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    Sister
    Sister
    Sister
    Audiobook12 hours

    Sister

    Written by Rosamund Lupton

    Narrated by Juanita McMahon

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    When Beatrice receives a call to say that her sister, Tess, is missing, she boards the first flight home. But as she learns about Tess's disappearance, she is stunned to discover how little she actually knows of her sister's life. Everyone around her accepts they have lost Tess, but Beatrice refuses to give up, embarking on a dangerous journey to discover the shocking truth, whatever the cost…
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherW. F. Howes Ltd
    Release dateJan 1, 2011
    ISBN9781407470993
    Sister
    Author

    Rosamund Lupton

    Rosamund Lupton is the internationally bestselling and critically acclaimed author of the novels Sister and Afterwards. Her New York Times bestselling debut Sister was a New York Times Editor’s Choice, a Target Book Club pick, winner of the Strand Magazine Critics Award, and has been translated into more than thirty languages, with international sales of over 1.5 million copies. Lupton lives in London with her husband and two sons.

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    Reviews for Sister

    4/5

    792 ratings91 reviews

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    • 5/5
      What a difficult novel to read, what a difficult novel to review. And I mean that as high praise for a work that is decidedly difficult to categorize.Beatrice's younger sister, art-student Tess, has either committed suicide (official version) or been murdered (Beatrice's version) after giving birth to a stillborn child, who received a cutting-edge cystic fibrosis cure in utero. Bee flies home to England from New York, where she has been living, to cope with the aftermath of her sister's death. The story is a first-person narrative, delivered as if Bee is speaking across the space of death to her sister: apologizing, holding key facts back, rationalizing, explaining her own behavior, compensating-- in short, running through every human emotion and action that accompanies a severe shock and an immense grief. Bee's own process of self-discovery ties into her investigative process of the truth about her sister's death brilliantly: in finding the truth about her sister, Bee finds the truth about herself. Tess leads Bee to her own person through a twisting, winding path, and the journey is complex and wonderful.As Bee breaks down everything that we supposedly know about her sister and everything she thought she knew about herself, she starts to build up new connections that she never would have thought possible: in the wake of death, Lupton shows us how we can rebuild life. Mothers, fathers, new friends, neighbors: all emerge as solidly-drawn portraits of the new people (or newly-realized) people in Bee's life, each with his or her own distinct personality, style of interaction, and way of dealing with death. Death affects so many, Lupton seems to say, but look how it brings us together, see how we all cope so variously, see how we can never afford to make trite generalizations about what happens when a life is taken away.The literary, mystery, suspense, epistolary: they all combine beautifully here, masterfully mixed by Lupton, who takes the best from each genre as she strings the reader along on a page-turning journey. Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      Wow, I dealt with getting car sick just so I could keep reading this baby. Had to read the last pages over again because I couldn't believe the twist.
    • 3/5
