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The Broken Girls Kindle Edition

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 11,103 ratings

A journalist uncovers the dark secrets of an abandoned boarding school in this chilling suspense novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Sun Down Motel.

Vermont, 1950. There's a place for the girls whom no one wants—the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the ones too smart for their own good. It's called Idlewild Hall, and local legend says the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over their whispered fears, their friendship blossoming—until one of them mysteriously disappears....

Vermont, 2014. Twenty years ago, journalist Fiona Sheridan's elder sister’s body was found in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And although her sister’s boyfriend was tried and convicted of the murder, Fiona can’t stop revisiting the events, unable to shake the feeling that something was never right about the case.

When Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored by an anonymous benefactor, she decides to write a story about it. But a shocking discovery during renovations links the loss of her sister to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past—and a voice that won’t be silenced....
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From the Publisher

The Broken Girls

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for The Broken Girls

“[
The Broken Girls] mixes a creepy supernatural tale with a gripping mystery. It also works well as a story about unshakeable friendship, parenting issues, obsession and sexism folded into a satisfying plot that straddles two eras of time.”—Associated Press
 
“An intense, genuinely creepy novel that links the ghostly, gothic strands of a 60-year-old murder with secrets about to be unearthed in the present day....With a ghostly setting and an addictive plot, St. James’ story is as haunting as it gets—poignant, evocative and difficult to forget.”—BookPage
 
The Broken Girls is equal parts captivating and disturbing.”—HelloGiggles
 
“The Broken Girls has everything you could want: mysterious murders, haunted boarding schools, and a mystery that spans 60+ years.”—Bustle

“St. James’ riveting genre-blender combines a supernatural tale with intertwined mysteries from the 1950s and today...This horror-tinged mystery is frighteningly believable, peopled with feisty characters, and features top-notch dialogue. St. James...might have another prizewinner on her hands.”—
Booklist (starred review)

“[A] creepy, supernatural mystery....[In] this page-turner, the secrets Fiona uncovers lead to a terrifying conclusion that has less to do with the paranormal and more to do with the evil that men do.”—Shondaland.com

The Broken Girls is clever and wonderfully chilling. It held me hostage in a very modern ghost story until the early hours.”—Fiona Barton, New York Times bestselling author of The Widow and The Child

“A spellbinding tale of fervently held secrets, mysterious murders, and a boarding school for the unwanted. Told through deftly intertwined timelines, this gothic ghost story held me rapt until its dark, final twists. An addictive read not to be missed.”—Kristina McMorris,
New York Times bestselling author of The Edge of Lost
 
“Part hauntingly gothic and part suspenseful crime drama,
The Broken Girls is a bona fide page-turner. This story of friendship, revenge and redemption will make readers of women’s fiction rejoice, and the addition of romance and a particularly nasty ghost are intriguing elements that don’t detract from the beautiful writing or the heart of the book.”—Karen White, New York Times bestselling author of The Night the Lights Went Out
 
“Chilling, disturbing and gripping, this is a well-written, modern-day Gothic tale about facing our darkest fears.”—Tessa Harris, author of
The Anatomist’s Apprentice
 
“With the moldering ruin of a boarding school, a malicious ghost, and secrets that will not stay buried,
The Broken Girls promises much and more than delivers. Each new twist is served with calculated, masterful precision....A vivid, riveting story you won’t soon forget.”—Deanna Raybourn, New York Times bestselling author of A Treacherous Curse
 
“Haunting and memorable...a mesmerizing blend of past and present; a sometimes heartbreaking and always compelling quest for the truth about secrets that shouldn’t stay buried. Masterfully done!”—Karen Dionne, author of
The Marsh King’s Daughter
 
More Praise for the Novels of Simone St. James
 
”Downright scary and atmospheric. I flew through the pages.”—Lisa Gardner, #1
New York Times bestselling author of Right Behind You
 
“A haunting tale of love, passion, friendship, and revenge.”—PopSugar
 
“A creepy tale about the haunting power of the unseen.”—
Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Simone St. James is the national bestselling and award-winning author of The Sun Down Motel, The Broken Girls, Lost Among the Living, and The Haunting of Maddy Clare. She wrote her first ghost story, about a haunted library, when she was in high school, and spent twenty years behind the scenes in the television business before leaving to write full-time.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0738KSJ8F
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berkley (March 20, 2018)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 20, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2083 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 334 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1472255305
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 11,103 ratings

About the author

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Simone St. James
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Simone St. James is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Sun Down Motel and The Broken Girls. Her debut novel, The Haunting of Maddy Clare, won two RITA Awards from Romance Writers of America and an Arthur Ellis Award from Crime Writers of Canada.

