I wanted to read something lighter ( at least in terms of content), so I randomly chose this book out of my long list of books to be read. This story was not what I was expected it to be.
The tale is of three sisters who come together to fix up their old house, in a town filled with bad memories, while their mother is on holiday. This extended stay is meant to be a way for them to put old ghosts to rest and finally move on.
I have a sister and can legitimately claim that quite a lot of the dynamics between these three women is possible in reality. That being said, the biggest problem I had with this story was the whole moving on concept. All three women are around their thirties and I found it hard to accept parts of the story and their behaviour and also the behaviour of others around them. Sometimes when authors write in the voice of teenagers they do not succeed, but in this case none of the women sounded like the well established adults they are supposed to be.I would have been happier if they were just in their twenties, then I would have enjoyed the book more without that nagging sensation of something being off. I can imagine being ostracised by a town and the subsequent fight to reestablish some dignity into the equation, but it did not play out in a very believable fashion. The parts of realizations that each had, in turn, was interesting and I think I was happiest listening to the thoughts (even the little we had access to) of the eldest sister’s husband and their little interactions.
When weighing the good against the bad: the writing itself and the fact that I did manage to connect to parts of the book I would give it three stars.I am glad I got a chance thanks to NetGalley to read an advance copy of this book.
Superfluous Reading 