Beatrice gets a phone call that changes her life forever and sets in sequence events which are actually beyond her control. The phone call is say that her sister Tess is missing. Beatrice flies to London from New York from her safe, secure, comfortable but not thrilling life to find Tess.
What Beatrice does find though is something different and the bond they have remains strong as Beatrice finds the truth out about Tess and all the people she had met in her recent days to prove that she is a good sister and does know her. The question the author raises is do we really know our own siblings? Or do their actions surprise us still?
What the author gives us throughout the book is a thrilling open letter to Tess from Beatrice. She shifts the narrative style from Bea ‘talking’ to her sister as if writing a letter, to conversations with Tess from the past and then the dialogue with the people Beatrice talks to, to find the truth in what really happened regarding Tess disappearance. At times this was a little confusing, and I found myself going back a few pages just to get the train of thought again. But once you knew what ‘voice’ then it was a page turner as you kept reading as all the pieces of the puzzle were put together.
The twist at the ending, I did not see. Although I confess to having worked out some of the plotline and the conclusions. I like to be surprised by a book, even if the ending is not what I would have wanted. It proves as a reminder that life does not always have happy endings. The book was thoroughly researched and I learnt a long the way (I will not reveal what, for fear of spoiling the story) and it was all put to effective use in the plot. The characters were believable and I did find myself slightly irritated by Beatrice at times despite her obvious desperation for the truth.
An interesting debut novel, and not normally one I would have picked up. I look forward to seeing what else Lupton can bring to the page in future novels.
Thank you to Amazon Vine for allowing me the opportunity to read this book. I really enjoyed it and it certainly kept me on the ‘edge of my seat’. I had been putting off reading it because it had been surround in the hype of the Richard and Judy Book club. sometimes it is nice to come to these books later on.
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