So we’re all moving to the Isle of Wight right?! Who knew that a tiny British island could make such a perfect location for this gorgeous novel of mothers and sisters!

I absolutely adored this debut which I ended up listening to on audiobook. It tells the story of the Garnett Girls (yes shocker) - mother Margo, and sisters Rachel, Imogen and Sasha, along with various friends, love interests and other family members who add so much to this moving novel. At the heart of the story is some unresolved trauma around the girls father Richard, who left when they were young, and who Margo wouldn’t let them keep in touch with. Each of the sisters has processed the event differently and therefore has different feelings towards Margo - and it all ramps up at their childhood home Sandcove. There’s also plenty of relationship drama with affairs, proposals and controlling husbands, so there’s plenty going on to keep you absolutely hooked!

I found myself incredibly emotional by the end of the book because I was so invested in these characters and their heartache. But whilst it is incredibly moving, it’s also fun and glamorous, and has that timelessness to it where I had to keep checking the time it was set in. I think fans of The Whalebone Theatre or TJR will love this big, messy Garnett family - I certainly did. A captivating debut 👏

Really enjoyed this amazing family story. Loved all the garnet girls & the back story. Amazing plot & narration & look forward to to more by this author.

This is a delightfully warm hearted and accomplished debut from Georgina Moore, a nostalgic family drama, featuring that eponymous Garnett Girls, the vivacious, free spirited mother, Margo, and her daughters, lawyer Rachel, married to Gabriel with 2 daughters, writer Imogen, and the more distant Sasha, with her troubled marriage to the controlling Phil. Set in the beautiful Isle of Wight and the family home of Sandcove, and in London, I had the pleasure of both reading the book and listening to the audio, wonderfully narrated by Tabi Craig, 9 hours and 40 minutes long. In a story that goes back and forth in time, it focuses on the trauma and repercussions on the Garnett women through the years of husband and father, Richard, an alcoholic and aspiring poet, who walked out on them.

Richard leaving left Margo unable to function for an entire year after the loss of her all consuming, life altering passion and once in a lifetime love as she retreats to her bedroom, leaving the girls to fend for themselves, with the young Rachel, sacrificing her childhood to ably shoulder the adult responsibilities of taking care of them and Sandcove, with the help of Aunt Sylvia. We learn of how Margo and Richard got together, with Margo having to fight for their love in the face of her mother's disapproval. In the present, with Richard's name forbidden through the years, Rachel is living in the crumbling Sandcove with her family, feeling an underlying discontent with her life, Margo still treats it as her home, still organising parties that people want to attend. However, Gabriel is content here, so how does she persuade him to move to London? Imogen finds her plans to marry William go awry, whilst Sasha is seething with resentment and a secret that is eating away at her and an ageing Margo begins to reflect on her current lifestyle and its impact on her girls.

This is a wonderfully entertaining read and listen, of a loving family of women, of a mother and her daughters, the addressing long standing issues between the sisters and the healing of their relationships, the emergence of lies, secrets and deceptions, marriages, misconceptions, of identity and sexuality. Everyday life is depicted in all its dramas, but it's the complex trauma of Richard as husband and father that is buried deep within the women, and untangling the emotional fallout of parental errors lies at the heart of this enthralling novel, and I particularly appreciated the poignant epilogue. Moore evocatively creates a wonderful sense of location, of sunkissed days on the beach, in the present and the past, and the central place of Sandcove, a place that no matter what, is home. Highly recommended! Many thanks to the publisher for the ARC and audio.

Sisters forever, no matter what happens they always stick together. The Garnett girls are mother and three daughters who grow through their lives with misunderstandings and unsaid truths. The mother is protecting her girls from the truth about their father and why he abandoned them however it gets to a point where it does really matter anymore and the girls are old enough to face that truth. and make peace. Beautiful writing about relationships and bonding including the husbands and children who grow into the strong group of women, the dynamics and interactions described very well. Narration was expert and just right for this book. Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook to review.