Review: The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain

Title: The Silent Sister    

Author: Diane Chamberlain     

Published: October 2014, St. Martin’s Press  

Format: ARC e-book, 352 pages   

Source: Netgalley via She Reads

Riley MacPherson
has spent her entire life believing that her older sister Lisa
committed suicide as a teenager.  Now, over twenty years later, her
father has passed away and she’s in New Bern, North Carolina cleaning
out his house when she finds evidence to the contrary.  Lisa is alive. 
Alive and living under a new identity.  But why exactly was she on the
run all those years ago, and what secrets are being kept now?  As Riley
works to uncover the truth, her discoveries will put into question
everything she thought she knew about her family.  Riley must decide
what the past means for her present, and what she will do with her
newfound reality.

My thoughts: This is one of the four books that the She Reads
gals selected to be part of the “Books of Fall” book club selections
and I was excited with this choice. I have read a couple of books by Diane Chamberlain and really enjoyed them, so I knew we would be in for a treat with this one. Little did I know just how right I would be!

This book pulls you in right from the first page and doesn’t let you go until you reach the end. There are so many secrets and twists and turns that it’s hard to say much without giving anything away. Suffice it to say, nothing is what it seems. Riley discovers a web of lies that literally changes everything.

I loved the characters in this book. Right off the bat, I sympathized with Riley. I felt for her, having to deal with her father’s death and then learning all those secrets. I could really feel all the emotions that she went through throughout the book. Then there was her brother, Danny. I had a hard time figuring him out. He’s closed himself off and I get that, especially after everything is revealed, but he’s still a puzzle. 

This book is a rollercoaster of emotions and will beg you to keep reading to find out what will be revealed next. The writing pulls you in and the characters take hold of your heart. Diane Chamberlain is a master wordsmith and I look forward to reading more of her books. After finishing this, I found out she wrote a short story, The Broken String, that gives us some back story to Riley and Danny’s relationship. I cannot wait to pick this one up, along with more of Diane’s works. If you’ve read her books, can you recommend a favorite?

The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain is one of the She Reads “Books of Fall” reading selection picks. 

 

Head over to the She Reads website to read reviews and related posts of this book, as well as to see what the other “Books of Fall” are.