and will be one for everyone.

This book was fantastic!

Vermont 1950, we follow the story of four roommates at Idlewild Hall, a boarding school for wayward girls. Katie, CeCe, Roberta and Sonia bond over the rumors of the haunted hallways and fields surrounding Idlewild Hall. They say Mary Hand haunts the land and soon all the girls experience her presence, whispers in their ears, soft footsteps by their side, until one of them mysteriously disappears. Did Mary Hand do something with their dear friend or was an outsider to blame?

Vermont 2014, Fiona Sheridan a local reporter finds out that the long abandoned Idlewild Hall is being restored. Idlewild Hall holds something personal to Fiona. It was on those grounds that her older sisters body was dumped after being brutally murdered. Who would want to restore a place with such tragic memories?

I really don't want to say too much more about the story because it's one you'll want to savor from one page to the next. This is my first Simone St. James but it certainly won't be my last. I thought this was eerie and spooky and all around wonderful.

Thank you to the kind folks at Berkley Books / Penguin Random House for sending me an ARC of this book. I appreciate the opportunity to review it.

Two eras, two stories, linked by the persistent mourning of one woman for her murdered younger sister.

Idlewild Hall--Vermont,1950: A boarding school for girls who just don't fit. The place is rumored to be haunted. Four roommates share their secrets, their fears, clinging to each other. Until one leaves for a weekend visit and disappears...

Vermont, 2014: Journalist Fiona Sheridan still mourns her sister, whose body was found on the abandoned grounds of Idlewild Hall twenty years ago. When she discovers someone has bought the place and intends to re-open the school, Fiona becomes obsessed with one burning question--why?

This dual-timeline plot zips the reader back and forth, but seamlessly, with the parallel stories gradually converging. Amazing character development, intricate twists and turns, and poetically described scenery. A psychological thriller, murder mystery, and ghost story wrapped into one. The Gothic element is woven through with just the right amount of spooky. This author's best work yet.

Murders, deaths that may or may not be accidental, haunted boarding schools, disturbed teenage girls. What more could a reader possibly want in a creepy, can't put down book?

The Broken Girls alternates between 1950 and 2014. In 1950, 4 girls live in a haunted boarding school, Idlewild, for disturbed/delinquent teenage girls. One of them goes missing. Secrets are uncovered, and nothing is as simple as it seems on the surface. Then in 2014 a body is discovered on the grounds of the now derelict Idlewild.

In between, a young woman is murdered on the grounds. Fiona, the sister of the murdered woman, is now a journalist. Writing an article about the renovations on the grounds of Idlewild. She digs up more than a few secrets that the small town wishes to keep buried.

The Broken Girls is a perfect mix of an unsettling episode of Criminal Minds directed by Matthew Gray Gubler and a satisfying episode of Cold Case.

I definitely recommend you give this haunting book a read!

Thank you Buzzword Readathon for making me pick up a book I probably wouldn’t have picked up.

I love this story! Absolutely loved it. Such a unique and creepy read.

This has two main stories. We follow 4 girls in 1950 who live in Idlewild Hall a boarding school for girls who are too much to handle back in this time. Or illegitimate daughters, etc.. Katie, Roberta, CeCe and Sonia are roommates all different and all from different pasta. Idlewild Hall is rumored to be haunted by Mary Hand, and the school and teachers live in fear of her.

2015 we follow Fiona who is a 37 year old journalists who’s sister was murdered 20 years ago and left on the Idlewild Hall lawn with no footprints or evidence of the murder. The sisters boyfriend has been in prison for the murder but claims innocence. Fiona can’t let it go. She wants to know why he did it, how and everything involved. Her whole life revolves around it. So when Idlewild Hall is bought and being restored she takes it personal and decides to investigate. It leads her down a creepy path unlocking secrets and ghosts.

We learns about every girls path and it has everything from War and concentration camps to rape to PTSD with soldiers. It’s dark and definitely some trigger warnings but it’s an amazing read.

Also. Ghosts are real. At least at Idlewild Hall!

Absolutely loved this book. Pure darkness, mystery and haunting! Stunning novel!

Check out the full review at Kritters Ramblings

One of my favorite types of books, a thriller book that has two plot lines going, one in the present and one in the past. Our current day plot has Fiona Sheridan and she is a journalist who has returned to her small home town in Vermont and is barely making ends meet and not quite doing the journalism she wishes she were so she goes looking for the type of story she would want to write. In 1950, in the same small town in Vermont is a girls boarding school that is meant for girls who come from all sorts of trouble.

The reader knows from the beginning of a few of the links between the past and the present, but there are more and they are discovered at just the right time! Fiona has her own past with this girls school and she is having to confront it while also finding out about the past behind this creepy school that is now abandoned.

THE BROKEN GIRLS is an unsettling and chilling read which will keep you up at night reading. From the beginning to the end, I was completely spellbound by this story.

