Sister By Rosamund Lupton

I am much excited to talk about the book, ‘SISTER‘ by Rosamund Lupton.

Rosamund’s life in literary field began as a copy writer and reviewer for the Literary Review and then turned to script writing for television and film. Her first book is SISTER which came out in 2010 and in 2011, her second book was launched, AFTERWARDS. Both books have attracted world wide attention and she is now one of the best selling authors. At the start, I was very apprehensive about reading the work of a new writer as I was not familiar with her style. Now I am very glad that I read this book. She also inspires me to pursue my own  dreams in writing when she says in her own words ‘if you want to be a writer, just go for it’. That is the only way.

“Where shall we see a better daughter or a kinder sister or a truer friend?”

The story is about two sisters who are very close to each other and live far apart in two different countries- Beatrice  lives in New York with her fiance, Todd. She works in a well known accounting firm and has very firm opinions on things in life. Tess, unmarried lives in London in an apartment by herself. She is a student in a local arts college. Even though they live further from each other, their bond is quite unbreakable. Beatrice is very well attuned to her younger sister’s mind and sometimes, could think exactly like Tess. She knows if Tess is happy, sad or lonely. This is quite the same with Tess too when it comes to her older sister. Tess understands Beatrice like no other and has this uncanny ability to decipher her moods on the phone while they talk.                        

           Beatrice also takes pride in the fact that she is the older sister of the lot and can take care of her younger sibling quite well. The sisters had a younger brother, Leo who passed away at a very young age due to Cystic Fibrosis. We come to know of Leo’s life in bits and pieces through out the story. The novel begins with a phone call when  Beatrice’s Mum calls her to relate the news that Tess is missing for several days…

                      Those few days were the days when Beatrice was very preoccupied with things happening at her work- some projects which were hovering over the dead lines and her impending promotion. Later in the story we come to know that Tess tried desperately to reach Beatrice on the phone to discuss and relate something that was going on in her life but was not able to talk to her. Needless to say, this information drives Beatrice to worst forms of guilt through out the story and adds to her motive of finding out what happened to Tess. The author wrote this novel on the form of Beatrice’s letters to Tess over the months starting from Tess’ disappearance and ending where Beatrice finds out finally what happened to her sister and consequently putting everything to rest. 

Over the course of the story, we get insights into various characters in the novel who are related to Tess and Beatrice in different ways. There is the Mum, Todd- Beatrice’s Fiance, Tess’ professor at the college with whom Tess had a crush on, Tess’ stalker boyfriend, Tess’ land lord, her part-time employer, her friend (both these people later on take Beatrice up under their wings and become to her what they were to Tess in another life… 

 There are plots and sub plots which are interestingly woven together under Rosamund’s skillful pen and the final product- the novel ‘SISTER’ surpasses all kinds of imaginations and expectations. This include the climax where nothing would prepare the reader to confront the scenes that unfold through the author’s words. 

Visit the world of Beatrice and Tess. Read what happened to them and find out whether the events revealed in this novel changed both sisters in ways unimaginable-for the better or for the worse?

A Good Read is such a Pleasure, you see? 🙂