The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore
Love makes you do things you never thought you were capable of...
Forbidden, passionate and all-encompassing, Margo and Richard’s love affair was the stuff of legends – but, ultimately, doomed.
When Richard walked out, Margo locked herself away, leaving her three daughters, Rachel, Imogen and Sasha, to run wild.
Years later, charismatic Margo entertains lovers and friends in her cottage on the Isle of Wight, refusing to ever speak of Richard and her painful past. But her silence is keeping each of the Garnett girls from finding true happiness.
Rachel is desperate to return to London, but is held hostage by responsibility for Sandcove, their beloved but crumbling family home.
Dreamy Imogen feels the pressure to marry her kind, considerate fiancé, even when life is taking an unexpected turn.
And wild, passionate Sasha, trapped between her fractured family and controlling husband, is weighed down by a secret that could shake the family to its core...
Set on the beautiful beaches of the Isle of Wight, The Garnett Girls asks whether children can ever be free of the mistakes their parents make.
About the author
Georgina Moore grew up in London and lives on a houseboat on the River Thames with her partner, two children and Bomber, the Border Terrier. The Garnett Girls is her first novel and is set on the Isle of Wight, where Georgina and her family have a holiday houseboat called Sturdy. You can find her as @PublicityBooks on Twitter and @georginamooreauthor on Instagram.
Review
‘The Garnett Girls’ is an accomplished debut that packs a punch by looking into family trauma and how it can reverberate over the decades, shape relationships and build up mistrust and misconceptions. I found it to be beautifully evocative of what will be familiar themes to many but they are described with such love and empathy in the author's writing. I flew through this book in one day as I fell in love with the Garnett family and I was swept away by their stories and lives. I didn't want to put it down as I was so wrapped up in finding out what the resolution to their stories would be!
The Garnett girls are headed by the flamboyant and rather messed up mother, Margo, who has three daughters, Rachael, Imogen and Sasha. Rachael is married to Gabriel, has two daughters and now lives in the crumbling family house Sandcove. Imogen is on the cusp of settling down and becoming a renowned playwright. Sasha heads up a charity and is married to a controlling man who is breaking her more as every day passes! Margo and the daughter's father Richard enjoyed an all-encompassing love affair that is the stuff of dreams until he left one day and was never heard of again. This shapes all four of the women's lives in various ways which ultimately brings the family close to collapse decades down the line.
I am astonished that this is a debut novel as it reads as if it comes well an established and accomplished author! This is probably partly due to Georgina working in the publishing industry but also a testament to her incredible writing skills. I honestly can't wait to see what comes next as I thoroughly enjoyed this generational-spanning family narrative. The location of the Isle of Wight is a character in itself as it is depicted with ease and beauty and speaks of the author's love of the island. It is sun-drenched afternoons spent at the beach with its sparkling blue waters and skies. Local history is interwoven with its people and home. I would very much love this visit which comes across as a slice of heaven. But only if I can party with the Garnett Girls!
Let me know if you pick this one up!
