Although beautifully written, I didn’t finish this book as I found it quite confusing and didn’t warm to the characters!

I have been looking forward to reading The Garnett Girls for months and it certainly did not disappoint. It's a beautifully written and immersive family saga with the family home, Sandcove, on the Isle of Wight, central to the novel. The Garnett Girls are Margot and her three daughters- Rachel, Imogen and Sasha. They've been a family of four since Richard, the girls father left when Sasha was small. Margot is still firmly rooted on her beloved Isle of Wight, partying and involved in what many see as inappropriate relationships often with younger men. She has moved out of Sandcove where Rachel, the eldest daughter now lives with her husband Gabriel and their two daughters. Rachel is unhappy and misses her London job and life. Imogen, the middle daughter , a playwright is about to marry William, partly to please Margo. Sasha, the youngest is in an unhappy relationship with the controlling Phil, distanced from her family and she has a fiery relationship with Margo.

What a gorgeous read! I am a huge fan of family sagas set by the sea and this novel was perfection. The characters are complex and while not immediately likeable I grew fond of them all and was able to understand them and the impact of early trauma on their lives. The author portrays the relationships between the sisters and their mother so skilfully and with deep insight. I was completely drawn into their lives and felt that the secret that is gradually revealed to the reader and the rest of the family was handled sensitively and movingly.

I adored this novel, would highly recommend it and have no doubt it will be on my books of the year list. An outstanding debut.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

A family saga, it’s set on in a wonderful house by the beach , something I seem to be drawn too. Though I’m not sure I liked any of the characters, I could understand that some of their insecurities and foibles were because of past family events.

This doesn't read like a debut - the author's experience in the publishing world is obvious from the clarity of the storytelling and the deft pace and flow of the narrative. A lovely intergenerational story and an absorbing summer read

Margo and her sister Alice had been brought up in London until their move to the Isle of Wight. Rebellious Margo met and married poet Richard but we meet Margo 30 years later with her three daughters, Richard has mysteriously disappeared from the family under strange circumstances.
the se reacts, lies and mixed up relationships are vividly drawn and the interaction between Margo and her daughters highlight their unusual relationship.
Beautifully written, a treat to read.

3.5 upped to 4
I loved the setting, this is a sort of love letter to the isle of Wight and it made me wish I was there.
Even if the story flows and it's well written I wasn't a fan of the characters and their love choices were often catastrophic.
It's a good debut and I think a lot of people will love it.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

After a slow start and a bit of patience, this book really developed into a great story which I would really recommend. Excellent characters well described and such a great read, I took my time with it as I so enjoyed the way it was written. Thank you so much Netgalley

5*. Wow. The Garnett Girls is an absolute sensation - an Observer top debut for 2023 (joining previous Observer debut picks such as Shuggie Bain and Lessons in Chemistry).

Sandcove, a rambling house on the Isle of Wight is home to Rachel, the oldest of the Garnett girls. Lawyer, mother and married to Gabe. Within a stones throw is her lioness of a mother, Margo and flitting in and out are Imogen and Sasha her younger sisters. Each has their own version of happiness bit not everyone has the life that the others perceive.

This multi-generational tale told over several timelines is spellbinding. The prose is beautifully written in a way that is effortless to read but hard not to admire. The characters are all memorable and well crafted and the plot zips along as secrets, bad behaviour but ultimately a togetherness hold everyone together.

A must read. Thanks to HQ Stories, Harper Collins and Netgalley for an ARC.

Margot and Richard fall passionately in love and have three very beautiful daughters who they live with on the Isle of Wight, but Richard is an alcoholic who abandons his family. The book is about the impact this has on Margot and their daughters once they have grown-up.

It took me awhile to get fully invested in the characters, it wasn’t until the final third that I really started to care about them. I did find the constant mentions of the beauty of Margot and her daughters a little tiring, they just didn’t need to be that beautiful for the story to still work.

It’s a book I’d really like to be able to hand to any person that abandons their family to show them the long-term impact it can have. When couples split they really need to keep their needs separate to the needs of the children.

The final third was very touching, and it’s a nice testament to the power of female relationships and the bonds between sisters.

This debut novel by Georgina Moore I found to be an utter delight. Margo is quite a force to be reckoned with. She comes undone when her husband Richard (her supposed soul mate) walks out on her and their three daughters; Rachel, Imogen and Sasha. What is behind his disappearance from their lives. Does it have something to do with him being an alcoholic.

