The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain ~Goodreads~
Published by Pan Macmillan 15th January 2015
Paperback 491 pages ~Book Depository~
What if everything you believed was a lie?
Riley MacPherson is returning to her childhood home in North Carolina. A place that holds cherished memories. While clearing out the house she finds a box of old newspaper articles- and a shocking family secret begins to unravel.
Riley has spent her whole life believing that her older sister Lisa died tragically as a teenage. But now she’s starting to uncover the truth: her life has been built on a foundation of lies, told by everyone she loved…(see full synopsis here on Goodreads)
With this book I can’t say too much without giving away the whole book- frustrating as I could discuss this book into great depths. Filled with conflicting moral issues, it really got me thinking as to what I would do if I was in Riley’s shoes and to be honest I still haven’t made up my mind!
Riley and her brother Danny have recently lost their father and both their mother and sister had previously passed away, their sister a lot more tragically. Lisa committed suicide when she was seventeen due to suffering with depression…or so Riley thought. This is where her story begins and her life is turned upside down, I don’t think anything about her life was true and I can’t imagine how it must be to know that everything you thought you knew is completely wrong.
I really felt for Riley, I was upset that her brother Danny wasn’t more supportive and I didn’t really like him as a character. However he has his reasons, having fought in Iraq he must have his own issues which I would never be able to understand fully so I can’t really argue this one out.
As my first time experiencing Diane Chamberlain’s writing I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I do, every chapter she leaves you wanting more. I think the only reason I didn’t give this a five star was that the end outcome was perhaps not quite what I expected. A nice ending but I guess I wanted more of a realistic ending, a moral issue entwined with this story made me undecided of what outcome I wanted from this book.
Overall I was so glued to this book it got to the point where I burnt my dinner just so I could reach the ending, so you definitely need to pick this book up. It definitely is worth picking up and I can’t wait to get hold of another book by Diane Chamberlain!