Simone spent twenty years behind the scenes in the television business before leaving to write full-time. She lives just outside of Toronto, Canada with her husband and a spoiled rescue cat.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
11,103 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the story suspenseful and well-crafted with unexpected twists. They describe the book as an engaging read with interesting characters that draw them in. The writing quality is praised as great and beautifully told. Readers praise the fast-paced plot that keeps them hooked until the end. Overall, they find the tone of the book enjoyable and engrossing.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

287 customers mention "Suspenseful story"269 positive18 negative

Customers enjoy the suspenseful story with its unexpected twists and turns. They find the book an excellent thriller with well-developed characters and a surprising ending.

"...This is not your typical thriller, and I should point out that The Broken Girls has three elements that I enjoy in all novels, regardless of genre:..." Read more

"Great read if you love a good ghost story mixed with crime. She Wrapped it all up well. Very interesting" Read more

"...The story was perfect in all its layers of tone, pace, narrative. The build to the big climax and tying together of the two timelines was fabulous...." Read more

"Great read! Lots of suspense. Slow start but the. Great story with lots of different story lines and characters. Really enjoyed it!" Read more

209 customers mention "Readability"202 positive7 negative

Customers find the book engaging and enjoyable. They describe it as a great read and one of their favorite books. The students and bonds they form are also mentioned as positive aspects.

"...is early, but The Broken Girls by Simone St. James is by far the best novel I’ve read in 2019 so far...." Read more

"Great read if you love a good ghost story mixed with crime. She Wrapped it all up well. Very interesting" Read more

"Great read! Lots of suspense. Slow start but the. Great story with lots of different story lines and characters. Really enjoyed it!" Read more

"...Truly amazing, hands down one of my favorite books and one of my first recommendations to anyone who requests a book to read...." Read more

85 customers mention "Character development"82 positive3 negative

Customers enjoy the well-developed characters. They find the storyline engaging and appreciate the strong female main character, Fiona. The writing style is enjoyable and readers praise the author.

"...Great story with lots of different story lines and characters. Really enjoyed it!" Read more

"Well-written. Complex characters. Interesting history. Twists and turns. Voices and silence are key themes...." Read more

"...The parts about the present are not so impressive. Though Fiona's character is interesting, and you feel her pain and unease, her interactions with..." Read more

"...It became very fast-paced and I enjoyed the writing style and the characters. I also love anything with a touch of historical fiction in it...." Read more

76 customers mention "Writing quality"73 positive3 negative

Customers appreciate the writing quality of the book. They find the verbiage clean, well-edited, and intelligent. The story is beautifully told, with an easy read even when it goes back to the 1950s. Readers also mention that the author's voice is strong and she tells her stories with knowledge.

"...I am obsessed with how perfectly she was able to write the story in both the 1950’s and 2014 and have the stories collide and not once feel confused...." Read more

"Well-written. Complex characters. Interesting history. Twists and turns. Voices and silence are key themes...." Read more

"...Her stories are well researched and written. I enjoy the twist and turns...." Read more

"...This was well written and kept my full attention and I recommend it." Read more

26 customers mention "Page turner"26 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's twists and turns that keep them engaged. They appreciate the different perspectives and flipping from past to present that keep the story moving.

"...At that point you better settle in because you’re gonna be knee deep in twists and turns!..." Read more

"...The back and forth between the now and then then. I liked the twists and the turns you didn't see coming." Read more

"I wasn't sure if I would enjoy this story but I did. It took twists and turns i never saw coming...." Read more

"Great read. Twists, turns and an ending that'll keep you up at night. Not so much supernatural as chilling. Well done!" Read more

19 customers mention "Pacing"19 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the pacing of the book. They find it engrossing and enjoyable, with chills and goosebumps. The concept is interesting, but some feel the execution is poor.

"...of the good stuff was in store when I settled in to read this slow, chilling and dreadful dual time-line tale about a dark and haunted boarding..." Read more

"...The Broken Girls manages to avoid most mystery cliches and delivers an engrossing, satisfying tale." Read more

"...But other than that, this book was a chilling, emotional read that had me in goosebumps...." Read more

"I loved this book! It had a little bit of everything…murder, romance, history, and ghosts. I enjoyed the characters too...." Read more

15 customers mention "Tone"15 positive0 negative

Customers like the subtlety of the book's tone. They appreciate the creative spooky elements and stark, bleak setting. The story is described as Gothic fiction at its best, with an original plot that captures readers' attention from the start.

