COMPARISON: THE BROKEN GIRLS VS. THE SUN DOWN MOTEL
I’d first heard about Simone St. James on the My Favorite Murder podcast. She’d recently come out with her book The Sun Down Motel (and it had rave reviews believe me) so I got curious. Unfortunately, I was unable to get it via the library for some time so I began her other book, The Broken Girls, instead. I was disappointed by it. The Broken Girls had good bones for a story, plots which could have been compelling woven together across decades. I had high hopes. It didn’t deliver. But through it, I was able to trace an increase in the quality of her writing to The Sun Down Motel. The Sun Down Motel was markedly better than Broken Girls. St. James honed her craft and the plot devices from Broken Girls to go on to majorly improve them and implement them in The Sun Down Motel. Below I will explain the plot synopses, and then the similarities and differences between them.
The Broken Girls: Synopsis
Vermont 2014: 37-year-old journalist Fiona Sheridan has spent years desperately trying to come to terms with the murder of her sister and the mystery of why her body was dumped in the middle of a field on the abandoned grounds of Idlewild Hall, a school for wayward girls. Her sister’s boyfriend was convicted of the murder over twenty years ago but something doesn’t sit right with Fiona. When she learns that Idlewild is reopening she finds herself drawn to write a story about it all while trying to uncover the truth of what really happened to her sister.
Vermont, 1950: Four teenage girls at Idlewild Hall are drawn together and eventually bound in the ties of friendship the way only teenage girls can be. They share dorm rooms, secrets, gossip, and their past traumas, all while a ghost runs rampant on Idlewild grounds. The ghost has long been fodder for rumor in the small town where the school is located. In stories she stalks the grounds of Idlewild in the dead of winter, beckoning young girls to their deaths. When one of the girls goes mysteriously missing the others work to uncover the secrets of Idlewild Hall and the secrets of the pasts that haunt them.
The Sun Down Motel: Synopsis
Fell, New York, 2017: 21-year-old Carly has been fascinated by her aunt’s disappearance for the last 35 years. When her mom passes away, she decides it is time for her to investigate what happened to her Aunt Viv all those years ago in 1982 at the Sun Down Motel in Fell New York. Leaving college, she travels to Fell for what she assumes will be some research at the library and a few interviews, but ends up working the night shift at the Sun Down Motel. As the ghosts of the motel wake up, Carly finds herself in the middle of a mystery that spans well over forty years.
Fell, New York, 1982: When Viv Delaney ends up in Fell, New York it is completely by accident. After leaving home for a shot at life in New York City, she’s dropped off at the Sun Down Motel where she exchanges night work for a place to sleep. She stays on at the Sun Down, working the night shift. But the motel is not what it seems. It is a meeting place for the living and the dead, with presences that mean her harm. As she learns, Fell is full of missing and murdered women, and Viv must learn why before she becomes the next to go.
Ok, so we’ve got some similarities right off the bat.
Both books contain alternating timelines decades apart.
Both books involve a missing woman.
Both books have a ghost story in the plot
Both books take place in New England
Both books involve female protagonists who must solve a mystery
But here’s the thing. In The Broken Girls, the supernatural plot elements are simply quick throw-ins compared to the rest of the narrative. The ghost hardly figures into the book at all which if you’re looking for a ghost story you'll be disappointed. She’s something very single townsperson comments on. “Yeah, I believe she’s real” blah blah blah. Other than that she has hardly any foothold in the plot. And honestly? The story of the ghost struck me as far more interesting than either of the plots. She falls simply under the realm of deus ex machina.
Another thing- Fiona’s sister’s murderer has already been caught. In fact, we forget halfway through that he’s been caught considering all Fiona seems to talk bout is how she’s not sure who killed her sister. We never even get to meet him. Truly, he’s the real specter of the story, haunting the rest of the characters from his prison cell far away. Also, St. James fits in an easy solution to one of the mysteries which is based in WWII. I have no problem with WWII in books but I personally don't prefer a return to that era in a plot since I think it's so common in stories now.
St. James' writing is also far clunkier in the first book than in the second. Her plot moves too fast and feels unbelievable. She writes a relationship between a cop and the journalist that is empty and one-sided and really only serves as a narrative to explain that the journalist gets laid sometimes and the father of the cop doesn’t trust her. So there’s that.
In contrast, Sun Down Motel’s ghosts take center stage in this story. They haunt the hotel and alert Carly to the dangers in Fell, and give her clues that help solve the mystery. This doesn’t make the story cheesy, however. Inf act, even though I myself am skeptical when there are supernatural elements to mysteries, I found that the ghosts not only provided a terrifying atmosphere but also provided some much-needed pathos to the story.
There’s also the personal tie in around Carly and Viv. Carly follows in her aunt’s footsteps and her disappearance has affected her throughout her life. Viv, much like the murderer in Broken Girls, is a specter haunting the story as much as any of the others. There's a lot of connection between Carly and Viv that drives the plot. The narrative is far more cohesive, and frankly, interesting this way.
Now I do as usual have my gripes. The plot moves a little too quickly and easily. To show up at someone’s apartment and immediately be given a spot as a roommate raises my hackles. I think St. James has another good set of bones with the flesh stuck on tighter, but a lot of the pacing still missed the mark. The twist though was excellent and I really enjoyed the mysteries in the book overall. I’m a sucker for small towns and ghost stories so The Sun Down Motel hit the spot. Would I read more of St. James? Probably not, but I think for fans of historical fiction, true crime, or ghost stories she's definitely worth the time. These books in particular not too scary or gruesome but I’d suggest it for ghost story fans and true crime aficionados alike!
RATING:
The Broken Girls: 💛💔💔💔💔
The Sun Down Motel: 💛💛💛💔💔
A-LIKES:
My Favorite Murder Podcast with Karen Kilgarrif and Georgia Hardstark
And That’s Why We Drink Podcast with Em Schultz and Christine Schiefer
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
The Voyeur (2017) dir. Myles Kane and Josh Koury, starring Gay Talese
The Diviners by Libba Bray
Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson
Comments
Post a Comment