Synopsis:
When her mom calls to tell her that Tess, her younger sister, is missing, Bee returns home to London on the first flight. She expects to find Tess and give her the usual lecture, the bossy big sister scolding her flighty baby sister for taking off without letting anyone know her plans. Tess has always been a free spirit, an artist who takes risks, while conservative Bee couldn’t be more different. Bee is used to watching out for her wayward sibling and is fiercely protective of Tess (and has always been a little stern about her antics). But then Tess is found dead, apparently by her own hand.
Bee is certain that Tess didn’t commit suicide. Their family and the police accept the sad reality, but Bee feels sure that Tess has been murdered. Single-minded in her search for a killer, Bee moves into Tess’s apartment and throws herself headlong into her sister’s life—and all its secrets.
Though her family and the police see a grieving sister in denial, unwilling to accept the facts, Bee uncovers the affair Tess was having with a married man and the pregnancy that resulted, and her difficulty with a stalker who may have crossed the line when Tess refused his advances. Tess was also participating in an experimental medical trial that might have gone very wrong. As a determined Bee gives her statement to the lead investigator, her story reveals a predator who got away with murder—and an obsession that may cost Bee her own life.
A thrilling story of fierce love between siblings, Sister is a suspenseful and accomplished debut with a stunning twist.
Review:
Oh, Sister, how I loved you so.
This is my first Rosamund Lupton read as I bought two of her published books simultaneously, because 1. I knew I was going to love it. 2. I didn't want to wait if I loved the first and hadn't bought the second. 3. Both were luckily on sale in Bookdepository and I got both half price.
I felt like reading something contemporary, set in English, with an air of mystery. It's beautiful - Lupton's prose is so solid, sophisticated and fluid. Conversations flow like raw emotions, often hidden but stripped bare in narration. The mystery is the main plot, but also not the main plot, if that makes sense, because the center of the story is a sisterly connection and love and family, instead of who abducts Tess and is she murdered kind of questions.
I love Tess, and I love Beatrice. Each is so individual, distinct and well developed. I love the little arcs of relationships in the book too, between mother and child, father and child, friends, neighbors, lovers. I liken the experience of reading this to peeling the skin of our favorite fruit, we never really know what's inside, but we know we're going to love it and be in for a savory taste.
I love the writing style. It's the first time I really enjoy a good mystery, because I love it when the writing style is deep and thoughtful instead of just quick pacing and a good puzzle solving mystery. It reminds me of Maggie O'Farrel's After You'd Gone, both have similar feels and almost a similar theme (though not exactly sisterly, but it centers on family and the characters are a bit similar).
I'm a little disappointed by the twist in the ending, but I can understand how it adds a layer of depth to the story as a whole. I'm also a bit bothered by the slow pacing, but I savor the experience of reading it too much that in the end I just don't want the book to ever end.
I look forward to read Afterwards. Oh, the cover is also so lovely, a splash of red and black on a white background. I like the theme going on in both books in terms of cover design.
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