The Biblio File
May 3, 2021
Leafing through an old book (I always feel the need to check the publishing date to confirm whether they are an antique yet) I found “May this book grant you a frequent retreat from the materialism of life” written inside the cover by the author in 1958. A reminder from the past that has stood the test of time – books have always been the quiet friends that provide us the opportunity to escape to different worlds and times, and to visit with different people and ideas. The enjoyment and importance of books is timeless.
Riley MacPherson has spent her entire life believing that her older sister Lisa had commit suicide as a teenager. This belief shaped her own childhood and that of her brother, and was deeply responsible for her view of her family and its dynamics.
Now, more than twenty years later, when her father passes away and she is going through her childhood home she finds evidence that Lisa might be alive – alive and living under a new identity. Why did she go on the run all those years ago? Where is she now? What has she been doing for 20 years? 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. The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain has enough twists and turns to keep you interested and shows how a parent’s decision to alter a told history can have a deep impact on the mental health and growth of a child.