The Longings of Wayward Girls by Karen Brown

The Longings of Wayward Girls has a rather slow start, but eventually the story unfolds as Sadie and her friends play a cruel trick on a friend. With the descriptions of the woods, the pond, and the inclusion of a town map hand drawn in the book, the sense of location was well done.

Reading about the playtime of children is not exactly compelling, and the book spends quite a bit of time with the main characters as children. The story covers the lives and actions of childhood friends and the repercussions of their childish behavior that lingers after they have grown into adults.

 I guess the character of Sadie was meant to be portrayed as a sympathetic character because of the loss of a baby and overwhelming depression, but Sadie seemed to me to be a selfish, self-focused woman still acting like a child. Caring about her was difficult. Her obsession with a childhood friend and his connection to her mother was a little odd and not very believable.

My biggest disappointment is that the book begins with the disappearance of Laura Loomis and although it appears to be basis of the book, it was really not part of the story at all. Ultimately, the only thing I cared about is never resolved.