Shadow Girls by Carol Birch

 

Shadow Girls by Carol Birch.

Published 14th April 2022 by Head of Zeus.

From the cover of the book:

Manchester, 1960s. Sally, a cynical fifteen-year-old schoolgirl, is much too clever for her own good. When partnered with her best friend, Pamela – a mouthy girl who no-one else much likes – Sally finds herself unable to resist the temptation of rebellion. The pair play truant, explore forbidden areas of the old school and – their favourite – torment posh Sylvia Rose, with her pristine uniform and her beautiful voice that wins every singing prize.

One day, Sally ventures (unauthorised, of course) up to the greenhouse on the roof alone. Or at least she thinks she's alone, until she sees Sylvia on the roof too. Sally hurries downstairs, afraid of Sylvia snitching, but Sylvia appears to be there as well.

Amidst the resurgence of ghost stories and superstition among the girls, a tragedy is about to occur, one that will send Sally further and further down an uncanny rabbit hole...

***********

Manchester, 1960s: Sally is a self-absorbed fifteen-year-old, tired of the restrictions of the girls' school she attends, and the tedium of her family. She longs for her O levels to be over with so her life can begin. Her best friend the troubled Pamela, who no one else really likes, is the only one who seems to understand her feelings, and they both spend an increasing amount of time playing truant and exploring the areas of the school that are out of bounds to students, deriving a sense of power from their rebellious acts. To amuse themselves they also think up ever more inventive ways to torment posh pupil Sylvia Rose, whose perfect appearance and exemplary ways they find particularly irksome.

One afternoon, while on her own in the rooftop greenhouse that has become one of their favourite forbidden spots, Sally spies the unlikely sight of Sylvia sitting on the parapet outside. Shocked, she runs downstairs to her classroom, only to see Sylvia primly sitting at her desk waiting for the lesson to begin. How can she be in two places at the same time? When Sally confides in Pamela about what she has seen it sets in motion a chain of events that lead to tragedy, and come to mark their destiny.

Shadow Girls is a fabulously creepy literary fiction tale, mixing elements of a chilling ghost story with a deeply affecting exploration of fragile mental health. You are never quite sure where the truth behind this story lies, which makes it darkly compelling and an absolute joy to consume in huge bites of deliciously atmospheric prose.

The first two thirds of the book take Sally through her O levels and onto her university days. They offer an incredibly insightful look into the life of a teenager teetering on the edge of adulthood. Sally is desperate to fly the coop, but in many ways she is still clutching onto the security of family and the routine of school life, unsure about what the future holds. She is also navigating her first romantic relationship, but is confused about her feelings. It's all so uncomfortably evocative of those coming-of-age years, and there is so much here that will especially resonate with anyone who has attended an old-fashioned school for girls - like I did, albeit rather later in the 1980s. There is such a brooding air of foreboding from the outset - you know that disaster is approaching, but it is impossible to look away as events spin out of control. Intriguingly, even though Birch creates an authentic feel of the 1960s, there is something so timeless about how the story plays out.

The final third of the book finds Sally back in Manchester as a young adult, trying to come to terms with the memories that haunt her - memories which begin to overwhelm her when she ends up living in very building where her life was derailed, now the old school has been converted into flats. For me, this is the most disturbing part of the whole book and it sends an icy finger running up and down your spine as Sally baulks at echoes from the past and loses her grip on reality. Or does she? Again, you are never quite sure where the boundaries between real and imagined lie, and it is brilliant.

Throughout the whole wonderful story Birch delves into themes of anxiety, abuse, unresolved trauma, guilt, jealousy and even hysteria, while underpinning everything with sinister threads of the supernatural to keep you constantly on a knife-edge. She knows how to use the setting of a mysterious old building to stifling perfection, creating a sense of otherness that is strikingly vivid.

This novel is profoundly disturbing, and one of the best chillers I have ever read. You will find yourself turning this story over in your mind a lot once you have closed the covers. I promise this one will haunt you, but you will love every second.

Shadow Girls is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you for Head of Zeus for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Carol Birch s the award-winning author of twelve novels, including Jamrach's Menagerie, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2011. Her first novel, Life in the Palace, won the David Higham Award (Best First Novel of the Year), and her second novel, The Fog Line, won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. Born in Manchester, she now lives in Lancaster.