Her Sister's Child by Alison James
Genre: Psychological thriller, Domestic thriller, Domestic drama, Suspense
Read: 27th November 2020
Published; 26th November 2020
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
She rolls over and reaches for her instinctively: her baby. Her hand hits air and flaps redundantly. She stumbles out of bed and switches on the light. But this only confirms it. The baby is gone. Someone has taken her.
Sixteen years ago, Lizzie Armitage woke to find her newborn baby gone. Just days later, Lizzie was dead.
Her sister Paula swore she would do everything she could to find the child. If she hadn’t promised to keep Lizzie's pregnancy secret, maybe the baby wouldn’t have disappeared. And maybe Lizzie would still be alive. But, in nearly a decade, Paula’s never found any trace. Until now…
When Paula bumps into an old friend from the past, she realises she wasn’t the only one who knew about her sister’s child. Someone knows what happened that day. Someone knows where Lizzie’s baby went.
But can Paula find out the truth before another family is ripped apart?
A twisty, unputdownable psychological thriller that will keep you hooked until the last page. Fans of Behind Closed Doors, Friend Request and The Girl on the Train will love Her Sister’s Child.
MY REVIEW:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Alison James fantastic twisted thriller HER SISTER'S CHILD.
"She rolls over and reaches for her instinctively: her baby. Her hand hits air and flaps redundantly. She stumbles out of bed and switches on the light. But this only confirms it. The baby is gone. Someone has taken her."
The story opens with a woman, which we soon discover is Lizzie Armitage, waking from another drunken stupor to find that her newborn baby is gone. And then just a few short days later Lizzie is found dead in her flat. But became of her baby? Did she even have a baby? No one, not her parents nor her social worker or anyone knew if Lizzie was even pregnant. All except Paula, Lizzie's younger sister.
Despite being banned from having any contact with her alcoholic older sister, Paula Armitage snuck out as often as she could and made her way to the council flat in which Lizzie was living. One day upon arrival, she was shocked to discover the exposed stomach protruding on Lizzie's thin frame. Lizzie was pregnant. And by the looks of it, she was a fair way along. As soon as she realised Paula had seen the bulge, Lizzie begged her little sister not to tell anyone. Not a soul. If anyone discovered she was pregnant they would only take the baby from her and Lizzie wanted her child, vowing the baby would sober her up.
So Paula scavenged together her savings and went out to purchase babygros, nappies and a Moses basket, packing them into a drawer in Lizzie's wardrobe ready for the baby's arrival. When she left, she promised Lizzie she would be back again in a few days. But then her mother reminded her they were going away for the week, as they always do, to her aunt's in Liverpool. So Paula made a mental note to check in on Lizzie as soon as she returned from their holiday. As it turned out, it rained for most of the time so her mother decided that they should return home to London but before Paula could make her way over to Lizzie's, there was a knock on the door. It was the police. Lizzie had been found dead in her flat.
Paula was devastated, and shocked. Without thinking she asked "What about the baby?" Her mother and the police looked at her and said "What baby?"
Now sixteen years later, Paula is divorced with two teenage children of her own. She visits Lizzie's grave on what would have been her sister's 40th birthday and, still feeling guilty at having kept the pregnancy a secret, promises her that she will find out what happened to her baby. But over the course of time, Paula has found no evidence that a baby had ever existed. All the baby clothes, the nappies and even the Moses basket she was sure she had bought were all gone. Everyone who knew them denies there ever being a baby. Was Lizzie really ever pregnant? Or was it all a dream?
Then one day Paula bumps into an old friend, Johnny Shepherd, who, during reminiscing about Lizzie, asks "So what happened to her baby?" Paula knew then that she hadn't been dreaming. It was real. Lizzie HAD been pregnant. And yet her baby had disappeared. With Johnny's help, Paula is determined to find out what really happened to her sister's baby and uncover the truth behind what happened sixteen years ago.
Alongside Paula's story we also meet Charlie, a teenage girl who finds herself pregnant and, despite her parents cajoling, decides to keep the baby. Against her parents' wishes, she finds the bank account that was set up for her as a baby by her grandmother and sets out to convince the baby's father that they should set up home together. Jake is all for it once he discovers how much money is involved, convincing Charlie on leasing an Audi, despite needing the funds to live on until Jake gets a job. But Jake has no intention of getting a job...not with tens of thousands of pounds ready for the taking.