The author’s ability to weave together a tale that blends the past with the present so seamlessly is nothing short of exquisite. Sometimes an author can get lost in the space between a story that spans so many years, but St. James brought it to life. The craftsmanship behind the writing, the broad spectrum of characters, and the richness in the quality story made me want to slow down as I was reading so that I could make it last just a bit longer.

I know it sounds like I am gushing, and it is because I am. I have not been this captivated by mystery with a hint of the supernatural since I finished HOW TO HANG A WITCH by Adriana Mather. If you want to read a gritty, intense, and all encompassing mystery with heart, look no further than THE BROKEN GIRLS. I cannot believe how much I loved this book and cannot recommend it more.

In this latest novel by St. James, The Broken Girls, she transports us to Barrons, Vermont a small town where the restoration of an abandoned boarding school will unearth powerful emotions, tragic memories, and more long-buried secrets and skeletons than anyone could have imagined.

The prose is eerie and dark. The plot, told from alternating timelines, is gripping, suspenseful and filled with familial drama, neglect, hatred, abuse, desperation, violence, and murder all interwoven with a thread of the supernatural. And the characterization is spot on with a cast of characters that are damaged, fearless, and loyal, and a setting, Idlewild Hall, that is a character itself with its dereliction and isolation.

Overall, The Broken Girls is an intelligent, unique, skillfully crafted page-turner that will have you on the edge of your seat from the very first page and will ultimately leave you chilled, surprised, satisfied and thoroughly entertained.

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James is a haunting story revolving around a ghost inhabiting an all-girls boarding school in 1950. This school is for the wayward ladies, girls that families did not want, that society was trying to hide. The ghost-Mary Hands was a young girl of sixteen, whom, just after giving birth to a stillborn baby throws herself into the thralls of panic, leaving her parents to banish her, dying on their front steps. Mary haunts the girls of the school in her black veil and dress, making her victims relive their greatest fears. Simone focuses primarily on four girls, best friends, until suddenly one of them goes missing. Nobody can find their friend, chalking it up to running away, yet the girls know better. The story runs parallel with that of journalist, Fiona in 2014. Fiona's sister died on school grounds twenty years ago, brutally murdered by her boyfriend at the time. Fiona has not come to terms with this loss, that there is something incomplete in the investigation of her sister. Therefore, when the abandoned school begins its remodel, she is first on the story. Uncovering the past of the school and the women in it, Fiona realizes that this story involves much more than the supernatural.

I loved this book! I have written other works by Simone St. James and she writes a beautiful, haunting, ghost story. I love the parallel story line too, how the ghost of Mary intertwines in both of their lives and the connections made throughout time. The ending was not as surprising as I hoped it would be, you basically have it figured out towards the end, that being said, it still gripped my attention and I finished this book in a day! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a good ghost story.

This is a beautiful little book that bounces back and forth between 1950 and 2014 about unwanted girls in a boarding school/home. Then add a murder to it and it ties into a murder in the future. Fiona a journalist steps in to do an article on the restoring of the school and gets more than she bargained for. This book has high suspense, a little romance and a lot of back and forth between a few decades. The characters are all likable and you actually feel sorry and happy for them. There were a few scary parts too. I felt like if it ended with chapter 36, I would have been satisfied. There weren't too many loose ends at that part of thebook to me, but when it got to the epilogue, it made more sense. I love the Dr Phil reference, thanks for adding that. All in all, it's worth reading. I give it 4 stars.

I was giving this novel for my honest review.

Thank you Good Reads, Berkley Publishing, Penguin Random House and Simone St. James.

Title: The Broken Girls
Author: Simone St. James
Publisher: Berkley
Rating: ????/5

What do you do when you can't give up on someone even after their death? In 2014 a reporter named Fiona Sheridan, after the murder of her sister Deb twenty years prior, cannot let go of the past. The murderer is in jail and the case has been solved. So why must she dig deeper? Fiona digs deeper into the case and finds that the abandoned Idlewild Hall, where Deb's body was discovered, is being renovated. Her research leads down a road she never thought she would discover, secrets that have been kept hidden for good reason.

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James was definitely not what I was expecting. After reading a string of thrillers and murder stories, I thought that this book would be more of the same. I was wrong. St. James paints a story that different from expectations. For some reason Fiona resonated with me. I don't easily give up on something I feel passionate about. Not to mention if something feels off, I have to investigate further. I guess you could say I am stubborn. Anyway, it is plain to see in this book that St. James knows how to keep a secret. There are twists in the story that are so subtle that the reader won't even pick up on them. At least I didn't. I admire how the author made such a realistic and believable world that not even I could have guessed exactly how the book would end. Not many authors have done that for me.

The story is told both in the 1950s and 2014. Normally, I dislike books that skip through time. They often leave me confused and quickly lose my focus. However, St. James weaves both time periods seamlessly together. When one aspect is touched on in one time period, the other follows with a similar theme. This makes it much easier for a reader like me to follow the story.

