Book Review: The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain

The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain

Published in New York by Macmillan: 2014

Diane Chamberlain is from New Jersey; USA. Her career before becoming a best-selling author was in social work and psychotherapy. She has written 27 novels and is the New York Times, USA Today and Sunday Times best selling author.

The Silent Sister is a story of mystery as the main narrator; Riley unravels the secrets and lies of her immediate family's past. After her father's death, she returns to her former family home and RV park that was owned by her father. She has an awkward relationship with her brother who has been suppressing early childhood traumas over the years. One of these traumas was linked to the fact that their older sister; Lisa had committed murder and then drowned herself ,(or so everyone is lead to believe). She meets her mother's friend and a couple in the RV park who her father was paying monthly to keep secrets at bay. The wife tells Riley she is adopted which Riley insists isn't true.

Riley is enlightened by some paperwork she finds that suggests she was actually adopted and heads to North Carolina to find out the truth about Lisa.

This was simultaneously one of the most page-turning but worst reads. The plot was gripping, (slightly predictable) but there was no pithiness and I didn't feel like I knew any of the characters. Wouldn't read another unless desperate.