Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: sisters

  • The House of Light and Shadows

    The House of Light and Shadows

    Sisters, ghosts, love and forgiveness come together in a charming and entertaining new work from Lauren Westwood, The House of Light and Shadow as she explores the deep and lasting bond that forms between sisters and the consequences when that bond becomes broken.

    Katherine Goodman is career driven woman who is focused on getting a partnership in the Law firm she has worked diligently with as a Solicitor for many years. She is thirty-five years old and success is almost with her grasp.

    A phone call from the headmaster at the prestigious school attended by her niece and nephew advises her that her sister Emma is in hospital, has been so for a number of weeks; the children have been on their own and this is in no longer acceptable. What is she going to do about it? She has not seen or spoken to Emma for ten years.

    Adaline and Camille Havelock were sisters who exploited and excelled at the daguerreotype photography, creating illusions from glass plates. Their father taught Ada the skills as a young girl, a craft which she made her life’s work. The sisters were the closest of friends known locally as the Weird Sisters for their style of photography.

    Rookswood Manor was their home, now a dilapidated mansion owned by Emma Reynolds, which is also inhabited by Ada, now since her death a ghostly form, who is still seeking her sister so she can pass into the afterlife.

    Their stories come together as the women seek to right past wrongs, all the while remembering and re discovering the love between sisters is the glue that holds together through life ups and often , downs.

    The House of Light and Shadow is the perfect book for those cold winters days or long lazy summer days, when serious down time is required.

  • Sisters and Husbands

    Sisters and Husbands

    Sisters and Husbands is a rewrite of the original story first released in 2002. In the blurb Brookfield says she was hesitant to do this, but upon re-reading the story was surprised to discover that over the years, not a lot in regard to families, has changed.

    Anna and Becky are sisters who are very close to each other. Their pathways in life have been diametrically opposite. Anna is the peacemaker, the planner and the one driven to succeed.

    Becky is the impulsive one, making spur of the moment decisions that have long lasting consequences. She and her mother have a very difficult relationship, stemming from the death of their father in France some years earlier.

    When Anna’s carefully laid plans go wrong and Becky’s life falls apart, they are there for each other but can they find their way through the challenges of Anna’s situation, that of becoming a mother and Becky’s, that of having to rebuild her life as a single woman.

    There are several strands to this story which do add to the interest; Anna’s husband is not coping with his wife being pregnant, Becky’s husband has gone ahead and established his own restaurant.

    But where will the trail of lies, deception and love lead as family secrets are uncovered and everyone has to accept that while the past can and does influence the present, it is just that, the past!

    Slow to begin the story does pick up pace a little further in and makes an entertaining read.

  • The Wedding Party

    The Wedding Party

    For the first time in 15 years the four Robicheaux daughters are back together preparing for the remarriage of their parents.  Years ago, their parents’ marriage had resulted in divorce when their father’s gambling became worse, drinking escalated and their mother had stopped tolerating this behaviour. Have things really changed?  Is this the right time to play happy families again?

    Meg and Stu, parents of Indy, Eden, Savannah, and Rory, have decided decades after they first met to remarry. For the first time in years the sisters are returning to their childhood home, the grand Hotel Sorrento; the chosen wedding venue.

    Each daughter has a closely held secret, which is at risk of being revealed as they work together to return the hotel back to a semblance of its former glory.  Will Rory’s book, which is loosely based on her formative years and her perception of the members of the Robicheaux family, reveal more than the sisters would like? 

    Best-selling author, Cathy Kelly has woven the complex family narrative of “The Wedding Party” through the unique characters of the four daughters and their mother, Meg. 

    Some readers may find the following aspects of the story disturbing; the topics of emotional abuse, abortion and addition although portrayed well in the context of the story can still cause distress.

  • The Way From Here

    The Way From Here

    Secrets within families have a strange way of eventually surfacing. Sometimes they are acknowledged and dealt with, sometimes they lie beneath the surface and fester a little. Jane Cockram has chosen an unusual storyline to deal with the issue of secrets. The mystery is in the letters.

    The Way From Here begins with sisters, Susie and Camilla, (Mills). They were raised on a station in the Kimberley’s, where life was a struggle. After University, Susie decides she wanted to travel, moving to London and eventually on to the Isle du Clair, where she finally beings to come to terms with so many secrets held deep within the family. At this stage the story runs in a parallel sequence. One chapter is told by Susie, then Camilla relays a chapter.