      Beatrice returns to England after hearing that her younger sister, Tess, has gone missing. Before long her body is discovered in a toilet block. But rather than a hunt for her murderer ensuing, Tess's death is ruled a suicide and it's left up to Beatrice to prove otherwise.This story is a narration by Beatrice to her sister outling her emotions as well as her actions leading up to the identification of Tess's killer. I enjoyed this style of storytelling very much. Not only is it well written, but there's enough mystery and suspects to keep readers guessing, if not till the end, at least for a good while. For me some elements of the plot didn't quite gel, but hey, this is fiction and most importantly I want to be entertained, which I was.
    • 2/5
      I liked the idea, but the execution didn't do much for me. Didn't allow me that many opportunities to suspect anything, not that many smaller hooks keeping my attention high, just the main one, which seemed too weak for such a long book. However, I loved the narrator! She was purely artistic and engaging, maybe, it was only because of her that I kept listening
    • 4/5
      Another sad book but one I did enjoy and recommend others to read. The twist at the end was unexpected. The writing was beautiful as was the way the author dealt with the relationships between sisters and mother and daughters. Relationships are complex and sometimes not exactly what we think they are.
    • 4/5
      'My sister would never have killed herself.'When Beatrice hears that her little sister, Tess, is missing, she returns home to London on the first flight available. But Bee is unprepared for the terrifying truths she must face about her younger sibling when Tess's broken body is discovered in the snow.The police, Bee's friends, her fiancé and even her mother accept the fact that Tess committed suicide. But nobody knows a sister like a sister, and Bee is convinced that something more sinister is responsible for Tess's untimely death. So she embarks on a dangerous journey to discover the truth, no matter the cost.My Thoughts:After reading a couple of books that I found a bit a drab and average this book was just what I needed to get me into reading mode.It is a none stop, not be able to put down thriller. Every page that I turned was a good as the last. What did it for me was that I was behind Beatrice all the way egging her on to find out the truth. I have two sisters myself and I would have done exactly the same myself. The book was realistic and it was hard to work out who actually was the baddie and I was guessing then changing my mind , then I didn’t guess correct in the end. I can see that this book would give a good discussion at book group as there is nothing no more important than family. My only negative was the ending and I couldn’t see why it was what it was. I really can’t explain myself here without creating a massive spoiler. The book is still a worthy read all be it a bit muddling at the end and I would recommend this read.
    • 4/5
      Wow. Really tough book to get into, but I was determined to give it a chance -- and eventually, the pacing picks up a bit... but it is confusing in the beginning. An interesting tale of the bond of two sisters.
    • 3/5
      A disappointing read for me after really enjoying another of her books, Three Hours. This suspense/ crime novel did not really flow for me and on a few occasions I felt she muddled up her tenses, probably because it was told in a first person narrative. It won’t put me off reading her other books though as she obviously improved after this first one.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this totally engrossing story about two sisters. Partly a psychological thriller, but also largely a character study, it was a great read, (with a great surprise ending!)
    • 2/5
      This a bit of a mixed affair. On one level it is a crime novel and on another level it is a book about a sibling relationship. The crime novel has a cheap twist at the end that left me feeling cheated and let down and the relationship between the sisters has been well travelled many times and maybe better. I may be being a bit hard but the twist really pissed me off.

