Night on Old Barrons Road

In 1950, a terrified schoolgirl races down Old Barrons Road toward Idlewild Hall, a boarding school for "troubled" girls. The dusk is thick with fear, and she senses she's being followed by something not quite human—a veiled woman in black, known in local legend as Mary Hand. The girl's desperation and trauma are palpable, her memories haunted by war and hunger. As she plunges into the woods, chased by the ghostly figure, her panic crescendos. The chapter ends with her scream echoing into the night, setting the tone for a story where the past is never truly buried and the monsters are all too real.

Four Girls, One Secret

In 1950, four girls—Katie, CeCe, Roberta, and Sonia—share a dorm at Idlewild Hall. Each is an outcast: Katie is tough and beautiful, CeCe is kind but unwanted, Roberta is silent from trauma, and Sonia is a French refugee with secrets from the war. They bond over ghost stories, especially the legend of Mary Hand, whose presence is felt in the school's cold halls and cryptic textbook messages. The girls' friendship is a fragile lifeline in a place that discards them. Their whispered confessions and shared fears create a sisterhood, but the shadow of Mary Hand and the secrets each girl carries threaten to shatter their unity.

Ghosts in the Textbooks

The girls discover chilling messages scrawled in the margins of their ancient textbooks—warnings about Mary Hand, sightings, and cryptic rhymes. The ghost's legend is passed down through generations, a collective trauma encoded in Idlewild's very fabric. The girls debate Mary's origins: a student locked out in the cold, a mother who lost her child, a vengeful spirit. The supernatural is woven into their daily lives, blurring the line between myth and reality. The ghost stories become a way to process their own pain, but also a warning: at Idlewild, the past is never dead, and the dead are never silent.

Fiona's Obsession Rekindled

In 2014, Fiona Sheridan, a freelance journalist, is unable to move past her sister Deb's murder twenty years earlier. Deb's body was found on Idlewild's abandoned grounds, and her boyfriend Tim Christopher was convicted, but Fiona is tormented by unanswered questions. When she learns Idlewild is being restored, her obsession reignites. She pitches a story to her editor, determined to investigate the school's history and the circumstances of Deb's death. Fiona's relationship with her cop boyfriend Jamie is strained by her fixation, but she can't let go. The restoration threatens to erase the landscape of her grief—and perhaps the truth.

The Body in the Well

During the restoration, construction workers unearth a girl's skeleton in an old well on Idlewild's grounds. Fiona is present, documenting the find. The body is decades old, dressed in a school uniform, and the cause of death is a blow to the head. The discovery shocks the community and halts the restoration. Fiona is drawn into the investigation, determined to give the lost girl a name and a story. The past and present collide as the secrets of Idlewild begin to surface, and Fiona senses that solving this mystery may be the key to understanding her own loss.

The Past Awakens

Fiona delves into Idlewild's archives, aided by her father Malcolm, a legendary journalist. She learns the school was a dumping ground for unwanted girls—orphans, illegitimate children, the traumatized and the rebellious. The files are incomplete, but Fiona pieces together the lives of the four girls from 1950. She discovers Sonia Gallipeau, a French refugee, is the likely identity of the girl in the well. Sonia's story is one of survival and silence, her trauma from Ravensbrück concentration camp unspoken. Fiona's research reveals how easily girls like Sonia could disappear, their suffering ignored by those in power.

The Lost Girl's Name

With Jamie's help, Fiona confirms the body is Sonia Gallipeau, missing since 1950. Sonia was last seen leaving her relatives' home in Burlington, but never arrived at Idlewild. Her suitcase was found near the school, but the investigation was perfunctory—she was presumed a runaway. Fiona tracks down Sonia's surviving friends, now elderly women, and learns of their lifelong guilt and anger over Sonia's disappearance. The revelation that Sonia was a Holocaust survivor, only to be murdered in Vermont, is a gut punch. Fiona is determined to find out who killed her, and why.

The Survivors' Stories

Fiona interviews Roberta, now a retired lawyer, and discovers the enduring trauma of Idlewild. The girls' friendship fractured after Sonia's death, but they never stopped searching for answers. CeCe became a teacher, Katie married into wealth and changed her name, and Roberta fought for justice in her own way. Their memories are colored by grief, anger, and the haunting presence of Mary Hand. Each woman has carried the burden of Sonia's loss, and the knowledge that the world did not care about broken girls like them. Their stories are a testament to survival, but also to the cost of silence.

