Review: Blood is thicker than water
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 5, 2014
Despite being sisters, there is a distance in Hope and Lynne's relationship. The age gap of ten years doesn't help, and the older sister, Lynne, resents the intrusion of a new sibling.As the years roll past, time does not heal the relationship, with Lynne increasingly pushed to the bottom of the pecking order. Events reach a crisis when Hope is hospitalised during Lynne's exams, and the older sister blames the younger for her poor results. However, when Lynne's career encounters a cataclysmic detour towards sacking and jail, it only Hope that can help.This is a great book with a unique narrative. Always told in the first person, the perspective expertly switches between each sister in this engrossing tale where each sister wrestles with their ego's; one to ask for help, the other to give it.This is a moving tale of sibling rivalry, jealousy, and ultimately love and redemption. However, what lifts this story above so many of its genre, is the subtext. Hope is in wheelchair and Lynne is equally trapped by her blind dedication to her job at the expense of everything. The notion of prisons is one that we can all relate to, and the illustration that some prisons are of circumstance whilst others are of choosing is just beautiful.This moving tale sucks you in from the outset and keeps you reading long into the night.Fans of Judy Blume and Jennifer Echols will love this.Recommended.