68 pages • 2 hours read
Darling Girls
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Summary and Study Guide
Overview
Written by Sally Hepworth, Darling Girls tells the story of three sisters—Jessica, Alicia, and Norah—and their childhood in the care of their abusive foster mother, Miss Fairchild. Originally published in September 2023 in Australia and then released April 2024 in North America, the novel uses complex narrative techniques such as alternating perspectives, extensive flashbacks, and an unnamed first-person narrator to examine aspects of abuse in the foster care system and critique The Long-Term Impact of Trauma. Darling Girls is Hepworth’s 10th novel and was long-listed for several awards, including the Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award and the BookPeople Book of the Year for Adult Fiction in 2024.
This guide refers to the Kindle edition of the novel.
Content Warning: Both the source text and this guide include graphic depictions of childhood abuse, including violence toward infants and young children, sexual exploitation and extortion, domestic violence, and drug addiction. Suicide is also briefly mentioned.
Plot Summary
The structure of Darling Girls alternates between the past and the narrative present and gradually reveals the full extent of a lifetime of tumultuous events at Wild Meadows, a seemingly idyllic farm where three sisters ( Unlock all 68 pages of this Study Guide Plus, gain access to 8,900+ more expert-written Study Guides. Including features:
Related Titles
By Sally Hepworth
