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"The Girls" is a beautifully written family drama come psychological thriller - to sum it up simply, it is full of vibrant colourful characters involved in deliciously dark goings on...

After a fire destroys their home, Clare and her two daughters Pip and Grace move into a flat overlooking a community garden - in the garden all the kids from the surrounding homes mill about together, doing what kids do. 30 years ago a young girl called Phoebe died in the garden..as Clare, Pip and Grace become part of the whole, events are set in motion that may have tragic consequences...

As always with Lisa Jewell it's characters first - she sets the scene with a great eye for detail when it comes to people and their motivations - writing with a style that is so involving that you sink into the lives of this fictional group and feel every moment with them.

I loved Pip - we see her letters to her absent father and hear her thoughts on what is going on around her - she often provides a birds eye anchor to proceedings and is a really beautifully drawn character. The cast as a whole are all highly intriguing, from Adele with her brood of three home schooled girls and her perfect husband, to Rhea the pensioner who has seen it all and Clare herself who is struggling to fit in and get used to a very new kind of bohemian inclusive lifestyle. The garden is a character in and of itself with its nooks and crannies and wide open area's where the kids roam free, missing tea, out until all hours, creating their own little bubble in the world.

As the arrival of Pip and Grace upsets the balance within the relationships, the story ebbs and flows - constructively speaking it is really well done, with the end at the beginning so to speak and then the events leading up to and after - the whole thing is entirely enthralling and the minute nuances and little details that Lisa Jewell embeds within the story keep you fascinated from first page to last.

"The Girls" is an ensemble character driven drama with added mystery, gorgeously complex, utterly authentic and a truly addictive reading experience.

Highly Recommended.

Happy Reading Folks!