The Roanoke Girls

I really liked Lane as the narrator of The Roanoke Girls. She is often rude and completely lacking in empathy, but I could always understand why she behaved as she did and her attitude made a refreshing change from the more usual 'nice' or 'vulnerable' heroines. Lane's life and choices are determined by the bizarre family situation from which her mother escaped. As the novel progresses we learn more about the ramifications of her ancestry and are given glimpses of the women and girls before her who were consumed by Roanoke. These little vignettes are interesting diversions and I would have appreciated more depth and detail in these chapters.

I was concerned by Engel's writing style. The underlying plot is certainly adult in nature, but Lane and her cousin Allegra read as Young Adult characters and the overall style is young adult too. For me, this contrast didn't sit well and I frequently felt uncomfortable. I also expected a lot more in the way of tension and suspense. The secret of Roanoke is given away surprisingly early so, while the whole book is very readable and I zoomed through it almost without putting it down at all, this was more to discover Lane's ultimate decision rather than because I was gripped by the central mystery.

The Roanoke Girls seemed to be on everyone's reading shelf last year so I waited a while before picking it up myself and I am glad I did so. The novel is a good read in a darkly entertaining way, but I can't say that it warrants all the hype I remember.

Lane never understood her mother's depression, or hatred of her childhood home, until it was too late. She had never met any of her mother's family. They never wrote, or called. She always thought maybe they were dead, until her mother's suicide when she was told her grandparents wanted her to come and live with them. What at first seemed to be the first time Lane would ever have a normal family life turned out to be anything but normal. When Lane ran like hell after that summer in her grandparents home, she never expected to come back.
I liked the way it was told in alternating time periods of "Then" and "Now" as we learn what Lane ran from, and how it came to shape every aspect of her life and relationships.
Although a bit too predictable to hold any truly shocking moments it did hold my interest.

I received an advance copy for review