Every one of the main characters have secrets that they are keeping from one another. It is a family bound by love but also an element of frustration due to the fact that the girls didn't really have their father when they were growing up. In fact, Rachel as the eldest is the one who remembers him the most. She feels torn by her live as she has moved to the family home on the Isle of Wight with her enormously supportive husband, Gabriel and they have two daughters. Imogen is asked for her hand in marriage on an Italian getaway to Venice. I loved how Moore brought this foreign city to life. Then there is Sasha, the youngest who is unhappily married to Phil.

I didn't want to rush reading this. I wanted to savour the way Moore brought each of these characters to life. Margo, as head of the family. Her three daughters. Also Margo's quieter sister Alice. I found her portrayal quite interesting. There is also some back story about Margo's upbringing and her unforgiving mother who didn't approve of her relationship with Richard.

A delight. I definitely recommend this book.

I loved how character driven this book is. The women within the book are all explored in detail so the reader can fully understand their reasoning and motives for acting the way they do. I especially enjoyed how moments in a person's life can ripple through generations.

A wonderful slice of very British life woven within London and on the Isle of Wight. Beautifully observed, the intricacies of a family that is dysfunctional at times, and how they have all suffered from a shared past, and still struggle with their current relationships. Where to make the right choices and right for who? Can they ever heal the past that has formed them, where are they stuck and where do they go from here?
Margo Garnett is the glorious matriarchal figure, whose eccentricity is admirable but slightly uncomfortable. She has three stunningly beautiful daughters, all very different in how they have coped with their alternative upbringing. Living on the small island where everyone knows them and their lives can be both hard and comforting.
I loved how the story and the characters slowly unfold throughout this book. It’s very clever, awkward, unsettling and inspiring all together. The community life on the island is depicted well, the difference between the eras of Margo in her youth and the girls is perceptive and thought provoking. Brought home so many memories for me and of past eras and times.
All in all this is a brilliant read, thoroughly enjoyable and very fresh!! Totally recommend this one!!
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins much appreciated!!

What a brilliant read this debut novel is! The story focuses on the Garnett Girls: three sisters, Rachel, Imogen and Sasha; their “Queen Bee”, larger-than-life, dominant and organising mother, Margo; and an assortment of other family members and friends.

It is set on the Isle of Wight, in and around Sandcove, a large Victorian home next to the beach, slightly fading and in need of a few repairs, and totally steeped in family tradition. This house has been the backdrop to all of their lives. It was where Margo and Richard’s incredibly intense, romantic but, tempestuous and doomed relationship, played out on family holidays. It was the place Margo retreated to, and where she locked herself away for a year, after Richard departed, leaving her three daughters to their own self-reliance and the kindness of others.

Since then, Margo, has moved out of Sandcove into a cottage where she extravagantly entertains both friends and lovers, and has passed on the house to Rachel and her family, but she steadfastly refuses to speak of Richard, and her painful past.

But the past, and Margo’s silence, has impacted upon her daughters, making it hard for them to find happiness: Rachel as the eldest sister, had to hold the family together when Margo had her breakdown. She is still coming to terms with that and is desperate to return to London, but feels responsible for, and trapped by, Sandcove; Imogen feels she has to marry her kind, considerate fiancé, even when her heart isn’t in it, and she has yet to really find herself; and Sasha, trapped between her fractured family and her controlling husband, is weighed down by a secret that could shake the family to its core…

I really love a character-driven novel, and The Garnett Girls ticks all the boxes on that score. The characters are fully fleshed out, having real depth and dimension, and are completely lifelike and believable, so the reader gets to know them extremely well as a result. Their different personalities, their complexities, their challenges and traumas are perfectly developed and portrayed, as each of the sisters, and their mother, work through their respective psychological traumas resulting from their pasts.

The depth of characterisation is matched by the authentic portrayal of sisterly/Mother-daughter dynamics. The psychology of these relationships is spot on, showing the tensions, the shifting alliances, the niggles, and the resentments of close family, and yet there is always the underlying deep and genuine love and affection for each other. This is a family of women that knows each other’s faults and weaknesses intimately, and yet they love each other in spite of, and because of, them.

To me, the Isle of Wight is as much a character of the novel as the people, and this book is invested with a real sense of place: the beach; the sense of community; the boating and yachting fraternity; the cafes and the independent shops; the chichi restaurants. It really captures the sights, sounds and the feel of the place.

All of this draws the reader in to what is a beautifully written, immersive, absorbing and engaging novel that flows effortlessly along. There is plenty of light and shade with love and laughter mixing with drama and sadness, as the story unfolds. The novel explores family relationships, secrets, and mistakes, and shows the impact of the past upon the next generation. With themes of love and loss, and, ultimately, redemption, this would be a great novel for a book group or a buddy read, and I loved it. I’m looking forward to Georgina Moore’s next novel already!
Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins/HQ for the opportunity to read and review this ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

A well written and emotional read about a family of women. This story is very much character based and it look into the very heart of a family and how history can impact lives in so many different ways

The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore
The Garnett girls are now women Rachel, Imogen and Sasha. Rachel is a lawyer and is married to Gabriel but is he having an affair? Imogen is a playwright and she is in a relationship with William. The whole family believe that he is going to propose whilst they are in Venice. But is this what she really wants? Sasha had been the fun loving member of the family but now she is in a relationship with Phil who appears to be controlling.
All of the girls are damaged by their parents’ relationship. They had a wonderful romance and then Richard, their father, became an alcoholic and abandoned the family suddenly sending Margo, their mother, into a spiral of despair. The occasion of Margo’s 60th birthday is the catalyst for investigating what happened in the past

The novel is set principally on the Isle of Wight where the children have returned despite some of them longing to return to London. The island and its stories even feature in Imogen’s play which is being put on in London for the first time.
We also go back in time to discover about Richard and Margo’s meeting and how they fought so hard to be together despite her family’s resistance. This is definitely a character driven novel and you gain a great insight into their marriages but I did not really engage with any of them. I found them all a bit self-obsessed. It was however well written and the characters well imagined.

Many thanks to the author, NetGalley and to the publishers HQ for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

A glorious family saga set on the Isle of Wight. Three sisters and their formidable mother Margo and their missing father Richard. The dynamic between the siblings and their differing relationships with their mother was wonderfully portrayed - and the setting and the familial home draws you in from the outset. It's a lovely book, comforting but also sad in parts. And Margo is proof that older protagonists can the most brilliant and engaging personalities. The only reason I give four rather than five stars was because reflecting back there were some secondary characters that I couldn't tell you much about/i can't remember who exactly they were - ex husbands, locals etc.. That being said this is a book you want to curl up in an armchair with and read in one enormous gulp.

The Garnett girls is a book about families and secrets, love and loss. The connections between the characters comes alive throughout the story.
Margo and her girls have had to make sense of their life after Richard abandons them. Richard was the big love of Margo's life, they met when she was 16 and she knew they were destined to be together. Unfortunately Richard was too fond of the drink and eventually when there youngest daughter Sasha was just four he left.
All grown up and navigating their own lives and loves the spectre of Richard still hangs over them. Rachel is living in the old family home Sandcove with.her husband and children, is still close with Margo. Isobel is trying to make her life work out the way she believes Margo would want it to, and Sasha is angry and distant from them all. The bond of love that runs through them is unmistakable though.
This is a beautiful story, if you read one book this year I would recommend this.

It’s from this cosy spot that I finished my first book of the year, The Garnett Girls. And I couldn’t have kicked off the year with a better one, I adored this and it’s just the family saga type that I like to call a favourite. This has all the things I love from books like The Most Fun We Ever Had and We Are The Brennans, so get it on pre-order if you liked them as it’s out in early Feb.

The Garnett Girls are 3 sisters who are each facing their own romantic struggles whilst trying to find a love like their mum and dads.

The story and the writing in this book are so good, that even though I read this on a freezing day in December, I was utterly transported to a beach shimmering in the heat of an Isle of Wight summer.
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Following the story of the Garnett Girls - three sisters and their force of nature mother Margo, this book just sparkles. We meet the family in the present day but the story moves between then and the 1980s when the girls were growing up.

I must admit to feeling pangs of jealousy as I started reading about their lives, with the big family house, glamorous gatherings and beautiful beach though as the book develops it is clear that their lives are not as golden as they first appear.

This is a character driven book and my favourite of these characters has to be Margo. The matriarch of the family is a force to be reckoned with. Not only has she raised her daughters on her own, but she is a vibrant part of the local community and a woman not afraid to wear her sexuality and her desires on her sleeve. Approaching her 60th birthday Margo starts to think about her life, her future and her anxieties about growing old. She is maddening at times but as strong as she is we learn life has not always been easy for Margo.

Her relationships with the girls father Richard was one of the great love stories. However he walked out on them all when the girls were young, sending Margo into a spiral of depression and the girls without a father and having to grow up quickly.

I thought this book was really well paced and enjoyed the development of the characters' stories, the impact of their history on their current lives and the ever changing relationship between the sisters and their mother.

Such a great debut and I look forward to reading more from Georgina

Thanks to Netgalley & HQ for the chance to read an early copy

Fantastic debut book about a family of the mum and 3 daughters. Each daughters life if considerably different but each has demons they need to manage. Well written, great characters really enjoyed this book