Oh my goodness! Having had a ‘first look’ at this book in the form of the first two chapters, I knew I wanted to read this book but I wasn’t prepared for quite how much I would enjoy it. The book moves between two time periods, the mid 1970’s and the present day. The author has given each time period a subtly different feel, you can see the vintage photography filter applied to it if you will. Often when novels are split between two time periods I prefer one or the other and I find myself trying to speed through one in order to get back to the preferred one. With The Wayward girls I couldn’t choose between them; the action is happening in the 1970’s but the key to unraveling that action and what is causing it lies in the present day.
While the book is a very good ghost story, it is also a coming of age novel as we see Loo navigating adolescence while living in the shadow of waspish older sister Bee. The characterisation, again in both time periods is incredible right down to the sweet young healthcare assistant at Lucy’s mothers care home. I felt sympathy and empathy with every character at some point in the book but predominantly I was with Lucy.
The fun in any ghost story is to try and guess what is happening and predict the ending. While I did guess one part, there was a plot twist I didn’t see coming that was fabulous and left me wanting to read more from this author as soon as possible!
While the book is a very good ghost story, it is also a coming of age novel as we see Loo navigating adolescence while living in the shadow of waspish older sister Bee. The characterisation, again in both time periods is incredible right down to the sweet young healthcare assistant at Lucy’s mothers care home. I felt sympathy and empathy with every character at some point in the book but predominantly I was with Lucy.
The fun in any ghost story is to try and guess what is happening and predict the ending. While I did guess one part, there was a plot twist I didn’t see coming that was fabulous and left me wanting to read more from this author as soon as possible!