• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (August 4, 2015)
"We'll choose to remain invisible. To everyone except each other . . . "
Brought together by chance as teenagers at Turning Winds, a home for girls, Nora, Ozzie, Monica, and Grace quickly bond over their troubled pasts and form their own family, which they dub The Invisibles. With a fierce loyalty to each other, the girls feel that they can overcome any obstacle thrown their way. Though the walls they've built around themselves to keep out the rest of the world are thick, they discover one night, when tragedy strikes, that there are cracks in their tight-knit circle.
While Ozzie, Monica, and Grace leave after graduation to forge a fresh start, Nora decides to stay behind in Willow Grove. Now, fifteen years later, she's content living a quiet, single life working in the local library and collecting "first lines"—her favorite opening lines from novels. But when Ozzie calls out of the blue to let her know Grace has attempted suicide and is desperate for them to reconvene, Nora is torn between elation at seeing the women who were once her most cherished, trusted friends and anxiety over the unresolved conflicts that will most certainly surface.
As the women gather and reminisce, the truth about their lives comes to light. And when The Invisibles decide to take the road trip they always dreamed of, they will be forced to reveal their deepest secrets and confront the night that changed them forever.
Review:
Turning Winds Home for Girls takes in troubled and orphaned girls. This is where four teenage friends meet and form a strong bond over their unique status of having no parents present in their lives, no visits, no contact, and no phone calls. Nora, Ozzie, Monica and Grace form The Invisibles, a family of their own, at least until graduation. Self-proclaimed ring leader of the group, Ozzie, decides that they should all forget and move on after tragic events after graduation. Ozzie, Monica and Grace move out of town and on to bigger and better, or so it seems; meanwhile Nora stays in town with the Shadow of the Turning Winds Home. Nora has a job at the library, her dog Alice Walker, her collection of favorite first lines from books, and all the pain of the secrets she has kept from her childhood. Nora desperately wishes her friends would reunite again, and with one phone call from Ozzie fifteen years later, The Invisibles rise again.
This is a heartwarming story of friendship, pain, redeeming yourself and moving on. Each of the four girls carries around an amazing load of baggage from their childhood. I loved The Invisibles group, they form as a wonderful therapy. The rules are amazing and what the girls try to do for one another shows true companionship, but as children they can only make themselves feel better at the moment and not actually solve any of the deep-rooted issues in their lives. Each of the girls was very interesting and with their own personalities, Nora was my favorite of the group quiet, reserved, observant and I loved her first line collection. It was interesting to see how each woman’s baggage and personality affected them as adults and how they came to eventually deal with it. The emotions were real and raw with issues that many women might face, abusive relationships, body insecurities, sex, postpartum depression, money and abortion.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
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Cecilia Galante is the author of three young adult novels, three middle-grade books, and a children's chapter-book series. She is the recipient of many awards, including a NAIBA Book of the Year and an Oprah's Teen Read Selection for her first novel, ThePatron Saint of Butterflies. Her books have been translated into Japanese, Turkish, and Polish.
Find out more about Cecilia at her website, and connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.