The Half Sister by Sandie Jones
Genre: Domestic drama, Domestic thriller, Family drama
Read: 3rd April 2021
Published: 25th June 2020
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
The Half Sister is the compelling, twisty novel from Sandie Jones, the author of The Other Woman, perfect for fans of Sally Hepworth’s The Mother-in-Law and Michelle Frances’ The Daughter.
Her arrival will ruin everything.
Kate and Lauren. Sisters who are always there for each other. But as they gather for their weekly Sunday lunch, a knock on the door changes everything.
The new arrival, Jess, claims to be their half-sister, but that would mean the unthinkable . . . That she’s the secret daughter of their beloved, recently deceased father Harry. Their mother Rose is devastated and Kate and Lauren refuse to believe Jess’s lies.
But as the fall-out starts it’s clear that each is hiding secrets and that perhaps this family isn’t as perfect as they appear.
Where there was truth, now there are lies and only one thing is certain, their half-sister’s arrival has ruined everything . . .
MY REVIEW:
What happens when a knock on the door changes everything?
When Lauren Carter sent off her DNA to a genealogy website in the hope of bringing her family closer together, she never expected the havoc that she was about to unleash.
Sisters Kate and Lauren have a strained relationship to say the least. Kate is a journalist for a gossip rag living a fast paced life interviewing celebrities and child-free. Lauren on the other hand is married to Simon with three children - Noah, Emmy and baby Jude - feeling as though her life was pretty much going nowhere. On the surface, Lauren has everything but Simon was not what she had first imagined him to be and if she were to to be honest, she was unhappy. In fact, she found herself envying her younger sister Kate's carefree lifestyle unencumbered by children with a career she loves.
But Lauren is unaware of Kate's private struggle to conceive the much-wanted child that both she and Matt have longed for the past three years. Had the sisters been close, Kate may have confided in Lauren. But they weren't...so therefore she didn't. Now Kate and Matt at the fertility clinic about to implant a strong viable embryo in the hope that this time they will fall pregnant. But Kate has made one thing clear. This will be the last time.
Sunday lunch at their parents' place has been a fixture for as long as both sisters can remember. Despite the fact their father had passed away suddenly ten months before, the family still convenes with a regularity that remains in place...and uncontested. But the sisters wonder how much longer these Sunday lunches can continue. Simon continually makes flippant and inappropriate comments that often offends the others at the table. Kate and Matt struggle to see what Lauren sees in the man. Little do they know, Lauren struggles to remember what she does too. But regardless, the sisters make every effort to make Sundays special for their mum who know lives in the family home alone since the death of her beloved Harry.
And then...there is a knock at the door. Everyone looks at each other. No one is expecting anyone else. And on the doorstep is a young woman, the image of Lauren, informing them that she is looking for Harry and claiming to be his daughter. Everyone is speechless. The woman, Jess, is met with resistance and is quickly forced back out the door. The sisters are shocked. Rose is open-mouthed. While Simon finds the whole thing amusing.
Kate, who idolised her father, knows that Jess must be lying. Her father would not do that to his family; she just knows it. Lauren, whose relationship with Harry was strained at best, embraces Jess. Rose refuses to entertain the whole idea and shuts down anyone who tries to question her. And then each of their worlds begin to implode.
As a journalist, Kate immediately begins to investigate her claims uncovering untruths, secrets and deception. She begins to pick holes in Jess' story and takes them to her sister who has embraced the young woman with open arms. Lauren believes Kate sees their father through rose-coloured glasses and that he wasn't the man she thought he was. She believes Jess is indeed their half sister and has agreed to help her look for her birth mother. But trying to question Rose just falls on deaf ears. Their mother will have no part of this circus nor will she sully their father's good name.
Soon snippets of memories begin to resurface for the sisters as they each start to remember conversations that took place or saw things which meant nothing to them at the time. Any questions put to their mother only makes Kate more suspicious.
What is Rose not saying? Did something really happen twenty two years ago? Did their father have an affair which produced a child? Was their father not who they thought he was? What family secrets have been buried? And could Jess actually be telling the truth?
The more Kate digs, the more she uncovers about her family. Secrets that had long been buried, some of which she had not been privy to. Why? Why did they keep such important aspects of their family from her? From Lauren? And what is it that Jess is really after?
I honestly don't know why this book was rated so low with average reviews. I went in with the expectation that it was going to be just that...but no, I really enjoyed it! Sure, it's not the best book ever but it is still a steady paced domestic drama/thriller that is an easy read easily devoured in a matter of hours.
THE HALF SISTER is an addictive read that I couldn't put down and despite the tangled web of family secrets I was able to unravel some of them. It is a fast paced and enjoyable domestic thriller tinged with family secrets. Told in the alternating perspectives of sisters Kate and Lauren, those secrets from the past are slowly revealed rocking everyone's lives to the core.
Unlike many others, I don't think all the subplots included were unnecessary. They each had a place in the story even if they weren't fully explored or explained. I guess it is up to the reader to glean from those aspects what we will. I will say that I do agree with some of the other reviewers comments about including some of the deceased father Harry's narrative - either in the form of flashbacks or the letters that Kate had found in her mother's wardrobe. I think this inclusion could have provided a little more backstory...but at the same time, the part Harry played was a big part of the story that was secret and that the purpose was to have the reader questioning whether or not Jess' claims were indeed valid. So in that respect, I am in two minds whether including Harry's narrative would have benefitted the story or spoiled it.
While THE HALF SISTER may have been predictable, it was still an addictive and enjoyable read that I easily devoured in a matter of a few hours. A good escapism read, THE HALF SISTER is a definite recommend for fans of domestic thrillers.
There are several triggers in this book - infidelity, domestic and emotional abuse and abortion.
I would like to thank #SandieJones, #NetGalley and #PanMacmillan for an ARC of #TheHalfSister in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Social Media links:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads
No comments:
Post a Comment