"...plot events or explain a twist in the story, but rather adds to the tone and setting...." Read more

"...The story was perfect in all its layers of tone, pace, narrative. The build to the big climax and tying together of the two timelines was fabulous...." Read more

"...St. James has this wonderful knack for subtlety that just slides under the radar and then once all the anticipation and creepiness builds up, it..." Read more

"...plot events or explain a twist in the story, but rather adds to the tone and setting...." Read more

34 customers mention "Pace"21 positive13 negative

Customers have different views on the book's pace. Some find it fast-paced and engaging, with no slow parts. They find the different timelines work well and are captivated by the story immediately. Others feel the pace is slow and plodding at first, and it takes time to get into the story.

"...The story was perfect in all its layers of tone, pace, narrative. The build to the big climax and tying together of the two timelines was fabulous...." Read more

"Great read! Lots of suspense. Slow start but the. Great story with lots of different story lines and characters. Really enjoyed it!" Read more

"...She read at a decent speed and did a fantastic job with the urgency in her voice as the story picked up...." Read more

"...It became very fast-paced and I enjoyed the writing style and the characters. I also love anything with a touch of historical fiction in it...." Read more

Devoured this book in 3 Days - You won’t be sorry
5 out of 5 stars
Devoured this book in 3 Days - You won’t be sorry
I have so much love for Simone St. James’ work. It is so hard to create a gripping story that keeps you guessing—the fact that she manages to do that while also tying it in with a ghost story makes me love her even more.The characters that St. James brings to life always make it hard to put her books down. I always feel like I “miss” them until I get a chance to read again.The relationship between the Idlewild girls gives me such “Now and Then” (1995 movie) vibes.I am usually always able to predict everything in tv, movies, and books. I could not figure this one out until chapter 35 when St. James basically handed it to me on a silver platter(nearly the end of the book). She had me guessing so much, I was concerned there was no way she would be able to explain it all, but she did. It wasn’t rushed, and my gosh it had me in tears. I felt every single emotion in the duration of this book. I can’t wait to pick my next Simone St. James story.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2019
    The year is early, but The Broken Girls by Simone St. James is by far the best novel I’ve read in 2019 so far.

    This is not your typical thriller, and I should point out that The Broken Girls has three elements that I enjoy in all novels, regardless of genre: a dual timeline, a creepy supernatural element, and journalists.

    When authors like St. James do it correctly, the supernatural element does not impact the core plot events or explain a twist in the story, but rather adds to the tone and setting. And a story that features characters across two timelines who intersect in a thrilling, engaging climax and denouement, is right up my alley.

    Both of these elements are masterfully inserted into this murder mystery whose main character, and her father, are journalists.

    In the fall of 2014, Fiona Sheridan is a freelance magazine journalist in the small town of Barrons, Vermont, who is haunted by the murder of her sister, Deb, who was killed twenty years earlier. Deb’s murderer—her then-boyfriend and son of the town’s most prominent family—beat her and dumped her on the property of Idlewild, a shuttered girls-only boarding school.
    Fiona is consumed by the murder, and oftentimes visits Idlewild and investigates around the edges of the case. After a night spent on the road leading to Idlewild, she learns someone has bought the property and intends to re-open the school.
    After convincing the editor of a Vermont magazine for which she frequently freelances of the story’s importance—and her ability to be impartial—Fiona goes to Idlewild to interview the son of the buyer, Margaret Eden. While she’s there, the construction crew finds a body.

    As the story unfolds in 2014, The Broken Girls regularly jumps back to 1950 to tell the story of four roommates at Idlewild—Katie, CeCe, Roberta, and Sonia, all of whom rely on each other to get through the harsh conditions at Idlewild—and of the ghost that haunts the school, Mary Hand. The girls all have reasons they were sent to Idlewild, and Mary, who is a well-known poltergeist at the school, seems Hell-bent on not letting them forget those reasons.

    In 2014, authorities—which include Fiona’s cop boyfriend, who is the son of three generations of Barrons police chiefs—discover the body is that of Sonia. As the odd couple look into Sonia, they discover the investigation was almost non-existent, as is information on how Sonia, a French girl who emigrated to America just after the conclusion of World War II, got to Idlewild and ended up in the school’s water well.

    But as they get smaller clues, Fiona realizes Sonia was held at a Nazi camp that was essentially women-only, including the guards.

    Without giving away spoilers, the mystery is solved wonderfully, and all of the mysteries are explained, including where Mary Hand came from.

    The only character I didn’t connect with was Fiona’s cop boyfriend, Jamie. He is needed to advance and deepen the plot, and I suppose I understand the awkward nature of their relationship. But the scenes with them were the least interesting to me, and I would have liked the story as much or more if she would have just been using him as a source in the PD and they ended up in bed with a potential relationship looming after the book is over.

