Book Review: The Broken Girls
The Broken Girls
Simone St. James
SYNOPSIS:
Vermont, 1950. There’s a place for the girls whom no one wants–the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good. It’s called Idlewild Hall. And in the small town where it’s located, there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over their whispered fears, their budding friendship blossoming–until one of them mysteriously disappears. . . .
Vermont, 2014. As much as she’s tried, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister’s death. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister’s boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can’t shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case.
When Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored by an anonymous benefactor, she decides to write a story about it. But a shocking discovery during the renovations will link the loss of her sister to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past–and a voice that won’t be silenced.
Simone St. James starts us off with a prologue that takes place in [fictional] Barrons, Vermont in the year 1950. A girl is running from something in the dark, trying to reach a seemingly familiar place for safety. This short introduction ends with the girl screaming into the darkness, and on the next page, chapter 1 sends us to November of 2014 – still in Barrons.
So continues the rest of the book. Excellent cliffhangers at the end of each chapter make it both agonizing to leave the current setting and exciting to return. In the novel’s present day, we follow Fiona Sheridan, a journalist in this small town of Vermont who is shocked to learn that the town’s abandoned girls school, Idlewild Hall, has been purchased and will be restored. Twenty years prior, Fiona’s sister Deb was found murdered in the field of the abandoned school, a crime that rocked the Sheridan family, and when the son of a wealthy family was charged and convicted, the entire town.
Fiona is a journalist with fiery red hair, but it’s not necessarily her appearance or the content of her stories that make her recognizable to people – it’s her last name. Fiona’s father was a renowned journalist who, after his daughter’s death, became quite withdrawn and something of a hermit. Simone St. James writes him admirably; he is sensible, curious, and journalistically skeptical, which Fiona needs to keep herself in check and assured, and because her boyfriend, Jamie, is a police officer who is always thinking with the law and the brotherhood in mind.
Jamie and Fiona’s relationship is a great element to the story. Both are from this small town and neither of them feel like they’ve really ever fit in. This gives them a unique perspective as they re-investigate the event of twenty years prior, as well as work through why Idlewild Hall is being renovated now. Mystery after mystery unfolds, clues are given, and relationships are tested. It would have been easy for Idlewild Hall’s story to overwhelm Fiona’s, but Simone St. James is exceptional in the art of balance; uncovering the secrets of the Hall becomes just as much a part of Fiona as working through the exposed secrets surrounding her sister’s murder.
During the 1950 chapters, we are taken to Idlewild Hall when it was still in operation, and the characters we meet there are all shrouded in mysteries that are satisfactorily exposed by the end of the novel. Even the supernatural detail, present in both the past and in 2014, is eloquently (albeit spookily) woven into the story to add depth rather than to just add an uneasy factor. If you are a fan of modern romances and relationships, murder mysteries, historical fiction, and trying to piece together the clues of a story before the characters do, The Broken Girls by Simone St. James is a must-read for you.

9 Comments
thebookwormdrinketh
Sounds like an excellent read that you’re very passionate about! Who doesn’t love reading a book before it’s released?? It just gives us all such a thrill that we get to be one of the 1st!
Kelsey
It’s definitely a book I’ll be recommending all year (and beyond)! 🙂
Fictionophile
Glad to hear that you enjoyed it so much as it is coming up soon on my TBR for review.
Kelsey
Oh good! 🙂 I hope you love it, too!
Marje @ Kyrosmagica
Thank you for connecting via #SundayBlogShare and for sharing this excellent review. Always on the look out for new books to read. I’m a avid reader, (I read all genres,) and write YA too.
Kelsey
Thank you for coming by; I’m happy to have connected with you. 🙂
April Munday
I can see the fun of reading a book before everyone else, although I prefer being able to discuss something I’ve read with people who’ve also read it.
Kelsey
In terms of discussion, that’s certainly my preference, too. But for reviews it’s nice to be one of the first, because I can write them with only my perspective – it makes the process much less muddled for me.
April Munday
That’s a good point. Earlier in the year I pre-ordered a book and didn’t look at any of the reviews until I’d read it.