The Island of Lost Girls by Alex Marwood (Review by Lara Ferguson)

5 of 5 stars

La Kastellana is an exquisite tropical paradise, an isolated island, rich with traditions, unspoiled by the outside world. For twelve-year-old Mercedes it is home. A place of love, work, and family until by chance she meets Tatiana and unknowingly begins a relationship that will provide her with a look at all the ugliness that immense wealth can provide.

When they meet, Mercedes is mystified and excited to spend time with Tatiana. She is bold and unfettered by the island traditions so deeply rooted in Mercedes’ existence. When Tatiana’s father Matthew Meade, a multimillionaire who is developing the island, “hires” Mercedes to be Tatiana’s friend, Mercedes is quickly initiated into the world of the entitled rich and begins to experience first-hand the price that her island will pay for this unimaginable wealth.

Thirty years later, the island has become a playground for the very rich and Mercedes, working as the Meade’s house manager to repay a debt finds herself increasingly disillusioned with the debauchery she is witnessing. Young girls, rich men, alcohol and drugs and sex. The things that no one acknowledges or discusses.

Enter Robin who is searching for her teenage daughter Gemma, who has been missing for over a year. When the trail leads to LaKastellana, Robin begins asking questions and quickly finds herself in a hostile environment. No one is willing to help her but she is determined to find Gemma before it is too late.
Reminiscent of recent events, The Island of Lost Girls, is a harrowing, thought-provoking novel that questions the way the world tacitly accepts and perhaps encourages the excesses of the “ultra-rich.”