The Quinn sisters, at the center of Peacock’s adaptation of Karin Slaughter’s “The Good Daughter,” have been to hell and back. Much like the novel it’s based on, the six-episode series immediately delves into the family tragedy that left the pair estranged from each other and badly traumatized. It’s a bleak story, but an important one.

Meghann Fahy (“The Perfect Couple”) and Rose Byrne (“This Is Where I Leave You”) star as Charlotte and Samantha. Younger sister Charlotte lives in Pikeville, Ga., where she works with her father, Rusty (Brendan Gleeson), as a defense lawyer. Samantha lives in New York City, where she works as a patent lawyer.

Now in their 40s, the sisters’ lives couldn’t be any more different. Charlotte is scrappy and tomboyish, is going through marital problems, and takes care of the neighborhood raccoons and other critters. Samantha is very wealthy, has a private driver and wears head-to-toe black. She is very serious, regimented and private.

A town tragedy brings the sisters back together for the first time in 10 years, with a little help from Rusty. Sam returns, and what follows is a lot of bitchy sniping between the women, with the optimistic and charming Rusty doling out advice disguised as Flannery O’Connor quotes.

The story flows in two timelines. One shows the sisters in their current lives trying to piece together some facts from their past while unraveling the current town tragedy. The other shows the sisters at ages 13 and 15 and digs deeper into their trauma and what made them the women they are today.

Slaughter is not just the author of the novel; she is also the showrunner and executive producer. The series remains mostly true to the book with a few small changes that aren’t too distracting and don’t set anything off course. The writer being so involved helps make this a particularly faithful adaptation.

I read the novel recently and had to mentally prepare myself to watch what happened to the Quinn sisters unfold on screen. Like a lot of Slaughter’s work, the show doesn’t shy away from the details of horrific crimes. The book and series both held my interest but I cannot say they were enjoyable. Bad things happen to people and a LOT of bad things happen to this family.

I watched the series with someone who hadn’t read the book and he was a little confused about who was who, what was happening and how the events connected. I could absolutely see how it would be hard for someone who was not familiar with the story to follow.

That being said, the acting was incredible, and the casting was perfect. Byrne, who is in everything—which I am not mad about—disappears into the role as the solemn, scarily intelligent Samantha. She plays her as determined and confident. Fahy’s Charlotte (aka Charlie aka Chuck) is phenomenal. You can see her deep pain in her eyes and the way she carries herself. Charlotte is also very sure of herself and does not take any crap from anyone.

Drew Cheek plays young Charlie and Audrey Grace Marshall plays young Sam. The talented girls will break your heart.

Olivia Williams stars as the girls’ mother, Gamma. Much like Sam, she is a genius and a bit quirky. She shares a lot of unique wisdom with the girls and keeps Rusty on his toes.

Gleeson’s Rusty is a lovable troublemaker who loves his daughters deeply and is both hated and revered in his small town. Gleeson has a twinkle in his eye and gives us some of the lighter moments in the series.

Another standout is Harper Steele as Rusty’s longtime bestie Lenore. I would’ve liked more Lenore. She is very loving to the sisters and has been an important figure to Charlie throughout her life. She shows she cares, but also serves a side of smartass comments.

I did prefer the book to the series, but I am glad I watched it. If you liked the darkness of “Mare of Easttown” and “Sharp Objects,” this might be the series for you.

About the writer

S. Lynn was introduced to Karin Slaughter’s work after she spontaneously purchased “Pretty Girls” while she was new to the thriller genre. She naively thought this could be like “Big Little Lies” or “Verity” and was just not prepared for the descriptions of violence and horrific events. Surprisingly, she loved it. Since S. Lynn has now watched several seasons of “Dateline” and many murder documentaries, she felt ready to read another Slaughter book. She was not disappointed, but she was and still is traumatized.