The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore. (2023).
**2 out of 5 stars**
**Thank you to HarperCollins Australia for sending me a free advance readers copy of this novel; published 1 February 2023**
Margo and Richard’s love affair was the stuff legends are made of – forbidden, passionate, all-encompassing. But ultimately doomed. When Richard walked out, Margo broke down, leaving their daughters Rachel, Imogen and Sasha, to run wild and refuses to speak of Richard. But her silence keeps the Garnett girls from finding true happiness. Rachel wants to return to London but feels stuck caring for the crumbling family home on the Isle of Wight. Imogen feels pressure to marry her kind fiancee even though life is taking an unexpected turn. And Sasha is trapped between her increasingly alienated family and her controlling husband. She knows the secret behind Richard’s departure and it’ll be devastating when she reveals it…
I’m not sure if I can pin it down to anything specific but I just couldn’t really get into this one and didn’t enjoy it much. However in general it has pretty high reviews with a lot of people really enjoying it so it seems clear I’m in the minority with my opinion. I think for me I found all of the main characters slightly irritating. They were all clearly unhappy with something in their lives but then not really doing anything about it to improve their happiness. Alcohol plays a big part in the storyline, and the long-term effects of alcoholism on everybody in a family. The Garnett women are apparently incapable of all getting together without disintegrating into a family disagreement – in one way it felt realistic as they were clearly dysfunctional but then other times it felt exaggerated like they were just looking for a reason to argue.
Overall: this one just wasn’t my cup of tea for whatever reason. With lots of other readers really enjoying it, it’s worth a go if the synopsis interests you.
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