finished reading

I've read four or five books by Sally Hepworth, but this one feels a little different from her usual fare.  Maybe it's because this focuses on children and the foster care system.  I liked that each of the three main characters develops a distinct personality, and the sister dynamics are very real.  Miss Fairchild's character arc was, to me, predictable.  How her backstory unfolded was not a plot twist--I don't know if it was supposed to be, that's how obvious it was.

Adult Jessica, Norah, and Alicia were scarred from their foster experiences with the very volatile Miss Fairchild.  Their familial bond never left them, though.  

While the plot twists didn't quite catch me off guard, the heart of the story--the unbreakable link between three women who survived brutal forms of abuse--will stay with me.  It's a darker Sally Hepworth, but still chilling; the usual domestic suspense genre takes on a grittier, emotional core by exploring the foster system.

Interestingly, there are two competing views of the foster system:  Alicia's professional experiences as a dedicated, thoughtful, caring advocate, in contrast to how the system worked when she was a child.  Hepworth made the system more than a backdrop to the story.

From the publisher:

For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. As young girls they were rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother, Miss Fairchild, on an idyllic farming estate and given an elusive second chance at a happy family life.

But their childhood wasn’t the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. Miss Fairchild had rules. Miss Fairchild could be unpredictable. And Miss Fairchild was never, ever to be crossed. In a moment of desperation, the three broke away from Miss Fairchild and thought they were free. Even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere in the shadows of their minds. When a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses. Or are they prime suspects?

A thrilling page-turner of sisterhood, secrets, love, and murder by New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth.