A solidly well written debut with well portrayed characters and intriguing family dynamics, a very enjoyable and easy to read novel.
Although not typically the type of book I go for , I was drawn to this book due to it’s island setting which certainly created atmosphere to the story and added much to its enjoyment.

Margo is mother to 3 daughters. Their father left when they were 4, 6 &10.
Margo is a force to be recorded with. They had a wonderful life growing up in a large house situated on the beach on the Isle of Wight. However like most families they have their ups and downs, secrets too.
This is a charming tale of the family which brings them closer together as they grow into their 30's.
The end uncovers the secret kept so long from the three sisters.

This was quite an involving read. It didn't paint a very happy picture of relationships. All the main female characters had unsatisfactory male partners! The matriarch of the family was not a lovable character being selfish and domineering.

hrilled to read and acquire this title. Full review coming due to an unexpected health issue their has been a delay. I don’t know why but this book gave me Summer I Turned Pretty vibes, I know it is a whole different storyline, but I love books that are about summer especially in the long winter months and vice versa. I’m so excited to read about each of the Garnett Girls and their journey as well as what happened to their mothers love story that went so horribly wrong. I hope they turn this book into a series of some sort.

What a fabulous book! The characters are so individual but each of them is compelling in their own way. If you've got sisters you'll love this book even more because the dynamics between the girls is so familiar; they fall out, make up and regress to childhood when they meet but the love between them is deep and true. Their individual stories are beautifully told and equally interesting and it's all played out in the perfectly described settings of London and the Isle of Wight.

When the book slips back into the past, describing Margo's breakdown and Rachel's difficult childhood trying to hold her family together there's yet another dimension added and at times I was almost in tears.

I can't praise this book enough, I loved every line of it.

The Garnett siblings are Rachel, Imogen and Sasha. Rachel is married to Gabriel, she’s a lawyer and definitely the solution finder and a decision maker in this family unit. Sensitive Imogen is a playwright, she’s engaged to steady William whose marriage proposal in Venice is not especially romantic! Sasha in the past is known to be the fun one but marriage to Phil firmly put a stop to that. Their father, Richard, an alcoholic, abruptly leaves the family when Sasha is four years old. Their mother is Margot, a journalist, whose impending 60th birthday forces a reflection on the indignities of aging and the looming bus pass but for now she is an enthusiastic partner of a much younger lover. All four Garnett girls are lookers and with brains too! They all hold onto the past which most certainly informs the present especially in their behaviour. This is their story as the past and present collide.

This is a well written character driven novel. All the characters are well portrayed, they’re flawed but likeable even if they’re a bit maddening you’d still crave an invitation to one of Margot‘s famous parties! The dynamics are really interesting between them and this ebbs and flows. Their loves and relationships with partners are very much affected by the loss of their father and by Margot herself which makes for interesting reading. The portraits of the various marriages is done well and you get a really peaky ringside seat inside them!

The setting, principally on the Isle of Wight is fantastic and very enticing. It’s used most effectively in the storytelling and I especially like how Imogen uses the history of the small island in the Solent in her writing.

My only negative is there’s a sudden backtracking to an earlier timeline before and after Richard left and I don’t think you need this as the situation is well covered in the present day and so I’m not too keen on this.

This is a book that sort of sneaks up on you and you find yourself fully invested in the Garnett Girls lives. This is an enjoyable read and a promising debut novel.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HQ for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Georgina Moore's 'The Garnett Girls' takes a characterful family with a complicated part and present, and weaves a tapestry of relationships, places, family ties and secrets. The individuals are brilliantly drawn and developed, given well-rounded scenarios and diverse circumstances for their lives, yet the family threads hold firm, taut at times, fraying at others. A compelling read and fine insight into familial love, romantic love and passion, and the far reaching effects of family ties.
Highly recommended.

I've been trying to think what it is about this novel that is so brilliant, and have decided it's not so much about the plot, which is complex, but about the actual narrative style, and the storytelling capacity of Moore. What it's *about* isn't as important as the way in which it's told, is what I'm saying. That said, the twisting threads of the plot are very clever, and there is a truth behind the complexities of the women's lives, and a kind of innate understanding of family life that is conveyed, which means, I think, there are so many ways in which readers get hooked into the intricacies of character and motivation. The Garnett women each have their own secrets and anxieties, which could very easily have come across as cliches, but absolutely did not. The running thread of the absent father, coupled with the evocatively conveyed setting was compelling, and the conspicuous underlying discontent of each of the women was handled expertly. Although it's a novel set today, I felt flickers of Andrea Newman (I say that as a massive compliment) and it is one of the few novels that I absolutely looked forward to reading each day, and was very sad to have finished. What a terrific debut. More, please, Georgina Moore. Very highly recommended. My grateful thanks to the publishers and to Netgalley for the early copy.

The opening parts of this book that have a family on a beach made me feel quite nostalgic for my own childhood, then when it all turns to chaos, it felt so familiar.
Luckily, I didn't have the same childhood the Garnett girls did, but I'd happily take the sibling love that's buried deep.
A whole host of female characters, each one of them memorable from the start (this rarely happens with me) and something to like in all of them.
They've got messy complicated relationships within the family and with others.
I very much enjoyed reading about them all.
A cracking debut.