Her Sister's Shadow
-
- $5.99
-
- $5.99
Publisher Description
An emotionally powerful debut about two sisters who reconnect after nearly forty years of estrangement.
Renowned painter Lilli Niles is at home in her North London flat when she receives an unexpected call from her elder sister, Bea, who's at the family homestead in Whitehead, Massachusetts. Bea's husband has just died, and she'd like Lilli to fly home to attend the funeral. There are reasons Lilli moved all the way to England to escape her older sister, reasons that have kept them estranged for decades. But something in Bea's voice makes Lilli think it's time to return to the stately house in New England she loved as a child, to the memory of the beloved younger sister they both lost. With Bea more fragile than Lilli remembered, maybe she can finally forgive Bea for a long-ago betrayal that has simmered between them for nearly forty years.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Shifting between present day and the late 1960s, two sisters confront their tragic past in Britton's touching debut. Successful artist and gallery owner Lilli Niles is living her dream in Hampstead, England, when her older sister, Bea, calls from White Head, Mass., their childhood home, with bad news: Bea's husband, Randall Marsh (who Lilli has secretly loved her whole life), has died unexpectedly. Although Lilli and Bea have been estranged for 40 years, Lilli returns to the states to accompany her sister to the funeral. Being back home leads her to confront events and decisions from her youth, revealing long-buried secrets and forcing everyone to reconsider not just the past but their entire lives. Britton seamlessly alternates between the two eras to unravel a tale of rivalry, tragedy, love, and the corruptibility of truth. Setting her tale against the lush beauty of coastal New England (a location that Britton tries a bit too hard to bring to life), Britton creates a touching, intricate account of painful memories that radically shape lives.