A Review of Sister by Rosamund Lupton

The novel Sister is a mystery with many twists and turns that keep the reader guessing what the truth actually is from page to page. The story takes place in London, where Beatrice, called Bee, is searching for her missing pregnant sister, Tess. Tess is a flighty, artist type, and at first everyone believes she is off somewhere, but eventually a more sinister and dark story emerges. The police find Tess's body in an abandoned lavatory and rule her death a suicide. Athough Bee insists that her sisteer would not commit suicide, that she must have been murdered, the police tell her there is nothing else they can do. The author has constructed a very interesting tale which is hard to pin downs from one moment to the next. What is most fascinating here is Bee, who completely transforms throughout the story. At the beginning, Bee is living in Manhattan with her fiancée, Todd. Right from the start, we feel that Bee is not in the relationship she should be in, that she is constrained mostly by her own doing, from love and passion and excitement. Bee admits that she is lousy at her relationships with her family back in England; her parents divorced when she was young, after the death of Tess and Bee's brother from Cystic Fibrosis. Bee has become closed off from emotion, but her relationship with Tess is a strong one. Bee comes to realize that she is a lousy sister, daughter, fiancée and friend, but she changes. While this story is a tale of suspense, it also a study of love and family relationships, how we relate to others and how grief and sadness shape who we become and how we interact with the world. Sister has enough twists and turns to keep you guessing throughout the entire story which is what makes it such a good read. I would recommend this story to all readers.