Title: THE GOOD SISTER
Author: Sally Hepworth
Read: May 2021
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Book Description:
From the outside, everyone might
think Fern and Rose are as close as twin sisters can be: Rose is the
responsible one and Fern is the quirky one. But the sisters are devoted to one
another and Rose has always been Fern's protector from the time they were small.
Fern needed protecting because their mother was a true sociopath who hid her
true nature from the world, and only Rose could see it. Fern always saw the
good in everyone. Years ago, Fern did something very, very bad. And Rose has
never told a soul. When Fern decides to help her sister achieve her heart's
desire of having a baby, Rose realizes with growing horror that Fern might make
choices that can only have a terrible outcome. What Rose doesn't realize is
that Fern is growing more and more aware of the secrets Rose, herself, is
keeping. And that their mother might have the last word after all.
My musings:
I'm not sure why I thought that this book would not
be for me. Maybe it was the premise of a main character with a spectrum
disorder, a theme that has been insanely popular since the rise to fame of
ELEANOR OLIPHANT (but mostly doesn’t even come close to the original). Oh, I
thought, and here is yet another domestic noir novel about good and bad
sisters. Yawn! But I was wrong! And because my husband loves me to admit that,
I will say it again: I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrooooong. Happy now? As
it happened, I nearly devoured the whole book all in one sitting during an
interstate plane flight, hours of uninterrupted reading bliss. Once I started
the story, I had to know how it would end!
Despite all my original doubts, twin 1, Fern, quickly endeared herself to me
with her fresh, honest and guileless voice. Twin 2, Rose, makes her own POV
known through journal entries, which are subtly different from those of her
sister. Hinting at an unhappy, abusive childhood, the foundations of the
sisters' relationship are being explored and I found their dynamics
fascinating.
In hindsight, I feel that calling this book a domestic thriller or a mystery
was a bit misleading as the mystery component formed merely a tiny portion of
the story. Instead, we are privy to the fascinating dynamics of a twin
relationship that has been twisted out of shape by an unhappy childhood. But was
it? Rose’s memories of their upbringing are very different from Fern’s, so
which sister is telling the truth? Whilst some of the story was fairly predictable
(and I don’t mean that in a bad way), the slow unravelling of the sisters' bond
was fascinating to watch and those twists that snuck their way into the story
were worth waiting for.
THE GOOD SISTER was a fast and
entertaining read I was loathe to put down. Hepworth infuses her story with the
subtle tongue in cheek humour I appreciate so much in Australian fiction
and which added an extra enjoyable and unique element to this sister mystery
for me. There was drama, a bit of suspense, tension, a touch of romance and a
few twists along the way that added a surprise element to the story. I utterly
fell in love with Fern and Wally and vacillated between anxiety and warm-and-fuzzy
as the story progressed. All in all a very enjoyable read, and I am very grateful
to my friend Sarah who insisted that I should give it a go!
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