Review of "Darling Girls: A Novel of Suspense" by Sally Hepworth

Miss Holly Fairchild's house in Port Arthur, called Wild Meadows, was supposed to be an ideal placement for foster children. In the Australian countryside, with fresh air and a school nearby....what could be bad?

What's bad is that Miss Fairchild, who had a nice appearance, was an obsessive control freak who kept her charges, always girls, under a VERY tight thumb.



Miss Fairchild had a mean disposition; provided barely enough food to sustain life; and made the girls clean the house for hours every day. Miss Fairchild also got drunk and railed against the children for imaginary infractions.



The story revolves around three women, now in their thirties, who lived at Wild Meadows more than 25 years ago. The ladies, who aren't related, call themselves 'sisters' and remain close friends.

The three foster sisters are Jessica, Norah, and Alicia.

👩‍🦰 Jessica, married to a man named Phil, is a well-to-do professional home organizer.



Jessica has anxiety issues and steals prescription medicine from the houses she organizes. Jessica got away with the thefts for a while, but her latest client, Debbie Montgomery-Squires is making a fuss and threatening Jessica's professional reputation.

****

👩‍🦰 Norah, who has anger issues - and lashes out with her fists - makes money by taking employment competency tests for other people.



Norah goes out with men strictly to get free house repairs, and she recently punched out a bad date named Kevin. Now Kevin is threatening to go to the police, which could land Norah in jail. That's unfortunate, because Norah just met a man she actually likes.

👩‍🦰 Alicia is a social worker who helps children in difficult situations, and tries to get them fostered or adopted.



With the help of a close friend, Alicia is currently assisting a troubled boy, and is even thinking of adopting the child herself.

****

As the story opens, Wild Meadows has been sold, and while it's being torn down, human remains are found under the house - bones that have been there for many years. Detective Patel, who's in charge of the investigation, phones Jessica, Norah, and Alicia and asks them to come to Port Arthur to answer some questions.



The foster sisters reluctantly agree to cooperate, and the story alternates back and forth between the present, where there's an ongoing police investigation, and several decades ago, when the women were wards at Wild Meadows.

When Jessica, Norah, and Alicia lived at Wild Meadows they were always hungry; always busy with chores; and always on edge, because Miss Fairchild could erupt at any moment.







In addition, the foster sisters sometimes had to take TOTAL CARE of babies briefly fostered by Miss Fairchild, apparently for the money. This meant the girls sometimes had to skip school to feed, diaper, bathe, and sooth the infants day and night.



In the present, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are helping the police with their inquiries while also dealing with the issues in their personal lives. The tension ramps up when Miss Fairchild herself arrives in Port Arthur, and seems to be delusional, because she thinks the foster sisters will be happy to see her.





Hurtful past events are revealed as the story unfolds, some during sessions between an unidentified patient and a creepy psychiatrist.

The novel demonstrates that bad parental figures leave a permanent mark on children, but the bonds of friendship can mitigate the damage. Moreover, love can be found at any stage of life.



This is a engaging story and a riveting mystery. Recommended to fans of suspense novels.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Jessica Clarke, who does a fine job.

Thanks to Netgalley, Sally Hepworth, and Macmillan audio for a copy of the book.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "The House of Hidden Meanings: A Memoir" by RuPaul

RuPaul is an American drag queen, singer, television personality, fashion icon, and writer. Among other accomplishments, RuPaul produces, hosts, and judges the reality competition 'RuPaul's Drag Race', which began airing in 2009 and is still going strong. In this memoir, RuPaul writes about his family; his life; his struggles; and his road to becoming a successful entertainer.


RuPaul Andre Charles




RuPaul judging 'RuPaul's Drag Race'

RuPaul was born in 1960 in San Diego, where he lived in a little house with his parents, Ernestine (Toni) and Irving, and his three sisters. As a boy RuPaul liked to watch television, which was "a window into something greater, a portal to new worlds." Inspired by television programs, RuPaul would put on shows for his mother, impersonating Tina Turner, or Carol Burnett, or LaWanda Page (who played Aunt Esther on Sanford and Son).


