See The Girls in our catalogue
“You live on a picturesque communal garden square, an oasis in urban London where your children run free, in and out of other people’s houses. You’ve known your neighbours for years and you trust them implicitly. You think your children are safe, but are they really?
“Midsummer night: a 13-year-old girl is found unconscious in a dark corner of the garden square. What really happened to her? And who is responsible?”
This is a very readable book, a thriller which hooks in the reader with its twists and turns. The story is carried mainly through speech and the ‘Dear Daddy’ letters so there is a lack of description. However, the characters are strong and believable.
It makes a good choice for a book group as there is a lot to discuss as well as the plot: home schooling, teenage girls with their secrets and complexities, the power and manipulation of peer groups and the need to belong.
Recommendation: Not a book to read if you have a 13 year old daughter or grand-daughter or live on the edge of a park or communal garden!