A massive happy paperback publication day to Louise Jensen whose best selling debut novel, The Sister, makes the leap from ‘cyber space’ to physical space today. I had a cheeky spot of this over the weekend in Waterstones Piccadilly and I don’t mind saying that it looked pretty fluffing tidy on them there shelves.
I had the absolute pleasure of reading and reviewing this on it’s ebook release last year and I can guarantee you it’s a cracker. If, by some small chance, you have missed this book, there here is what it’s all about.
… Inconsolable grief, a deep rooted family secret and darkly vengeful obsession …
The Official Book Blurb
‘I did something terrible Grace. I hope you can forgive me . . .’
Grace hasn’t been the same since the death of her best friend Charlie. She is haunted by Charlie’s words the last time she saw her, and in a bid for answers, opens an old memory box of Charlie’s. It soon becomes clear that there was a lot she didn’t know about her best friend.
When Grace starts a campaign to find Charlie’s father, Anna, a girl claiming to be Charlie’s sister steps forward. For Grace, finding Anna is like finding a new family and soon Anna has made herself very comfortable in Grace and boyfriend Dan’s home.
But something isn’t right. Things disappear, Dan’s acting strangely and Grace is sure that someone is following her. Is it all in Grace’s mind? Or as she gets closer to discovering the truth about both Charlie and Anna, is Grace in terrible danger?
There was nothing she could have done to save Charlie . . . Or was there?
A compelling, gripping psychological thriller perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train, I Let You Goand The Girl With No Past.
‘The Sister’ is a very well-crafted psychological tale. You have a heroine whose life is dominated by the emptiness she feels at the loss of her friend. The way in which Jensen depicts her grief is truly believable and well observed, tenderly handled and yet not dismissing the destructive impact this level of grief has on personal lives, both Grace’s and that of her partner Dan. It is the depth of this grief which acts as one of the catalysts which drive the main action in the book.
It is hard to say too much about the story without giving away the twists in the plot, although I would say that from very early on readers will be suspicious of certain characters, of what they are hiding, and they will not be surprised by most of the revelations that follow. That said, the book still manages to serve up a number of surprises, skilfully written and hidden in the text so well you will kick yourself when you finally twig what happened and wonder how you didn’t see it before.
The pace of the book is variable, slow and tender in the moments when you are exploring Grace’s grief and yet fast and thrilling when Grace’s life is in true danger. I think people will like Grace. She is a sympathetic character, her life dominated by a series of tragedies, one of which is hinted at and yet not revealed until about two thirds of the way through the book. It is not as shocking as you may have expected, but all the more believable because of it. To a child’s mind, the tragedy which unfolds will be far more devastating that most adult minds can comprehend, and this reflects well in the shaping of Grace’s character.
I really enjoyed this book. It kept me hooked all the way through and I completed it in a day. The characters are really well written and the prose delightfully descriptive. I really got a feel for the tiny village-come-town setting and the kind of life Grace and Dan had built for themselves. It is very hard for me to believe this was a debut novel. Jensen has done a great job in creating thrilling and yet emotional read. Even the antagonist’s story leaves you with a sense of empathy for their situation, especially when you learn of what it is that set in motion this chain of events. It’s not often I feel anything for the bad guy.
An absolutely brilliant debut. Loved it.
You can purchase your own copy of The Sister from the following retailers (yes … all of them …)
Amazon UK | Amazon US | Kobo | WHSmith | Waterstones
And Tesco (from 7th Sept), and Asda and Sainsbury’s and … well you get the drift.