But there are two aspects in this story that often make many readers put books down: the supernatural and boarding schools. I honestly believe that a mystery story that centers itself on the supernatural often becomes predictable and, lets say it, boring. You have the ghost that goes around tormenting and killing people blah blah blah. BUT in The Broken Girls the ghost isn't the center at all! The ghost, Mary Hand, is a welcome addition without taking away from the real story. I was SO thankful for this. The other aspect, the boarding school, wasn't even cliche! I was expecting a bunch of snotty girls who complain for the whole story, but instead I found a group of girls with very different backgrounds and personalities that come together in a less-than-glamorous boarding school. Again, I found the boarding school theme to be welcoming and not boring.

Overall, I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who may read this blog. Supernatural, mystery, boarding school drama and even general readers would all enjoy this book in my opinion. Please check it out if you get the chance!

What a great story. A suspense written around a ghost, not my favorite genre, but I liked this book. The ghost was an intricate part of the story, not just added on to make it fall into the paranormal genre. The story goes between the past, and the present. In the 50’s Idlewild was operated as a boarding school for troubled girls. One of the girls disappears and is written off as a runaway. Now it is 2014 and journalist Fiona Sheridan finds out someone has bought the old school property and plans to restore it. Her sisters body was found on the property 20 years ago, murdered. She still has questions about the murder. The transition between past and present is seamless. The story is compelling and will keep you turning pages. You get the feeling there are a lot more secrets hiding below the surface in this little town. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

What to Expect?
- Award-winning writing
- Enthralling storytelling
- Small run-down town Gothic creepy atmosphere
- Death, grief, crimes and old secrets that are gradually revealed
- Haunted boarding schoolhouse in one of the scary places on earth [New England]
- Forgotten broken adolescents
- School drama wrapped in a crunchy ghostly taco shell
- Friendship and bonding
- Historical fiction with interwoven dual time periods
be silenced

What happens when you are an unwanted troubled teenager with an unloving family? FIVE things happen…

Number 1: You get cast away to a boarding school. A HAUNTED ONE.

Number 2: Ghosts.

Number 4: The other girls in the boarding school are there for a reason: They are troubled too! AND MEAN.

Number 5: What happens ??

READ THIS BOOKS and find out!

I loved, loved, The Broken Girls by Simone St. James . Like any good ghost story, the secrets are slowly revealed. So, I wont say too much.

Through the years, girls in an all-girl boarding school pass messages via the textbook margins about a ghost named Mary Hand.

One example:

Mary Hand, Mary Hand, dead and buried under land. She’ll say she wants to be your friend. Do not let her in again!
As the story progresses we learn more. The novel skips from the present to the past seamlessly. It is rich with story, characters, eloquence and suspense.

The publisher, Berkley, has generously offered a free copy of The Broken Girls by Simone St. James via a giveaway (entry form is below) on Posting For Now.

The Broken Girls would make a great movie!

Full Review on PostingForNow

I don’t like ghost stories, well, except of they are by Stephen King. When I started this book and people were talking about the ghost of a girl haunting a girl’s boarding school, I considered abandoning it. But, the book was really well written and I kept reading. I am glad I did.

The book alternates between 2014, where journalist Fiona is researching plans that new owners have for the now abandoned school, and 1950, when a student disappeared. Fiona’s sister was killed on the grounds in the 1990s. The book does a good job of covering the angst of the sister’s murder, which was solved but left a lot of questions for Fiona, and the mystery around the missing student.

I was surprised by some of the ending, which is always nice. I am glad I stuck it out and will be looking for more by this author.

Four girls become roommates and friends in a school for broken/unwanted girls. As they endure the daily struggles in the boarding school with a haunted past their bond grows until one of them disappears. Years later a young woman obsessed with her older sister's murder begins to search for answers she may not want to discover. "The Broken Girls" was an excellent story with mystery, ghosts and the convoluted makeup of a small Vermont town. I was quickly drawn into this story and found it very hard to put down. When I was forced to put it down, I found myself thinking of what happened to Sonia, missing girl, who really killed Deb and carelessly dumped her in a field and many other questions. Well-developed characters, engaging storyline add up to a truly intriguing read that I highly recommend.

This book has taken over my social media feeds and I definitely understand why. It's creepy, fantastic and a solid Book of the Month pick (great choice).

First things first, the cover. I loved it so much and was immediately excited to get into a comfy chair and start reading. I know, I know. You shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but I usually do-and this book was no exception. Fantastic artwork, creepy feels and a large, abandoned school-yes please. Second, the plot. This book takes place in Vermont (cue happy dance. I always love books that take place in Vermont) between 4 girls in the 1950's that live in a boarding school called Idlewild that is thought to be haunted, and a journalist in 2014. The story weaves effortlessly between the years and the story builds on itself chapter by chapter. It was one of those books where I would finish a chapter and although it was time for bed, I found myself "one more chaptering" my way through 4 more chapters :)

The story will have you questioning everyone, making up scenarios in your head, periodically gasping and periodically hiding under the covers, flipping pages throughout the night and researching parts of the book after you close the final chapter.

If you're into mystery, intrigue, crime drama with a side of creepy haunted buildings, you will not be disappointed.