      I have read many other novels with a twist at the end but they have always been more a reveal that was obvious after it was revealed and had been there all the way through. This one seems to serve no purpose except as a crutch for the author.

      I won’t spoil it in case I haven’t put you off. Other people like it. Whatever.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book. It kept my interest, and kept me guessing, the whole time I was reading. The timing of the plot was not rushed and the book as a whole was well written.
    • 4/5
      Not an easy read..very dark and sad. Took me a while to get thru it, but it was worth it. Beautifully written. You can so feel the pain.
    • 5/5
      Amazing story about family relations, thrilling, leading to an unexpected end. 5 stars!
    • 4/5
      This book was very intriguing. I found myself having mixed feelings about it all the way through, until the very end. In the beginning, I was hooked by the plot and Beatrice's desire to find out how her younger sister died. During the middle chapters of the book, I felt that the storyline was dragging and I had already put my finger on how Tess died and who murdered her. At that point, I was just reading to see if I was right. When I reached the final chapters of the book there was another twist that was so unexpected that it completely changed my entire opinion about the novel. In the end I was impressed with the originality and creativity by Rosamund Lupton. To say the least, I was surprised by the conclusion of this book.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this one.
      I thought the narrative was interesting. sister kept me interested all the way through, and the end surprised me.
    • 4/5
      Sometimes its good to have a page turning thriller. This one was pretty easily predictable from about the 1/2 way point. But it was still gripping enough to have me continue through the end to see how everything fit together. It did suffer from one of my greatest pet peeves of first person narratives - the protagonist (especially at the beginning of the book) keeps promising that things will reveal themselves in good time. Yes. Yes. We know that otherwise we wouldn't have a whodunit. Anyway - a good airplane / beach read.
    • 4/5
      Fascinating structure as Beatrice relates her story to Mr Wright, and ultimately her sister, so that events range back and forwards.When her sister goes missing, spiky, self-possessed, superior Beatrice flies over from her adopted America to discover the truth. Annoying her fiancé, the police and the medical profession, she nevertheless, terrier-like keeps asking questions. And in the process she grows as a human being.Terrific who-&-why-done it, that kept me guessing, the last few chapters I couldn't put down. And a great characterisation of a complex, difficult woman who finds herself having to reevaluate her beliefs and certainties.
    • 3/5
      Tough one to review without spoiling:Not a typical 'thriller,' psychologically or otherwise. It's minimally-suspenseful. Along the lines of Kate Atkinson with a good measure of Jodi Picoult. In spite of a couple big 'twists,' the ending struck me with more 'huh,' and less 'wow.' While there is a whodunit - or more accurately - a wasanythingdun, the book is really an expository on the bonds between sisters. There's also a subplot involving cystic fibrosis and genetic engineering that adds, well, really nothing.Reasons for the rating:- I never connected with either sister. That's a problem because the entire premise revolves around an attachment bordering on obsession with the younger. The older sister has no personality or identity of her own separate from her relationship to the younger. Maybe that's intended to be a profound revelation in itself, but...thud.- The older sister is the book's narrative voice and it's written in second person. It's a choice that makes logical sense, but the observing and reporting doesn't make a compelling story experience. - The older sister (who is only five years senior?!) acts as if she's a Miss Marple spinster-type, not an older 20-something. Instead of anchoring the story, that just weighs it down further. Bottom line: this is a thriller without the thrill, it doesn't get the blood pumping. The story is mechanically sound, I guess; but, I don't read thrillers for their mechanical soundness. This was all head, no heart. In what purports to have something to say about sisterhood, I didn't get any feels at all.I don't resent reading it, but I'm not sure who I'd recommend it to either.
    • 5/5
      It took me awhile to get used to the style of writing in this book as it is written the second person. Once I got past that, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. The main character finds out her sister is missing and then ultimately is dead. Her journey to find the truth of how her sister died was convoluted and heart breaking but eventually lead her to discover the truth. During her investigation she finally begins on the path to acceptance and healing. Very well written with many twists and turns. Great whodunnit novel.
    • 4/5
      This was a very interesting read. An unusual type of book for me but I thoroughly enjoyed it.Beatrice or Bee gets a call to tell her that her pregnant sister is missing. Bee lives in New York and gets the first flight home to London. A few days later she finds out her sister is dead.A verdict of suicide is recorded but Bee refuses to believe that this is the case and goes on the hunt for her sisters murder. This book is what happens in the lead up to find a murderer. And its very, very good.I could empathise with Bee, she has been very close to her sister so knows that her sister is not someone who would commit suicide. She loved life. She finds out that her sisters baby died 2 days before her death. Her sister was treated with a new gene therapy as her baby had cystic fibrosis and it was deemed to cure CF in the womb. She wonders if this has anything to do with her sisters death. Everyone believes that the verdict of suicide is correct including, Bee's mother, fiancé and the police. The relationship between Bee and Tess is somewhat beautiful. You get to know Tess, even though she has died.Its rather difficult to elaborate more on this book without spoiling it for future readers. But the ending was very good and felt left open to interpretation. I'll looks for more books by this author.  
    • 2/5
      I found that the author of this book just droned on and on without getting to the point. The ending was a total letdown and unbelievable .
    • 2/5
      I think I was supposed to find this creepy or chilling or thought-provoking, but I mainly found it melodramatic and preposterous.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this novel which was a relief as I haven't been getting on that well with some of my recent choices! It is outside of my usual genre being fiction and non-Christian.

      The story is told by Beatrice whose sister Tess has gone missing whilst pregnant. Beatrice is writing a letter to her sister and tells the story through her writings. The author jumps backwards and forwards in the time line from the perspectives of the various characters. Maybe that sounds confusing. Normally I would agree but she skillfully pulls it off and I managed to follow the story. It is a novel that will keep you guessing right until the end with quite a few twists.

      The author's writing style is easy to read and her creativity flows from each page. There are a lot of unusual metaphors that worked really well. She captures the emotions of someone dealing with death extremely accurately and sensitively. She also deals with cystic fibrosis and genetic modification.

