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"ROANOKE GIRLS NEVER LAST LONG AROUND HERE.
IN THE END WE EITHER RUN OR WE DIE."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
THE ROANOKE GIRLS
by
Amy Engel
After her mother's suicide, fifteen year old Lane Roanoke moved in with her grandparents and fireball cousin, Allegra, on their vast estate in rural Kansas. Lane knew little of her mother's mysterious family but quickly embraced life as one of the rich and beautiful Roanoke girls until she discovered the dark truth at the heart of the family and 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 who heart she broke that long ago summer, but it also means facing the devastating secret that made her flee, one she might 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, exploring the secrets families keep and the fierce and terrible love that both binds them together and rips them apart.
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 is her first novel for adults.
MY THOUGHTS
Quite a change and a good one. People, alone or as a whole, have some deep dark secrets hiding in the dark depths of their minds. What happens when they are brought out into the brightness of Kansas?
We are given a mother who walks around in a trance all day long until she finally ends it all, at least for herself. She hangs herself. Lane, her daughter, feels relief of sorts and learns she has grandparents out in Kansas. She is finally wanted somewhere, not like when she was with her mothers. So off she goes to Kansas and Roanoke, a huge family farm along with the long private driveway leading to the doors. When she gets to the house, she's greeted by a cousin, who is the same age as she is. Her cousin.. Allegra is jumping for joy. Now Allegra will have to share all the wonders of being in a well to do household. How will this set to Allegra since she is definitely spoiled? The Roanoke money doesn't come from farming but from oil. Now that can be real money. Lane has always had to make do by scrimping and scrapping. Now she can have anything she wants and needs. Now Allegra is up on things. She knows where the many credit cards are kept and tells Lane it is expected that t hey use them if they need something. Lane doesn't know what to think of all of this.
There's something spooky and creepy going on in this house. The portraits of the lineage of Roanoke girls don't line the walls anymore. Why are they gone and where are they?
“Roanoke girls never last long around here…In the end, we either run or we die.”
-quote from book
Lane, after a time, figures it's time for her to get out and she does for ten years, until she gets a phone call from her grandfather. Allegra is missing.
They want Lane to come home. Those strange feelings along with the dark truth and secrets are still there, alive and waiting. What is going on in the Roanoke household? Why do the Roanoke girls end up disappearing? Where do they go?
There's an undertone to this story that makes your skin crawl. We know and yet we don't know what has happened to Allegra. Let's say we assume.
Roanoke appears on the surface to be a loving place where girls can grow happily into productive, self assured women. Wrong! This isn't a good place for young girls to try to grow up in. It really isn't.
So much abuse, that doesn't come straight out but is hidden in the shadows. Many young women may relate to this story. This book isn't a book of violence of sexual abuse, not on the surface. What's on the surface is the mental abuse and how it affects those Roanoke girls. So if you're interested in women and their inner conflicts and how it affects them, take a trip to the Roanoke farm in Kansas and discover what is happening to the Roanoke girls. What appears on the surface isn't always the way it actually is.
They want Lane to come home. Those strange feelings along with the dark truth and secrets are still there, alive and waiting. What is going on in the Roanoke household? Why do the Roanoke girls end up disappearing? Where do they go?
There's an undertone to this story that makes your skin crawl. We know and yet we don't know what has happened to Allegra. Let's say we assume.
Roanoke appears on the surface to be a loving place where girls can grow happily into productive, self assured women. Wrong! This isn't a good place for young girls to try to grow up in. It really isn't.
So much abuse, that doesn't come straight out but is hidden in the shadows. Many young women may relate to this story. This book isn't a book of violence of sexual abuse, not on the surface. What's on the surface is the mental abuse and how it affects those Roanoke girls. So if you're interested in women and their inner conflicts and how it affects them, take a trip to the Roanoke farm in Kansas and discover what is happening to the Roanoke girls. What appears on the surface isn't always the way it actually is.
I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books and the author and voluntarily decided to review it.
I would give this book 5 STARS.
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