The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth. (2020).
**4.5 out of 5 stars**
Fern works at her local library and has dinner with her twin sister, Rose, three nights a week. She avoids crowds, bright lights and loud noises. Fern has a carefully structured life and disrupting her routine can be…dangerous. When Rose discovers she cannot fall pregnant, Fern sees her chance to pay her sister back for everything Rose has done for her. Fern can have a baby for Rose; she just needs to find a father – simple. Fern’s mission will shake the foundations of the life she has carefully built for herself and stir up dark secrets from the past…
I started this one on Christmas Day night after festivities and then finished it Boxing Day night after festivities; it was so good that I just had to read it through my exhaustion haha! I loved the quirky Fern as a lead character, and I particularly loved that she was a librarian. I really enjoyed her developing relationship and interactions with Wally (who is really Rocco, but Fern insists on calling him Wally). Rose was, in a word, intense. We experience Rose’s perspective in the form of journal entries that indicate she and Fern had a really rough childhood where Rose was always protecting Fern and this behaviour has continued into adulthood. However, nothing is as it seems…
Overall I thought this was a very clever family domestic drama with a thriller touch to it. I would highly recommend this compelling and engaging novel.
