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by Jessica Spotswood
In this gothic historical tale, two girls must uncover the secrets of their haunted home before it's too late.
The Harrow Home for Wayward Girls has long stood as a place of secrets. The estate has housed hundreds of young women hidden away during their pregnancies, their homesick cries echoing through the halls, providing a haunting score to Grace Harrow's childhood.
Now, in the summer of 1947, the Home has been sold to a wealthy hotelier. Grace expects the new owner's daughters to be spoiled. Yet Rose, the eldest daughter―unaware of Mr. Harrow's abusive tendencies―is jealous of Grace's seemingly easy confidence. But as they're drawn into each other's lives, an unlikely friendship begins to form. Fortunately so, because not all of the wayward girls made it out...
One still lingers. Lurking in the shadows. Looking for vengeance.
To expose the truth buried in the walls of the Harrow Home, Grace and Rose must unravel a legacy of silence and cruelty. But Grace's father will stop at nothing to keep the past hidden, and if the truth comes to light, it could destroy both their families.
"Perceptive, unwavering prose portrays societal expectations in post-WWII America surrounding gender roles, bodily autonomy, and emotional and physical abuse, with candid nuance... . This searing novel considers how friendship empowers women and facilitates moments of resistance ... a complex and haunting tale that makes room for hope and optimism." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A haunting, slowly building mystery that finds horror not in what is seen but in what cannot be escaped." ―Kirkus Reviews
"This dark and twisty historical fiction weaves threads of feminism, magical realism, and coming-of-age into a taut mystery with strong female leads and spine-tingling thrills." ―School Library Journal
"The girls are magnetic and justifiably angry in this ferocious gothic mystery with a searing feminist edge. Vivid, gutsy, and filled with hairpin turns and startling secrets, The Harrow Home for Wayward Girls is an immensely satisfying, shivery tale of vengeance." ―Nova Ren Suma, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Walls Around Us and Wake the Wild Creatures
"Darkly atmospheric and impossible to put down, The Harrow Home for Wayward Girls is a haunting tale of secrets, restless spirits, and the fragile bonds between girls determined to survive it all. Jessica Spotswood has written a story that grows more unsettling, and more irresistible, with every page." ―Shea Earnshaw, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Wicked Deep
This information about The Harrow Home for Wayward Girls was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Jessica Spotswood is the internationally-bestselling author of Great or Nothing and YA fantasy trilogy The Cahill Witch Chronicles. She is the editor of the feminist anthologies A Tyranny of Petticoats and The Radical Element, and co-editor of Toil & Trouble. Jess's books have been included on the ALA's Rainbow and Rise lists and chosen as Junior Library Guild selections. She lives in Washington, DC, with her husband, mystery author Stephen Spotswood, and she works at the DC Public Library.
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