The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain

I received this book from Netgalley for review consideration.

The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain
Published by St. Martin's Press on October 7th, 2014
Genres: Contemporary Women, Fiction, Psychological
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
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In The Silent Sister, Riley MacPherson has spent her entire life believing that her older sister Lisa committed suicide as a teenager.  Now, over twenty years later, her father has passed away and she's in New Bern, North Carolina cleaning out his house when she finds evidence to the contrary.  Lisa is alive.  Alive and living under a new identity.  But why exactly was she on the run all those years ago, and what secrets are being kept now?  As Riley works to uncover the truth, her discoveries will put into question everything she thought she knew about her family.  Riley must decide what the past means for her present, and what she will do with her newfound reality, in this engrossing mystery from international bestselling author Diane Chamberlain.

I’ve been anticipating Diane Chamberlain’s latest novel since I read Necessary Lies last year. Of all the books I read in 2013, Necessary Lies was one of the ones that stayed with me for weeks and months after. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to be given the opportunity to read an advance copy of The Silent Sister.

Riley MacPherson is our narrator, returning to her childhood home to sort through her fathers belongings after his sudden death. He was the only person she had left. Her mother passed years earlier, her sister Lisa died when Riley was 2 years old (an apparent suicide shrouded in mystery), and her brother Danny is struggling with his own demons since returning from the war injured.

I’m not giving anything away here since it is in the synopsis above, but the sister doesn’t stay silent for too long. Riley finds out that Lisa is still alive, but that isn’t the only secret her parents took to their graves and the mysteries just keep on unraveling.

The Silent Sister is a novel that will hook you from the get-go. You will find yourself turning the pages obsessively, devouring each and every word. When one mystery is resolved the reader is faced with another, on this journey with Riley to discover the answers to family secrets. Things she was never supposed to find out, things that family members went to great lengths to protect her from.

I continually found myself wondering…What would I did if ever in that position? How would I handle it? How would I feel if I was in Riley’s shoes? Would I understand or feel cheated?

I can safely say that Diane Chamberlain has done it again! She has written another book that will remain in my thoughts for days, weeks and months after I turned that last page!

Have you read The Silent Sister? What was the last book that remained in your thoughts long after closing the cover?