      The only drawback to this book was the occasional use of bad language. It wasn't frequent but was enough that I noticed it. As this is my own copy I have crossed all of the swearing through with a black pen so that when it goes in the charity shop the next reader won't be faced with it. I hope this doesn't result in them spending hours attempting to work out what the words were.....There are a few sexual scenes but nothing graphic and limited violence.

      I would recommend this book, even more so if you want to try and find my slightly edited copy in a used book store local to Banbury in England....
    • 4/5
      Nothing can break the bond between sisters ...When Beatrice gets a frantic call in the middle of Sunday lunch to say that her younger sister, Tess, is missing, she boards the first flight home to London. But as she learns about the circumstances surrounding her sister's disappearance, she is stunned to discover how little she actually knows of her sister's life - and unprepared for the terrifying truths she must now face.The police, Beatrice's fiance and even their mother accept they have lost Tess but Beatrice refuses to give up on her. So she embarks on a dangerous journey to discover the truth, no matter the cost.
    • 3/5
      This book really draws you in from the opening page. I couldn't put it down. I can't wait to read more books by this author!
    • 5/5
      Rosamund Lupton’s debut novel, ‘Sisters’ announces its focus in the title, then carefully examines the bond between Bee and Tess, two young women with a history of making very different choices.== What’s it about? ==Beatrice is used to playing the older sister role with love, gravitas and a disapproving tone, so when she receives a phone call telling her Tess has gone missing, she flies home immediately, fully expecting to locate and scold her scatty sibling. (Though she greatly admires Tess’ bold, abstract paintings, Bee has never told her this, refusing to encourage her little sister to adopt such an uncertain ‘career’.)When Tess is discovered dead, Bee is stunned but adamant that the sister she knew so well would never contemplate suicide. After all, they both lost a brother to cystic fibrosis when they were younger, so they know life is too precious to abandon. As the police, Beatrice’s fiance and mother all accept the apparent truth of Tess’ suicide, Bee struggles to make sense of what happened to her sister. Convinced Tess was murdered, Bee begins to investigate, but how well did Bee know her little sister? She’s going to find the answers, even if she loses everything along the way.== What’s it like? ==Amazing. Powerful. Beautiful. ‘Sister’ is written as a letter / narrative from Beatrice to Tess, who wants to explain to her sister what’s happened since she’s died, and why. This is all so beautifully / cleverly structured that I think I’m a little in awe of Rosamund Lupton, who moves seamlessly from past to present to more distant past and back again while sustaining a cast of numerous potential killers and the possibility that Bee is simply losing her mind.It is seriously impressive that we are content to follow Beatrice’s viewpoint as she interviews, accuses and reassesses potential suspects, never once losing patience with her or reaching a definite conclusion ourself. How could we? This is Beatrice’s view. Her witness statement. As every character we meet is filtered through her perception, and as she has declared her intent to explain without the benefit of hindsight, it is impossible to move beyond her devloping insights.As Bee investigates the characters peopling her sister’s life, she gradually comes to understand her sister and herself better. Indeed, as the novel develops Bee’s attitudes, appearance and values shift so much that she begins to resemble the sister she misses so desperately. This is at once a beautifully drawn portrait of a woman learning to find true meaning and beauty in life, (‘I had learned finally, like you, to put love before truth.’) but also a carefully plotted crime story that concludes with an absolutely perfect ending.== Final thoughts ==I genuinely loved this book and believe I have found a new favourite author. Every element of the story works perfectly in harmony with the others and by the end I felt that I could hold the whole in the ball of my hand as a twinkling globe, lights shifting and illuminating new facets as I flex my palm. The ending left me with so much to think about and to hope for after such a thoroughly engrossing narrative. I loved seeing Bee’s character develop, seeing her really grow into a positive and open young woman, even as she became more unwell and her world wobbled around her.Truly fantastic fiction. Read it. Then, if you’re lucky enough to have a sister, think about what she could teach you.
    • 4/5