The Eden Family's Motive

Fiona's investigation into the restoration reveals that Margaret Eden, the wealthy widow behind the project, is actually Katie Winthrop. Katie bought Idlewild not for profit, but to find Sonia's body and lay her to rest. The restoration is a cover for a personal mission of redemption and closure. Katie, CeCe, and Roberta have spent their lives trying to solve Sonia's murder, hiring private investigators and even confronting a suspected Nazi war criminal. Their determination is a quiet rebellion against the indifference that allowed Sonia to be forgotten. Idlewild's restoration is, in truth, an act of love and defiance.

The Truth About Mary Hand

Fiona uncovers the real story of Mary Hand: a young woman who lost her baby and died of exposure, buried with her child on the grounds before Idlewild was built. Her legend grew as generations of girls projected their fears and traumas onto her. Mary's ghost is not just a haunting, but a manifestation of collective pain—the echo of every girl who suffered and was silenced. She appears to those most broken, showing them their deepest wounds. In the end, Mary is both a warning and a witness, her presence a demand that the truth not be buried with the dead.

The Girls' Pact

In the 1970s, the surviving girls confront Rose Albert, a local woman acquitted of being Ravensbrück guard Rosa Berlitz. Sonia's notebook, filled with drawings and memories, identifies Rose as her tormentor. The confrontation is intense; Rose confesses to killing Sonia to protect her secret, then dies of a heart attack. The girls leave her body, denying her the justice she denied Sonia. Their pact is one of loyalty and vengeance, a refusal to let the world forget what was done to them. They reclaim Sonia's memory, even as the law fails to hold her killer accountable.

The Cop's Secret

Fiona's investigation uncovers that Jamie's father, Garrett Creel, covered up for Tim Christopher, Deb's convicted killer. Garrett manipulated evidence, intimidated witnesses, and protected the powerful Christopher family. When Fiona confronts him, Garrett tries to kill her to keep his secrets buried. She escapes, and with Jamie's help, the truth comes out. The revelation shatters Jamie's faith in his family and his profession, but also frees him to choose his own path. The cost of silence and complicity is laid bare, and the cycle of abuse and cover-up is finally broken.

The Journalist's Gamble

Fiona's relentless pursuit of the truth puts her in danger, but also brings her healing. She exposes the cover-up, helps bring justice for Sonia and Deb, and reconnects with Jamie. Her work inspires others to speak out, and she finds a new purpose in telling the stories of the forgotten and the broken. The files of Idlewild are preserved, Sonia is given a proper burial, and the ghosts of the past are finally acknowledged. Fiona's journey is one of grief transformed into action, and of finding hope in the act of bearing witness.

The Final Confrontation

Katie, CeCe, and Roberta oversee the exhumation of Mary Hand's grave, determined to lay her and her baby to rest. The act is both literal and symbolic—a final reckoning with the past. As the coffin is unearthed, the women confront their own ghosts and the legacy of Idlewild. Mary's presence lingers, but her power is diminished. The school will not be restored; instead, it will be dismantled, its history preserved but its horrors ended. The women's solidarity is their triumph, and their refusal to forget is their victory.

Burying the Past

Sonia is buried with dignity, her friends and Fiona in attendance. Idlewild's files are entrusted to those who will remember, and the school's land is left to rest. Fiona and Jamie, both changed by what they've uncovered, choose to move forward together. The story ends with a sense of peace hard-won, and the knowledge that while the past can never be undone, it can be faced with courage and compassion. The broken girls are not forgotten, and their voices echo into the future.

Idlewild's Last Goodbye

As winter settles over Barrons, the last remnants of Idlewild are dismantled. The ghosts of the past—Mary Hand, Sonia, Deb—are honored and laid to rest. Fiona, Katie, CeCe, and Roberta stand together, survivors who have reclaimed their stories. The school's legacy is not just one of pain, but of resilience and solidarity. The final image is one of quiet triumph: the broken girls, no longer silent, bearing witness for those who could not speak. The past is not erased, but it is finally seen, and the future is theirs to claim.