    Camilla is following in Susie’s footsteps. You see, Susie sent her sister a series of letters, and asked if she could retrace her journey of discovery. Camilla was the more responsible sibling who was always bailing her troublesome sister out of danger, and so responded.

    This adventure tells Susie’s story, and also reveals Camilla’s devotion in coming to terms with her sister’s travels and indiscretions. In the letters, Susie leaves clues for Mills, knowing that she can’t resist a challenge. Surprise connections are made, which link other members of the family to people Susie has met. Her grandmother, Nellie, in Australia, gives Susie some names of people to seek out when she arrived in London.

    The story is engaging and becomes increasingly complex, as Margaret, the girls’ mother, comes to England to help Camilla solve the puzzle that Susie has created. As the story unravels it seems that Margaret is very involved in the puzzle and that all of the family will be affected by what is revealed.

  • Fifty-Fifty

    Fifty-Fifty

    Author Steve Cavanagh hasn’t disappointed his readers with the fifth book in his Eddie Flynne series. ‘Fifty Fifty’, a legal thriller, launches the reader into the unusual situation of two sisters, who within minutes, make a 911 call to report the brutal murder of their father by the other sister. There is no love lost between the sisters Sofia and Alexandra, who were raised in a dysfunctional household by their parents before being sent to separate boarding schools.

    In this latest installment, Eddie finds himself embroiled in a high profile, complex murder case as the defense lawyer of one of the sisters, while Kate Brooks, an inexperienced practitioner, procures the other sister as her client.  By advancing the narrative through Eddie, Kate and ‘She’ suspense is created and the reader is provided with an understanding of the legal system and how the law is at times manipulated to advantage one client over another.  Meanwhile ‘She’ provides an insight into the mind of a murderess without disclosing the perpetrator, which further adds to the confusion and tension cleverly created by the author.

    ‘Fifty Fifty’ as the title indicates, leaves the reader guessing almost to the final pages as to which sister committed the gruesome murder of their father, former New York City mayor, Frankie Avellino.  Although it is part of a series, I highly recommend this book as it can be greatly enjoyed as a standalone.

  • The Sisters’ Song

    The Sisters’ Song

    In the author’s notes, she writes that her novel, “Pays homage to the countless intelligent, insightful and courageous women throughout the centuries, who through no fault of their own, have been prevented from achieving their potential, and following their dreams.” It is certainly true that women had cause to despair in the past, and still today, are not recognised as equal in many areas. This is a story of a family in 1926; there are young parents full of dreams and laughter, and two girls who are part of that happy normality. The story is divided into three parts.

     Disaster strikes the family, and the mother struggles to cope. These were the days when children were seen and not heard, and many of the decisions that were made in their family were quite puzzling. This is also a snapshot of those times where society had no support for those with issues, either financial or medical. It was a hard time, and fulfilment in education, or following a dream, was only for the wealthy.

     The story is narrated by Ida. She has a sister Nora, who is both beautiful and talented, and many times the two are compared. The family has had to move in with grandmother, who is quiet and set in her ways, but sensitive to the needs of the girls. They settle into a new routine and develop into maturity. Ida meets Len at a dance, and feels that her role now is to marry and have children. Nora, on the other hand, has discovered that she has not just a talent for singing, but an extraordinary voice. Thanks to grandmother, this has been recognised, with Nora winning a scholarship to study at the Melbourne Academy of Music.

     This is where the plans and dreams come unstuck for both women. In today’s society, neither Ida nor Nora would have had their pathways truncated by the issues that faced them. However, Ida, always supportive and caring, helps Nora and satisfies a need within herself. Both the husbands of Nora and Ida are loving and patient, and recognise the sisters need each other. In the end, it seems as though the next generation will have the opportunities that were denied Nora and Ida, but this also will not happen without suffering.

     Set in Tasmania, the descriptions of the mountains are quite lovely, and the land in its natural beauty is pristine. Only Nora during her move to Melbourne leaves the island, while Ida and her family have a house near to where they were raised. So many customs are touched on, and the primitive surroundings for those who worked on the land, showed how hard life could be. Progress in every way, on the land, in the characters, in society, and in the views of the next generation, is shown. For these women indeed, many of their dreams were never to be fulfilled, and their greatest hope was for future generations.