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Book Review – Secrets of Southern Girls by Haley Harrigan

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southern

About the Book

Ten years ago, Julie Portland accidentally killed her best friend, Reba. What’s worse is she got away with it. Consumed by guilt, she left the small town of Lawrence Mill, Mississippi, and swore nothing would ever drag her back. Now, raising her daughter and struggling to make ends meet in Manhattan, Julie still can’t forget the ghost of a girl with golden hair and a dangerous secret.  When August, Reba’s first love, begs Julie to come home to find the diary that Reba kept all those years ago, Julie’s past comes creeping back to haunt her. That diary could expose the shameful memories Julie has been running from, but it could also unearth the hidden truths that Reba left buried…and reveal that Julie isn’t the only one who feels responsible for Reba’s death.

In fact, she may not be responsible at all.

Format: Paperback (320 pages)  Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication date: 6th June 2017  Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Purchase links*
 Amazon.co.uk ǀ Amazon.com ǀ Barnes & Noble ǀ
*links provided for convenience not as part of any affiliate programme

Find Secrets of Southern Girls on Goodreads

SecretsofSouthernGirls2My Review

This a well-constructed mystery in which Julie reluctantly returns to her home town to try to uncover the truth about what really happened the night her best friend, Reba, died. Although, in her heart, she already knows the truth – that it was she who was responsible for Reba’s death – at least that’s what she’s always believed since she has only fragments of memory about what happened that night.

The story is told partly in the present as Julie and Reba’s boyfriend, August, search for answers and partly in flashback. The reader also has the benefit of excerpts from Reba’s journal which gradually reveal clues to what really occurred that night but also disclose a significantly different side to Reba’s character. The racism inherent in a small community is convincingly woven into the plot.

I enjoyed the book but did have a slight reservation about the device of Reba’s journal. I can understand the author’s decision to use this device as, since Reba is dead, the only way Julie and August can learn what happened from Reba’s point of view is through something like a diary.  I did wonder though if a teenage diary (or any diary for that matter) would use such literary language, include meticulous detail like a woman tapping “the manicured fingernails of one hand absentmindedly against the wooden countertop” or record long conversations word-for-word, complete with speech marks.

However, leaving that aside, the story is well-paced and the revelation of what really happened that night brings the book to a satisfying conclusion.

I received an advance review copy courtesy of NetGalley and publishers Sourcebook Landmark in return for an honest review.

In three words: Entertaining, well-written, mystery

Try something similar…The Last Act of Hattie Hoffman by Mindy Mejia (click here to read my review)

haley About the Author

Haley graduated from the University of Georgia with degrees in Creative Writing and Public Relations. A bookworm from early on, she started writing as a kid when her grandfather introduced her to his new typewriter. Her first stories were fanfiction pieces (though she didn’t call it that, then) inspired by The Baby-Sitters Club and Sweet Valley High. These days, she’s an avid and wildly eclectic reader, with tastes ranging from Margaret Atwood to William Faulkner to Gillian Flynn to Rainbow Rowell. In addition to reading and writing, Haley enjoys hot tea, college football, margaritas and Mexican food, and a good Netflix binge. She is obsessed with all things Joss Whedon and believes that she learned everything she needs to know about life from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Secrets of Southern Girls is her debut novel.

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Book Review: The Former Chief Executive by Kate Vane

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Without your past, who are you?

TheFormerChiefExecutiveAbout the Book

Deborah was a respected hospital manager until a tragedy destroyed her reputation. She has lost her career, her husband and even her name. Luca wants to stay in the moment. For the first time in his life he has hope and a home. But a fresh start is hard on a zero-hours contract, harder if old voices fill your mind. When a garden share scheme brings them together, Deborah is beguiled by Luca’s youth and grace. He makes her husband’s garden live again. He helps her when she’s at her lowest. But can she trust him? And when the time comes to confront her past, can she find the strength?

Book Facts

Format: ebook Publisher:   Pages: 150
Publication: 8th June 2017 Genre: Fiction    

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk ǀ Amazon.com
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme)

Find The Former Chief Executive on Goodreads

My Review

Don’t be misled by the title – this isn’t the memoir of a former management high-flier or a self-improvement book, it’s a taut psychological study of grief, secrets and trying to leave behind your past.  Its dark, slightly chilling atmosphere reminded me at times of the books written by Ruth Rendell under the pen name Barbara Vine.

Deborah and her husband, Peter, had planned their retirement together, moving to a bungalow near the sea where Peter could indulge his love of gardening. Those plans were cruelly thwarted by Peter’s cancer diagnosis and swift demise. Now Deborah finds herself alone, with only unhappy memories and regrets for company.

‘Deborah looked around at the emptiness, and listened to the quiet, the percussive thrum of electrical appliances and thought, this is it, this is my life now.’

I was moved by the author’s insightful and affecting depiction of Deborah’s grief and her sense of loss and displacement following bereavement.

‘So it was only really with Peter that she had felt she could be herself. Be yourself. Whatever did that mean? If she could only be herself with Peter, who was she now? No one, she thought. A husk.’

What makes the situation worse for Deborah is the contrast between her life before as a successful senior manager and the emptiness she feels now.

‘She had been a mouse on a wheel that was spinning very fast. A mouse who happened to be a good runner. Now the wheel was broken.’

And there are hints of an event in Deborah’s past – a decision she took that had tragic consequences and which led to her being vilified in the press. Despite moving to a new area and changing her surname, Deborah still lives with the nagging fear that she will be recognised and it will start all over again.

Enter Luca, to tend the garden Peter loved, as part of a community rehabilitation scheme.  I have to say at this point that, as a gardener myself, I loved the way the author presents gardening as a therapeutic activity, both physically and mentally.  Luca is also trying to put his past behind him and move forward with his life. He’s an intriguing figure, with an almost mystical aspect to his character that contributes to the unsettling atmosphere of the book.  Luca seems to be able to sense instinctively the needs of others and feel drawn to help them.

When Deborah’s daughter, Eleanor, comes to stay, she is surprised her mother has made no attempt to find out more about Luca’s past.  Deborah is reluctant to do so – after all, he hasn’t asked about hers. I won’t say much more for fear of spoiling other readers’ enjoyment. Whilst not exactly a thriller, the author nonetheless creates a feeling of suspense as secrets gradually emerge and events take an unexpected turn in a way I had definitely not anticipated.

I was really impressed with this book. The assured writing really made the characters come alive in a way that was credible and it had a dark, intense feel to it that made you want to read on. I also love the gorgeous cover.

I received an advance reader copy courtesy of the author in return for an honest review.

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In three words: Intriguing, intense, compelling

KateVaneAbout the Author

Kate Vane is the author of three novels, Not the End, Recognition and The Former Chief Executive (published on 8 June 2017). She has written for BBC drama Doctors and has had short stories and articles published in various publications and anthologies, including Mslexia and Scotland on Sunday. She lived in Leeds for a number of years where she worked as a probation officer. She now lives on the Devon coast.

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