Roanoke girls never last long around here. In the end, we either run or we die.
After her mother’s suicide, fifteen year-old Lane Roanoke came to live with her grandparents and fireball cousin, Allegra, on their vast estate in rural Kansas. Lane knew little of her mother’s mysterious family, but she quickly embraced life as one of the rich and beautiful Roanoke girls. But when she discovered the dark truth at the heart of the family, she ran fast and far away.
Eleven years later, Lane is adrift in Los Angeles when her grandfather calls to tell her Allegra has gone missing. Did she run too? Or something worse? Unable to resist his pleas, Lane returns to help search, and to ease her guilt at having left Allegra behind. Her homecoming may mean a second chance with the boyfriend whose heart she broke that long ago summer. But it also means facing the devastating secret that made her flee, one she may not be strong enough to run from again.
As it weaves between Lane s first Roanoke summer and her return, The Roanoke Girls shocks and tantalizes, twisting its way through revelation after mesmerizing revelation, exploring the secrets families keep and the fierce and terrible love that both binds them together and rips them apart.
My Review: This is Amy Engel’s debut Adult Fiction and she doesn’t hold back the punches. This is a wonderfully atmospheric and beautifully written story of a deeply disturbed family in Kansas. The Roanoke family are possibly the most “dysfunctional” family I’ve read about in a long time and without giving away any spoilers I would say that the storyline centres around a taboo subject that most people would find too uncomfortable to read. It’s a very graphic and haunting tale of deep, dark family secrets. I was consumed by Lane and Allegra’s story and totally spellbound by the author’s ability to bring the family and rural Kansas to life in my head. My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the ARC.
About the Author: Amy Engel is the author of THE BOOK OF IVY young adult series. A former criminal defense attorney, she lives in Missouri with her family. THE ROANOKE GIRLS (March 7, 2017), is her first novel for adults.
Genre – Psychological Thriller – Read 22 February 2017 – Published 7th March 2017
