Grace hardly leaves her flat. It’s been that way for a couple of years now. She hasn’t even seen her closest friends since that last night they all hung out together, when it all went so badly. But now, as she watches her flatmate enjoy her life, have a relationship, think about a future, Grace wants more for herself than the small life she’s made for herself. And that’s when the invitation appears.
Hannah is a new mom. She had waited for so long, tried so many times while her body betrayed her, but finally she was able to bring her pregnancy to full term, and she and Chris have a beautiful baby boy. She is so grateful. But she’s also exhausted. Chris doesn’t help out all that much, and his mother is constantly berating her for her mistakes. Being a mother isn’t quite the beautiful experience Hannah had always imagined. And that’s when the invitation appears.
Alice is a teacher, which she enjoys. But she’s always on edge around her boyfriend Tom. They’ve just bought a flat together, which took all of her savings, but it’s what you do when you’re building a future together. Alice worries about money, but more than that she worries about Tom’s behavior. He’s callous towards her, occasionally even saying something cruel. She worries about their future, or even if they have one. And that’s when the invitation appears.
Felicity was always the leader of the four of them. After that night two years ago, she lost touch with the other three, especially since she moved to New York City and they all stayed in London. But her birthday is coming up, her thirtieth birthday, and she decides it’s time for them all to come together again. So she sent out the invitations.
The invitation was for a long weekend in Botswana, all expenses paid. Felicity took care of their flight, of their lodging, of everything. Each of the women had reasons to stay away. But they also had reasons to get back together, to see if the friendship could be saved, since they all so badly need a friend.
Grace, Hannah, and Alice fly out together form London, and once their flight lands, once the driver takes them to the lodge where they’ll be staying, they find themselves at the lodge. Felicity doesn’t greet them—she’s not feeling well—but there is a buffet laid out for them, and their individual lodges await them. The lodges have soft bedding and claw-footed tubs, and each one has their own pool. The lodges are secluded, surrounded by African wilderness with all its beauty and danger.
The women enjoy their first evening together, and the next morning they awake to a text message saying they’d be going on a safari at 7:30. They are all excited and meet outside. But nothing happens. Felicity doesn’t show up. There is no car. The women start to wonder what is going on. They try to reach Felicity and can’t get ahold of her. When they go to her lodge, it looks like there was never anyone there. There are no clothes no personal effects, no makeup.
Grace, Hannah, and Alice all start to question everything they had known about the trip. Their phones won’t work, so they can’t call for help. And if they could, they don’t even know the address of the lodge. They have no vehicles, no way to go for help. They could walk, but there are many different animals that could kill them, and they don’t even know which direction to go to find the nearest town.
So what exactly is happening to them? Was Felicity ever there at all, or did she set them up from afar? Or worse, could it have been one of them who turned on the other two and set up this nightmare weekend? As their paranoia swirls within them, the air around them turns on them, a sudden rain shower pelting them as they try to find a way to help themselves. Will any of them make it out of Botswana alive, or will this trip destroy them all?
Phoebe Morgan’s The Wild Girls is a locked-room mystery with a wicked twist. The story of these friends and all their secrets, the choices they made that tore them apart and the hope that brings them back together, is a thrill ride that reaches to their greatest moments and takes readers to their lowest points. The layers of deception between these friends go deep, and as they are peeled back one by one, these women are pushed to their limits in order to survive.
I loved reading The Wild Girls. The backdrop of Botswana was fascinating, and using the secluded lodge like a locked-room is nothing but fun. Trying to guess at what happened between these women kept me turning the pages to get to the answers. I do wish that these women showed more agency in their relationships with the men in their lives, but they all showed strength and courage on the trip to Botswana. I do recommend this one, but with some caveats. It’s imperfect, but it’s still a lot of fun to read and could start some good and interesting conversations about relationships.
Egalleys for The Wild Girls were provided by William Morrow Paperbacks through NetGalley, with many thanks.
