Imagine everything you've been told about you, your family, and your long lost sister are all lies? Well, in Diane Chamberlain's The Silent Sister Riley MacPherson finds that the stories she's been told of her sister, believed to have committed suicide as a teenager, just may in fact be alive. How's that for a huge family secret?
Riley is trying to clean out her father's home when a series of events lead her to believe that she may in fact want to investigate her past. At the age of 25, all the people she could ask were long gone. Her mother died when she was young, her father recently deceased, and Danny, her brother, are all unable to answer the questions she desperately needs answering. That is until Riley delves a little deeper into the mystery that is her family.
I've never read any other books by Diane Chamberlain and I'm not sure what I expected, but this novel reads like chick-lit. That is fine and dandy if that's what you're in the mood for, but I definitely wasn't which is unfortunate because The Silent Sister is actually gripping from the beginning. We are introduced to Riley, a social worker, who based her whole career choice as a social worker on a sister she hasn't known since she was two years old. She's even patient with her brother Danny who suffers from some form of PTSD after having been wounded in Iraq.
There are a few things I found wrong with this book which makes it impossible for me to give it more than 2-stars. And sadly, it's not because of the writing which is not bad at all. It's simply so darn predictable this novel. From beginning to end it is predictable. The characters, even Riley, are paper thin, and I almost felt like one storyline (with the crazy RV park couple) was too neatly tossed away and sewn up. I mean... it can't be that easy to get out of a contract is it?
Anyway, The Silent Sister may not have been a great read for me, I certainly wouldn't say it's not worth a gander especially if women's literature is your thing. It's usually my thing, but I expected more of a mystery-type thriller with a hint of chick-lit instead of the other way around. Overall, I would definitely read more by this author.
Copy provided by St. Martin's Press via Netgalley
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