Characters

Fiona Sheridan

Fiona is a freelance journalist whose life was shattered by her sister Deb's murder at Idlewild Hall. Driven by unresolved grief and a need for answers, she becomes obsessed with the mysteries of Idlewild, both past and present. Fiona's relationships are marked by distance and intensity—her bond with her father Malcolm is complicated by shared trauma, and her romance with Jamie is tested by her relentless pursuit of justice. Psychologically, Fiona is both wounded and resilient, channeling her pain into investigation. Her arc is one of transformation: from a woman trapped by the past to one who confronts it, exposes corruption, and finds a measure of peace by giving voice to the forgotten.

Katie Winthrop / Margaret Eden

Katie is the charismatic, rebellious leader of the 1950 Idlewild girls, later reinvented as Margaret Eden, the wealthy widow restoring Idlewild. Her beauty and strength mask deep wounds—abandonment, assault, and the loss of her friend Sonia. Katie's psychological armor is formidable; she manipulates, strategizes, and ultimately uses her resources to seek justice for Sonia. Her relationships with CeCe and Roberta are lifelong, forged in trauma and loyalty. Katie's development is a study in agency: she refuses to be a victim, orchestrates the search for Sonia's killer, and ultimately chooses to dismantle Idlewild rather than let its legacy continue. Her transformation is from broken girl to powerful matriarch, haunted but unbowed.

CeCe Frank

CeCe is the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy man, sent to Idlewild as an embarrassment. Kind, self-effacing, and often dismissed as "stupid," she is in fact deeply empathetic and quietly brave. CeCe's trauma centers on maternal rejection and a near-drowning, shaping her fear of abandonment. Her friendship with Katie and Roberta is her anchor, and her gift of a notebook to Sonia becomes a key to the mystery. As an adult, CeCe becomes a teacher and mother, finding fulfillment in nurturing others. Her arc is one of self-acceptance and the quiet assertion of her worth, proving that gentleness is not weakness.

Roberta Greene

Roberta is the athletic, reserved member of the group, sent to Idlewild after witnessing her uncle's suicide attempt. Her silence is both a symptom of trauma and a shield. Roberta's loyalty to her friends is unwavering, and she becomes Sonia's caretaker during her fainting spells. As an adult, she channels her pain into a career as a lawyer, fighting for the vulnerable. Roberta's psychological journey is about reclaiming her voice and agency, moving from passive suffering to active pursuit of justice. Her relationship with Katie and CeCe is marked by mutual respect and shared purpose, and her grief for Sonia is a driving force in her life.

Sonia Gallipeau

Sonia is a French refugee, survivor of Ravensbrück, and the girl found in the well. Her trauma is profound—she has lost her family, endured unimaginable suffering, and is left alone in a foreign country. Sonia's quiet intelligence and artistic talent are her means of survival; her notebook becomes a testament to her experience. Her relationships with the other girls are marked by gratitude and love, but also by the fear that she will never truly belong. Sonia's fate is a tragedy, but her story, once uncovered, becomes a catalyst for healing and justice. She is the embodiment of the broken girl whose voice is finally heard.

Jamie Creel

Jamie is a young police officer, son and grandson of Barrons' police chiefs. His relationship with Fiona is both a comfort and a source of conflict, as her investigation threatens his family's reputation. Jamie is principled, compassionate, and increasingly disillusioned by the corruption he uncovers. His psychological struggle is with loyalty—to his family, his profession, and Fiona. When he learns of his father's crimes, Jamie must choose between complicity and integrity. His arc is one of painful growth, as he breaks free from the past and supports Fiona in her quest for truth, even at great personal cost.

Malcolm Sheridan

Malcolm is Fiona's father, a renowned journalist and activist whose spirit was crushed by Deb's murder. His relationship with Fiona is loving but fraught, both of them haunted by grief and guilt. Malcolm's psychological journey is one of reawakening: Fiona's investigation rekindles his passion for justice, and he becomes her ally in exposing the truth. His arc is a reminder that even the most broken can find purpose again, and that bearing witness is an act of love.