Charlie thought that the prospect of fatherhood would prompt Jake to take some responsibility but all he seems to be doing is milking her of her savings. Flat screen TV, games console, an Audi sports car which isn't child friendly...and yet he has never attended any of her scans or even acknowledged the existence of the baby, except to make known he only wants a boy. So when Charlie arrives home one day, heavily pregnant, to discover everything of any worth has gone along with Jake she realises she has been a fool.
And then her waters break...
Addictive and compelling from the start, HER SISTER'S CHILD is fast paced and suspenseful throughout as Paula searches to uncover the truth about what really happened to Lizzie's baby. Did the baby live or die? Was it a boy or a girl? Paula didn't even know. I enjoyed her quest for the truth as her and Johnny teamed up, despite wondering if Johnny had some ulterior motive (I kind of hoped he didn't), and watching it unfold.
Throughout the story we meet Paula as both an adult and a teenager in chapters from the past (which really should have been labelled as such). She is an endearing young woman who obviously cares deeply for her older sister, despite being forbidden to have anything to do with her. Lizzie is a seasoned alcoholic who ended up stealing from her family to fund her habit in alcohol and marijuana. Her's was a sorry tale of a life which ended at just 24 from an aortic aneurysm, perpetuated by her drinking.
Despite her resourcefulness, Charlie is a sweet, yet naive, young girl who I found myself yelling at much of the time. I could see the situations she was creating for herself and how they would end up, even if she couldn't. Her parents clearly wanted what was best for her and a child at 16 was not it. The money set up for her in the account she used to set up house with Jake was meant for her university education. But needs must and Charlie could not end the life of an innocent child just because it was inconvenient. Her chapters are somewhat depressing as the reader can clearly see how it will all turn out, even if Charlie couldn't.
By the time we reach Part Two and introduced to Marian, it is soon clear how Paula, Charlie and Marian are connected. These chapters are told "in the past" between Marian and a teenage Paula. My biggest gripe with the entire book is that there was no definition between the past and the present in the chapters. When Part Two begins, it should be titled as "2003" so the reader is aware that the following chapters take place in the past. It was a little confusing at first when I was reading with Lizzie being still alive and Paula returning home from school. This is when I realised the story had moved to sixteen years before. Then when we move into Part Three, we have "before" and "now" chapters although both take place in the present day. For clarity's sake, each "Part" should be clearly titled with their actual timeline.
Part One - Present Day
Part Two - 2003
Part Three - Present Day
And to make matters even more confusing, between Parts One and Two, there is something called "Untitled" with chapters one through to four. Well, it was in the pre-released ARC I received prior to publication. I can only hope that this is shifted into the end of the first part as there didn't seem to be any reason for it to stand alone "untitled". But with that aside, HER SISTER'S CHILD is a gripping read from beginning to end.
Told from the three narratives, the main character throughout is always Paula with Charlie and Marian's stories slowly emerging as the plot progresses. As the three women's stories collide, the result is shocking yet brilliant in a way that makes the story even better...if that were possible. Some twists were unexpected and some were predictable but on the whole, HER SISTER'S CHILD is a brilliant twisty thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat throughout.
I have read three of Alison James' thrillers to date and while I wasn't as struck on "The School Friend", I LOVED "The Man I Married" and now HER SISTER'S CHILD. It is a fantastic psychological and domestic thriller that had me almost reading it in its entitrety in one sitting...but I had to sleep.
In all, HER SISTER'S CHILD is a definite read for fans of domestic thrillers and dramas. Thoroughly recommended.
I would like to thank #AlisonJames, #NetGalley, #Bookouture for an ARC of #HerSistersChild in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Born in the Cotswolds, Alison spent most of her formative years abroad. She studied languages at Oxford, then became a journalist and author, returning to university after her two children to take a law degree. After a three-year stint as a criminal paralegal, Alison worked as a commercial copywriter and then a TV storyliner, before coming full circle to write fiction again.
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