Pieces of My Sister's Life
By Elizabeth Joy Arnold
Copyright 2007
450 pages
The bonds of sisters are explored in this book, set on some island in the northern U.S.
Eve and Kerry are motherless, since their mother decided to walk out on the family when the twins were about six. Their father, who runs a boat for tourists, decided to raise them.
They have a neighbor friend, Justin, who tells fairy tales and whom they both love.
The story is told in flashback form, and the events go from the present, when Eve is dying of cancer, to the past. The reader learns how Kerry and Eve both fell in love with Justin, how they betrayed one another, and how Eve ended up with the boy.
There is an effort at reconciliation in the present day of the novel, but I didn't buy it. Kerry is telling this story, and I didn't like her very much. Her sister was even worse and Justin was a jerk.
That made it hard to get involved and read this as the tear-jerker I think it was meant to be. These characters came across as very selfish and hard people. The total lack of empathy, even among twins who were supposed to share some secret bond, was rather off-putting.
Still, I've read much worse, and some of the reviews at Amazon read like this is the best thing since bread, so I recommend this one for a rainy day in case there is something there I missed.
2.75 stars
Not as much fun reading than Harry Potter. I think the fact that Josh could read 6 in two weeks speaks to how possessed he can be by a project. I like to hold books up to my head and do a Spock mind meld.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how much you can take in with a mind meld, but it's an interesting approach to reading!
ReplyDelete