Garrett Creel

Garrett is Jamie's father, former police chief, and the architect of the cover-up that protected Deb's killer. His actions are driven by loyalty to power and a belief in his own invulnerability. Garrett's psychological profile is one of entitlement, moral blindness, and ultimately desperation. His relationship with Jamie is poisoned by secrets, and his confrontation with Fiona is the climax of his unraveling. Garrett's downfall is both a personal tragedy and a symbol of the systemic failures that allow the vulnerable to be sacrificed.

Tim Christopher

Tim is Deb's boyfriend and her convicted murderer. Handsome, privileged, and entitled, he is the product of a system that shields the powerful. Tim's violence is impulsive, his remorse nonexistent. His relationships are transactional, and his crimes are enabled by those around him. Tim's arc is a cautionary tale about unchecked privilege and the dangers of silence.

Mary Hand

Mary Hand is both a legend and a psychological force—a ghost born of grief, loss, and the suffering of generations of girls. She appears to those most broken, showing them their deepest wounds. Mary is not simply a malevolent spirit, but a manifestation of the pain and injustice endured by Idlewild's girls. Her presence is a demand for remembrance, a refusal to let the past be forgotten. Mary's arc is the story's emotional core: the acknowledgment that the dead are never truly gone, and that healing requires facing what haunts us.

Plot Devices

Dual Timelines and Interwoven Narratives

The novel's structure alternates between 1950 and 2014, using parallel narratives to build suspense and emotional resonance. The stories of the four Idlewild girls and Fiona's investigation unfold in tandem, each illuminating the other. This device allows for foreshadowing, dramatic irony, and the gradual revelation of secrets. The intergenerational trauma is made palpable, and the reader is invited to see how the wounds of the past shape the present. The dual timelines also serve to critique the ways in which society fails its most vulnerable, across eras.

The Ghost as Metaphor

Mary Hand is both a literal ghost and a metaphor for trauma, grief, and the silencing of women. Her appearances are tailored to each character's deepest pain, forcing them to confront what they most fear. The ghost story structure allows the novel to explore the ways in which the past refuses to stay buried, and how collective suffering can become a haunting presence. The supernatural is used not for cheap scares, but to deepen the psychological stakes and underscore the need for acknowledgment and justice.

Hidden Records and Marginalia

The use of old textbooks, files, and marginal notes as vessels for hidden truths is a key device. The girls' messages in the textbooks are both warnings and acts of resistance, a way to communicate across generations. The lost files of Idlewild, preserved by chance, become the means by which the truth is finally uncovered. This device highlights the fragility of memory and the importance of documentation, especially for those whose stories are easily erased.

Unreliable Authority and Systemic Failure

The novel repeatedly exposes the failures of those in power—police, teachers, parents—to protect or believe the vulnerable. The cover-up of Deb's murder, the dismissal of Sonia's disappearance, and the indifference to the girls' suffering are all symptoms of a system that values reputation over justice. The plot's resolution depends on the courage of those who refuse to be silenced, and the exposure of the rot at the heart of authority.

The Power of Female Solidarity

At its heart, the story is about the bonds between women—how friendship, loyalty, and shared pain can become a source of strength. The girls' pact to seek justice for Sonia, their refusal to forget, and their eventual triumph over the forces that tried to erase them are the novel's emotional engine. The plot is propelled by their solidarity, and the resolution is a testament to the power of collective action.

Analysis

Simone St. James's The Broken Girls is a haunting meditation on trauma, memory, and the resilience of women in the face of systemic neglect and abuse. By weaving together a supernatural mystery with a deeply human story of loss and survival, the novel interrogates the ways in which society fails its most vulnerable—especially girls deemed inconvenient or broken. The ghost of Mary Hand is both a literal specter and a metaphor for the pain that lingers when injustice is ignored. The dual timelines allow the reader to see how the wounds of the past echo into the present, and how healing requires both truth-telling and solidarity. The novel's critique of authority—police, educators, families—is sharp, exposing the dangers of silence and complicity. Yet, at its core, The Broken Girls is a story of hope: the hope that comes from bearing witness, from refusing to forget, and from forging bonds that can outlast even the darkest of histories. The lesson is clear: the past cannot be changed, but it can be faced, and in facing it, we honor those who were lost and empower those who remain.

Last updated: November 11, 2025