My Sister's Secret by Diane Saxon
Genre: Domestic thriller, Domestic drama, Suspense
Read: 16th January 2023
Published: 19th January 2023
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Four sisters, four secrets. Who has the deadliest of them all?
Something happened to me when I was nine.
My childhood memories before that fateful day are gone. Extinguished.
The aftermath has become a living nightmare with a guilt that runs so deep that I’m not sure I can ever tell anyone. I fear I've left it too late...
The burden of my secret and the hurt and pain that silence cost each and every member of my family is too overwhelming.
But you can't avoid fate and now I have the opportunity to right the wrongs inflicted on us.
There was no justice. Not then. Not now. But I can change that.
The big question is, how far am I willing to go?
MY THOUGHTS:
The bigger the secret...the deeper the lies...
Four sisters - Tess, Bobbi, Alexis and Sarah - were born years apart and, though very different personalities, remain close now that they are adults. Because something happened when they were children that drew them together and kept them bonded throughout their lives. Even a shadow of a memory can still be as vivid today as the day it happened, as it did for the sisters. One of them endured a twisted kind of depravity whilst another suffered her own trauma silently. And yet it affected all of them.
Over three decades later, Tess is married to a philandering sixty-two year old who she herself had stolen from his previous wife; Bobbi is happily married to Craig, a heavy vehicle driver and a life and sanity saver, who helps keep their family together while she works long hours as a social worker; Alexis, a paramedic, is a emotional anxious wreck with two husbands behind her and a train wreck of broken relationships; and then there is Sarah, the youngest of them all who probably suffered the least of them, is a gym instructor and personal trainer who has her own happy news to impart which she fears will once again be overshadowed by Alexis' drama...again.
A face from the past is splashed across the local newspapers with the news that after an emotional court case the judge had deemed the case against him to be weak and unable to convict him, freeing him to offend again. Gary Philpotts is a serial offender who began his deviant path in his teens and, although he has been jailed for drug possession and dealing, has never been found guilty or convicted or served time for the abhorrent atrocities he has committed over several decades.
When the sisters get wind of his all-but-acquittal, they are livid. How could he get away with such crimes for so long? Everyone knows what he was capable of, what he was guilty of, and yet the police failed to make any charges stick. And so the sisters call an emergency meeting for mutual support. But one of them secretly takes things further...
But he wasn't the only man guilty of abuse. How many others deserve punishment for their sins?
MY SISTER'S SECRET is very different from what I expected. It was a slow burn to begin with that I did wonder if it was every going to pick up. I think it took almost 30% before the sisters actually convened to discuss the shocking development they just discovered. After that, the pace did pick up a little more but it is not fast pace page turner. More like a casual stroll that allows you to uncover little tidbits along the way.
The story itself is quite character driven and for once we are spared the teenage angst from the moody 15 year old who turns out to be not so bad. The story unfolds through the eyes of each sister throughout, with an odd unnamed first person narrative who battles their own trauma and memories whilst trying to maintain their every day mask. You don't know which of the sisters this anonymous narrative is but I did narrow it down fairly early on. And yet their identity isn't revealed until the very end. There are several red herrings to throw you off track but don't be fooled by them...or the false sense of security you may feel. Because this is one heck of a family drama of massive proportions.
The subject matter is one that is incredibly emotive but Saxon handles it sensitively without any graphic description...more nuance and innuendo which more than give the reader the idea. Also a nod to the author for including herself a mention in the plot.
MY SISTER'S SECRET is filled with secrets throughout...but which one of the sisters has the biggest secret?
Overall, a good solid read that was entertaining despite the slow start which ends up being a highly charged and emotional read.
Can you guess the sister?
Trigger warning: rape, child abuse, molestation.
I would like to thank #DianeSaxon, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #MySistersSecret in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
After working for years in a demanding job, Diane gave it up when her husband said, “Follow that dream.” She subsequently has 12 Romances published for the U.S. market.
Inspired by her long, lonely walks in atmospheric woodlands, Diane has gone over to the dark side to write British psychological crime thrillers. With a four-book deal through Boldwood Books, her first in series Find Her Alive was published October 2019 followed by Someone's There in February 2020 and What She Saw is due in September 2020.
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