RuPaul's parents Ernestine and Irving


Young RuPaul


RuPaul with his sisters Renae, Rozy, and Renatta

RuPaul's mother was a strong flinty woman who taught him independence and self-sufficiency, while RuPaul's father - who was charismatic but self-centered and a cheater - went off with his mistress when RuPaul was a boy. RuPaul saw little of his dad after that, and the loss was deeply felt by both RuPaul and his mother, who took to her bed for years when her husband left.


RuPaul's mother Ernestine Charles

Young RuPaul wasn't like most other boys. He writes, "Most queer people understand the experience of growing up feeling that you are a little bit different. But I was REALLY different.....I had been codified in the neighborhood consciousness from a young age as a sissy."


Adolescent RuPaul

RuPaul had some friends, but he felt depressed; bored at school; and trapped in provincial San Diego. By the time RuPaul was in 10th grade, he would skip class and sit in the quad smoking cigarettes until it was time to go home.

During high school RuPaul moved in with his sister Renatta and her husband Gerald, but he still cut classes and smoked weed. Soon afterwards, Gerald, Renata, and RuPaul moved to Atlanta, so Gerald could build up a business, which involved flipping luxury cars.

RuPaul observes that Atlanta was everything San Diego was not - Atlanta was progressive, cosmopolitan, and had a large Black population. RuPaul enrolled in the Northside School of Performing Arts, where he was in the chorus and took acting classes before he just stopped going to school. RuPaul then began helping Gerald with his business, driving cars back and forth across the country.


Atlanta had a large Black population

Wanting to break into show business, RuPaul worked up an act for an Atlanta public access television show called 'The American Music Show.' RuPaul notes, "The aesthetic of the American Music Show was unorthodox and raw....the guests would sing a song while playing guitar or perform a dance number or just it and chat." RuPaul and some girls he knew formed a punk rock group called 'RuPaul and the U-Hauls' and RuPaul made all the costumes. He recalls, "I'd buy cheap fabric and fashion a dress or a top from it, tie bands of fabric around my arms, make a headband."


RuPaul early in his career


RuPaul early in his career


RuPaul and the U-Hauls

In Atlanta, RuPaul felt like he'd found his community, that he belonged, that he was understood. RuPaul writes a good deal about this period of his life, when he hung out with friends, struggled with poverty, did his show around town, worked as a go-go dancer, formed a new punk rock group called Wee Wee Pole, dated some boys, and used a lot of substances, like alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, acid, sleeping pills, LSD, etc.

>
Atlanta had a lively party scene


RuPaul singing with Wee Wee Pole


Wee Wee Pole


RuPaul worked as a go-go dancer early in his career

RuPaul wanted to be a success in New York City, but had to hone his act in Atlanta before he could make it big up north. RuPaul went from 'Boy George' type drag to high-femme drag, and finally found his niche. Around this time, RuPaul decided he was going to stop using chemicals and clean up his act, but the reforms didn't last.


RuPaul in the 1980s


RuPaul doing a nightclub act in Atlanta n the 1980s

RuPaul got his big break with his 1992 song "Supermodel', which changed his life in many ways. Rupaul writes, "For the first time in my life, I had some money - which is not to say I was instantly rich. But since that day, I'd never again felt the fear of homelessness or poverty."


RuPaul hit it big with his song 'Supermodel'




RuPaul became a very popular entertainer

On the downside, RuPaul's alcohol and drug use crept back little by little. RuPaul remembers, "I was doing my nightclub act, promoting my products, and shooting movies. I was exhausted all the time. And the only way I knew to feel connected to the little part of me that was still left was to get high."

Concurrently, RuPaul was searching for romantic love, which added to his stress. RuPaul mentions a number of boyfriends that didn't work out, and writes about the ups and downs of his relationship with (his now husband) Georges Lebar, which was derailed (for a time) by their mutual substance abuse.


RuPaul and Georges Lebar early in their relationship


RuPaul and Georges Lebar

The book ends before the advent of 'RuPaul's Drag Race', and before RuPaul's marriage, so (I imagine) there might be a sequel.

This memoir feels like an honest depiction of RuPaul's life, without sugar coating. RuPaul was determined to be a star from the time he was a child, and he worked hard to achieve his goals while he struggled with family problems; used alcohol and drugs; had little or no money; saw the ravages of the AIDS epidemic; had runs in with police; mourned his mother's death; and more.

