The Younger Girl: A Historical Thriller Based on a True Crime
A DARK LABYRINTH OF FAMILY BETRAYAL
Based on a true crime, The Younger Girl, by trailblazing, award-winning writer Georgia Jeffries combines historical fiction and supernatural suspense to unravel a thrilling tale of family deception and long-denied redemption.
In 1933, Chicago tabloids trumpeted the death of twenty-year-old town belle Aldine Younger.
"HEIRESS SLAIN, MARRIED MAN HELD."
In the aftermath of Aldine Younger's tragic death, her grieving brother Owen suspects that their wealthy uncle orchestrated a sinister murder plot to cover up the theft of Aldine's inheritance. Fast forward to 1996, when an aging Owen, burdened by the weight of the past, is compelled to discover the truth before he dies. His daughter, Joanna, becomes the key to unraveling the family's twisted history.
Father and daughter journey back to Pontiac, Illinois, to claim Owen's rightful bequest. They find themselves caught in a labyrinth of lies born of family greed and treachery crossing three generations. Amidst violent storms and dramatic revelations, Owen's sanity teeters on the edge as he confuses Joanna with the sister he lost. Joanna, racing against time, unearths secrets that could shatter her world and discovers a psychic bridge linking past, present, and future. But at what cost? And who will survive the revelations?
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"In Jeffries' thriller, a woman is inspired by her ill father's cryptic comments to investigate the death of her aunt. This is an unusual story that's sometimes quite tangled and incredibly dark in tone, but it's told with great poignancy by Jeffries, who writes that she aims to use the "liberating power of fiction" to revive a real-life tale. An often-gripping story of family dysfunction and murder." -Kirkus Reviews
"A deftly crafted and simply fascinating read from start to finish." -Midwest Book Review
"True-crime stories are difficult, and far more so, when the true crime is in your own family. Georgia Jeffries's triumphant novel tells the story of her aunt Aldine Younger's killing in 1933-a violent death that has cast a long and complex shadow over the family, the community, and far beyond. Viewing these events through the lens of fiction, Jeffries deploys clear-eyed research and lucid, evocative prose to craft a novel that will haunt long after the book is closed." -Howard A. Rodman, novelist/screenwriter; professor, School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California; vice president, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; past president, Writers Guild of America West
"The Younger Girl is historical fiction at its best. Through meticulous research, Georgia Jeffries creates an eye-opening, immersive story about a family, then and now, nearly stripped bare from greed and the steadfast refusal to acknowledge a painful past." -Rachel Howzell Hall, best-selling author of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize nominated And Now She's Gone, We Lie Here and What Fire Brings
"The Younger Girl is an expertly told haunting tale of family, buried truths, and betrayal. Georgia Jeffries has burst onto the mystery scene at a very high level! She's a writer to watch." -Matt Coyle, bestselling Anthony Award-winning author of the Rick Cahill crime series
"Georgia Jeffries's The Younger Girl shines a beacon of light on the inherited effects of multigenerational trauma. We're transported in time and space inside the clapboard houses of the Midwest. Through the discovery of a murder we bear witness to the darkness that resides in us all, waiting to be transformed." -Janet Leahy, executive producer/writer, Mad Men, Gilmore Girls, Boston Legal
"Georgia Jeffries's The Younger Girl takes the reader on a spellbinding journey into the darkest of family secrets. The mysterious death of an heiress years before provides the catalyst to this mix of haunting suspense and surprising twists. Highly recommended!" -Dennis Palumbo, author of the award-winning Daniel Rinaldi mysteries and Peabody Award nominee for The Patient