    Still, even with this minor complaint, it’s not enough to put much of a damper on this story for me. I highly recommend The Broken Girls to readers of any adult genre, and this may be a novel I re-read several more times over the years.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2024
    Great read if you love a good ghost story mixed with crime. She Wrapped it all up well. Very interesting
  • Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2022
    After being captivated by The Book of Cold Cases and Ghost 19, I followed my instinct for good atmospheric paranormal thrills to the author's backlist and hit upon The Broken Girls. More of the good stuff was in store when I settled in to read this slow, chilling and dreadful dual time-line tale about a dark and haunted boarding school in Vermont.

    In 1950's Vermont, four teenage girls are roommates at Idlewild Hall, a boarding school for unwanted girls. Whether they got into trouble, they are somehow embarrassments to their families, they're orphaned, or are unwanted like Katie, CeCe, Sonia, and Roberta, they find themselves at the dilapidated and institutional place where barely apt teachers keep them to a colorless regime and the ghostly Mary Hand keeps them all in a state of fear. These mismatched girls might never have been friends in the outside world, but here they only have each other and grow closer than sisters. Then one of their group goes missing.

    In 2014 Vermont, Fiona Sheridan has never healed or grown past her older sister's murder twenty years before. The guy who did it, her older sister's boyfriend, has been locked away for years, but something about the case won't leave her alone, least of which is the spooky grounds of Idlewild where her body was found. Fiona is contained and edgy so it is a surprise to herself most of all when she ends up in a warm though tentative relationship with a younger man. They shouldn't work- Jamie's a cop and third generation law enforcement and she's a journalist and daughter of a internationally-reputed journalist who protested strong and hard until her sister's death broke something in him. Now, a wealthy business family have bought Idlewild and plan to restore the girls' school. Why, she wonders and then the body is found...

    I love the stark and bleak setting, the twists and turns through the two separate cold cases and the rise of tension on two levels in Fiona's personal life and the cases. The story was perfect in all its layers of tone, pace, narrative. The build to the big climax and tying together of the two timelines was fabulous. I am so glad there is more on the author's backlist to enjoy.
    11 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2024
    Great read! Lots of suspense. Slow start but the. Great story with lots of different story lines and characters. Really enjoyed it!
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2024
    The story starts out slow but picks up somewhere around 70 pages in. At that point you better settle in because you’re gonna be knee deep in twists and turns!

    A group of “troubled girls” placed in an all girls school in the 1950s, cold cases, missing and murdered girls, bodies recovered in the 90s and 2010s, haunting premonitions from a local legend, dusty files, awkward sneaky relationship problems, and an investigative journalist determined to pull a towns secrets from the past and bring her sisters murderer to justice. This book has it all. (Minus the smut).

    The physical book- Her books seem to be consistent with the feel of the pages, the heft and the flop as well as the size and height (which sit nicely together on the bookshelf). A great length! 326pages.

    The audiobook- I decided to check out the audiobook as well since it was available on Libby. Honestly, I didn’t want to put this down and life is demanding. The narrator had a great voice and did a great job changing the voice to match each character. She read at a decent speed and did a fantastic job with the urgency in her voice as the story picked up. There were some mispronunciations through the book. Lowering became l-OW-er-ing. Rifling became riffle-ing. Overall a great listen.
    One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Leah Erickson
    5.0 out of 5 stars Real page turner!
    Reviewed in Canada on April 23, 2023
    Intriguing storyline, not your typical ghost story!
  • Tetyana
    5.0 out of 5 stars You can’t stop till you finish
    Reviewed in Spain on November 13, 2024
    I absolutely loved the book! It’s mysterious and about strong friendship… adventurous … and heart touching. It has it all. I got quite spooked at some point and finished reading with a happy tear in my eye. A super engaging reading! It also encouraged me to read the referenced by the Author more serious historical books that were used for a specific character plot. Really an amazing read! Saved on the shelf as very few of those I read
  • Cliente Kindle
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
    Reviewed in Italy on October 1, 2023
    Well paced. Gorgeous prose wrapped around a dark plot. No silly double twists, no inane plot surprises. Solid mystery, perfect reveal.
  • Alphenaar migrant
    4.0 out of 5 stars Murder thriller against a ghoulish backdrop
    Reviewed in the Netherlands on July 24, 2021
    Excellent thriller with a touch of the supernatural. Back and forth storyline style, but easy to follow. Highly recommended read.
  • Marina Pamplona
    5.0 out of 5 stars Melhor thriller do ano
    Reviewed in Brazil on November 18, 2019
    Quando comecei a história achei um enredo muito simplista, mas a medida que os capítulos desenrolam percebi o quão bem composto era o contexto. Valeu cada centavo. Adoraria ver a história em filme também.

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