I'm a fan of RuPaul's Drag Race, and I'm always struck by RuPaul's empathy for the contestants, who - as gay men (for the most part) - often suffered rejection growing up. RuPaul's own background probably contributes to his understanding and good will.


Contestants on 'RuPaul's Drag Race'


RuPaul and the 'Pit Crew' on RuPaul's Drag Race

If you're a fan of RuPaul, this is a must read. Even if you're not a fan, this is still an interesting story. My major quibble would be that some of the philosophical insights, which are abundant, feel a bit tacked on.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "London Rules: Slough House #5" by Mick Herron

This is the 5th book in Mick Herron's 'Slough House' (Slow Horses) series, about British MI5 agents who've made a bad mistake and are relegated to working in a dilapidated building called Slough House.

The agents at Slough House, called 'slow horses', are given nothing but monotonous paperwork to do, and are itching to get back in the game. The novels in this series are best read in order because of the continuing story arc.

*****

The man in charge of Slough House is former spy master Jackson Lamb, an offensive slob who hurls insults at people, smokes too much, eats too much, and needs to shower and use deodorant. Regardless, Lamb feels compelled to look out for his 'joes' (agents), even if he thinks they're morons.



Lamb outdoes himself in this book, with his insults and put-downs, and Lamb seems even more unhygienic than ever, with his long dirty toenails sticking out of his holey socks, and his habit of sticking his hands down his pants to scratch.

'London Rules' means covering your butt, and MI5 has reason to do it again in this book. The trouble starts with Roddy Ho, a talented computer hacker with no people skills who's deluded himself into thinking he's irresistible to women.



In the previous book, Spook Street, a pretty girl named Kim Park lured Roddy into a relationship in order to milk him for money. Roddy thought Kim was TOTALLY into him, though Kim ALWAYS had a reason for not spending the night. Now Kim has finagled Roddy into REAL trouble.



The horror starts with a terrorist attack on the English village of Abbotsfield, which leaves 12 people dead. This is followed by an explosive thrown into a penguin exhibit called The Watering Hole, and a bomb in a London train.

In the midst of these events, there are two attempts on Roddy's life. First, a car tries to run Roddy down, but he's listening to music and doesn't notice.



Luckily, slow horse Shirley Dander observes the incident, and knocks Roddy out of the way. In his inimitable narcissitic fashion, Roddy interprets this as Shirley making a move on him.🙂



Second, someone take a shot at Roddy, and the gun is connected with the terrorist attack at Abbotsfield. This confluence of incidents gets the slow horses speculating, and J.K. Coe, who worked in psych-eval before being relegated to Slough House, has a startling insight.



The terrorists are following a strategy conceived by British intelligence, to destabilize troublesome regions. The steps are: 1. Destroy the village; 2. Poison the watering hole; 3. Cripple the railway; 4. Assassinate a populist leader.

Once Lamb learns the plan originated with MI5, it's a short step to determining that Roddy Ho gave a classified paper to his girlfriend Kim, who's working with the terrorists.

All this means that 'assassinate a populist leader' is next on the terrorists' agenda. The slow horses, in their bumbling way, hope to stop the assassination, though they don't know the identity of the target. There seem to be two prime candidates: fashionable MP Dennis Gimball, who lobbied for Brexit and hopes to be the next Prime Minister;



and Zafar Jaffrey, a Muslim mayoral candidate whose popularity is on the rise.



Slow horses River Cartright and J.K. Coe go to a venue where Gimball is scheduled to speak;



and slow horses Louisa Guy and Shirley Dander drive to an appearance by Zafar Jaffrey.



There's action and adventure at both venues, as well as some surprises.

While all this is occurring, MI5's second chair, Diana Taverner is (as usual) takng steps to cover her butt. To prevent the public from learning the terrorists are using a British plan, Diana orders a hit on them (in other words, don't catch them, kill them).



There's lots more going on in the story, including a scheme to sneak an ISIS member into England; Roddy Ho being 'arrested' by MI5, and (hilariously) thinking he's in protective custody; a cross-dressing politician who's threatened with being outed; a columnist with a political agenda; and more.



Herron's books - a mixture of humor and espionage - are always entertaining, and this is an especially good one.

Rating: 4 star