Review - My Sister's Secret by Tracy Buchanan

My Sister’s Secret is the second book written by Tracy Buchanan and one which I thought was absolutely wonderful. Having read such great things about this book both in the blog posts of those I read often and the tweets of those I follow I knew that this was a novel I simply could not wait to start. When I started it, however, that was it - I was completely and utterly hooked! 

When the novel first opens it’s 1977 and we are introduced to three sisters Faith, Hope and Charity who all commit to joining Faith in her mission to visit all of the world’s submerged forests and diving in the waters in which they are found to explore them. Following this very short introduction, we are then transported to 2016 to meet Willow, the daughter of Charity, who, following the death of her parents in a horrific accident has been cared for by her Aunt Hope from a young age. 

The book jumps between the past when we hear the lives of the three sisters unfold from Charity’s perspective and 2016 when we are with Willow who is on two missions. Her first is to dive the world’s submerged forests in memory of her mother and her second is to delve into her family’s history - she knows her Aunt Hope is keeping something from her and she wants to know exactly what that something is. 

This book is incredibly well written in terms of the way it jumps so seamlessly between the voice of Charity and that of Willow. Indeed, where this aspect of the novel was concerned I started to notice a pattern forming in so much as, quite often, when one of the character’s narratives left off the other’s would begin on a related note. I thought this was really great and something which enabled me to fully immerse myself in, and follow, the storyline with ease. 

My Sister’s Secret was an absolute page-turner of a novel which kept me fully engaged throughout. There were a number of twists and turns, all of which I couldn’t have predicted even if I had tried and one was of such significance and so unexpected that I found myself gasping out loud. It really was absolutely incredible and one that I would strongly recommend to anyone wanting something to get their teeth stuck into, so to speak, this summer. 

Having read and loved My Sister’s Secret as much as I did I know that I will very much look forward to reading what Tracy Buchanan writes next. However, in the meantime I will most certainly be checking out her first novel, The Atlas of Us.