Co-authored by Claire Matturro and Penny Koepsel

When late-night phone calls summon Jude Coleridge and Camille Prescott back to the Talbot Hall School for Girls, painful memories bombard them. Though estranged for years, both bear the physical and emotional scars from their youth.

At the boarding school, they were branded “the crazy girls, the ones who lie” and became unlikely best friends. They soon formed a trio with a new student, Wanda Ann, who pulled them into her bewildering relationship with the school psychologist, Dr. Hedstrom. But Wanda Ann’s wild stories masked a truth that threatened to engulf them all.

As teens, the girls could only rely on each other as they moved toward an unfathomable, fiery danger. Now, in the crumbling halls of Talbot, hours before the building’s demolition, they must grant forgiveness, to themselves and others, if they are to move forward.

PUBLISHER AND ACCOLADES

Red Adept Publishing, August 2021

• International Pulpwood Queen and Timber Guy Book Club Selection

“Sizzling with tension and intriguing characters, Wayward Girls, by Claire Matturro and Penny Koepsel, is set in a creepy Central Florida boarding school that is supposed to provide structure for teens whose parents or therapists have deemed them as too rebellious, who thought they were “crazy girls. The ones who lied.” Their infractions seem to be as trivial as skipping school—so what’s really going on?… The careful unfolding of the truth as the story moves back and forth in time is a testament to the skill of these talented authors. … The Matturro-Koepsel collaboration has produced a compelling novel, one worthy of wide readership and a lasting place on bookshelves.”
-Southern Literary Review August Read of the Month

“With characters so vivid and multi-dimensional, you’ll find yourself rooting for them, however long the odds. A tightly woven and eminently engaging tale, Wayward Girls is a can’t miss book for any audience.”
-Dennis “Mitch” Maley, Bradenton (FL) Times

“…a highly readable book with a strong sense of purpose. … Matturro and Koepsel have plotted the tale well, with high stakes and believable motives.”
-Crime Fiction Lover

“Though the work is fiction, the truths about control, about vulnerability, about the power of authoritative adults in a setting of isolation ring with truth. Wayward Girls doesn’t whitewash much in a story that as fiction will keep a reader needing to unravel one convoluted knot after another. … The writers have convincingly placed their characters in the middle of the1970s, with allusions to vernacular products and styles of speech, even the mores of the time. And it is this veracity, seemingly so close to the recollections the authors must have of their own time as ‘wayward girls’ in a remote boarding school not so very far away in memory-time, that gives Wayward Girls its punch.”
-Tallahassee (FL) Democrat

“Wayward Girls is a story for the times we live in now. As women of all ages demand equality and fair treatment, the shadow of the past looms larger than ever and must never be forgotten. It’s a compelling read with characters who stay with the reader long after the book is finished.”
-Carolyn Haines is the USA Today and multi-award-winning bestselling author of over 80 novels

“Wayward Girls is a portrait of brave sisterhood, infused with beauty and exquisite pain. Your heart will melt with every turn of the page.”
-Laura Benedict, Edgar-nominated author of the Bliss House novels and The Stranger Inside

“Wayward Girls delivers suspense, emotional depth, social commentary, and a gripping story. Grab a copy, a box of tissues, and the phone number of your oldest friend, because you’re going to want to talk about this one after you turn the last page. It’s a terrific book.”
-Mary Anna Evans, award-winning author of the Faye Longchamp archaeological mysteries, and assistant professor of creative writing at University of Oklahoma

“Emotionally-charged and skillfully written, Wayward Girls is a poignant and heartrending story about trauma, its lifelong hold on one’s psyche, and the need for self-forgiveness.”
-Kelly Stone Gamble, USA Today Best-Selling author

“As adults, Jude and Camille have little in common except soul-searing memories of the sultry heat of Florida, the loss of innocence…and murder. As teens, they stood scared but defiant in the shadows of Talbot Hall. Helpless against adults who label them as delinquents and delusional—not because they are but because labels keep them isolated and controlled—there is no one to save them, no one to rely upon but each other…if they are to survive. Wayward Girls isn’t a relaxing afternoon read nor a story to read only when time allows. It’s gut-wrenching and haunting with characters who grab and hold until their story is told.”
-Susan Yawn Tanner, author of four Trouble black-cat detective novels and the The Bellamys of Texas series

“While the story goes to some dark places (it is a school for troubled teens, after all), readers can’t help but get engaged in the evolving friendships formed at Talbot, and the secrets that bonded these three girls for life. Wayward Girls will leave readers asking: Who are the friends in your life who will help you hide the body?”
-Blogger and award-winning author Karen Spears Zacharias

SUBSIDIARY RIGHTS

Audio

• Red Adept Publishing