      I found this a frustrating read - I wanted to like it, but found the writing style slow going and hard to navigate. For starters it's framed in a roundabout way - narrator Bee is looking back at the events surrounding her sister's disappearance, and the story consists of her talking to her absent sister about talking to a prosecutor about talking to the police about her sister's disappearance (got that?). Dialogue is constantly interrupted by Bee analysing people's posture, their facial expression, the things they might have wanted to say but didn't, and by the time you've got through all that you have forgotten what the person said in the first place. As a reader I like some things to be left for me to assume. If someone yells "STOP!" at the top of their voice, I'm capable of working out that they're in a state of agitation, but our Bee will no doubt explain that, as well as postulating several theories about why this might be. It's not necessary, it clogs up the narrative, and instead of being carried effortlessly through a conversation it's like trying to pick your way across a Lego strewn carpet.This aside, it was always a pleasure to pick up at the end of the day: it had a satisfying meatiness about it, and there was plenty going on. The detective element of it I found hard to swallow, relying as it did on multiple breaches of confidentiality which would never happen in real life (meaning that I was constantly reminded it was 'only' fiction), but it does pack a sizeable surprise at the end, which was really impressive, both in its capacity as a game-changer, and in the fact that I didn't for one moment see it coming.
    • 5/5
      When her mom calls to tell her that Tess, her younger sister, is missing, Bee returns home to London on the first flight. She expects to find Tess and give her the usual lecture, the bossy big sister scolding her flighty baby sister for taking off without letting anyone know her plans. Tess has always been a free spirit, an artist who takes risks, while conservative Bee couldn't be more different. Bee is used to watching out for her wayward sibling and is fiercely protective of Tess (and has always been a little stern about her antics). But then Tess is found dead, apparently by her own hand. As a determined Bee gives her statement to the lead investigator, her story reveals a predator who got away with murder - and an obsession that may cost Bee her own life.
    • 4/5
      "Sister" is an intriguing book about a woman coming to terms with her sister's death. The police have called Tess' death suicide, but Beatrice know her sister too well and is convinced she has been murdered and will not rest until the truth has been revealed.Told from Bee's point of view in the form of a letter to her beloved sister, the reader gradually learns more about the two women, their precarious childhood, their daily lives and the strong bond between them despite their vast differences. Beautifully written, this book is heart-wrenching, gripping and intense. Not only is it a murder mystery but also a wonderful exploration of the special relationship between sisters. A great read!
    • 5/5
      During my younger days, I had a passion for genre fiction – fantasy, science fiction – but mysteries and detective fiction never held my attention. A good friend picked Sister by Rosamund Lupton for our March Book Club, so I read with a slight sense of foreboding. As it turned out, it was not so much a detective novel as a psychological exploration of a family torn apart following the death of a child, a divorce, the scattering of siblings, and finally the disappearance of a young woman, Tess -- an art student with quite a free spirit, much to the dismay of her mother and sister.Bea and Tess, as they called each other, had developed an extremely close relationship, even though Bea had left London for a design job in New York. She spoke frequently with Tess, and as Bea mentioned several times, “they had no secrets.” Bea boards the next flight to London and moves into her sister’s flat, hoping to reconnect with Tess. The police seem oddly unconcerned about the disappearance of Tess, and Bea convinces herself she is alive and will soon turn up. The novel takes a dark turn when a cast of suspicious characters begin to appear.Eventually, Tess’s body turns up in a crusty, disgusting public toilet. The police firmly belief the death resulted from suicide. I won’t say why, because those details are all part of the plot. I searched for a quote to exemplify Lupton’s tight, suspenseful prose, but most of them revealed plot details. So, I settled on the first paragraph. Lupton writes, “Sunday Evening. Dearest Tess, I’d do anything to be with you, right now, right this moment, so I could hold your hand, look at your face, listen to your voice. How can touching and seeing and hearing – all those sensory receptors and optic nerves and vibrating eardrums – be substituted by a letter? But we’ve managed to use words as go-betweens before, haven’t we? When I went off to boarding school and we had to replace games and laughter and low-voiced confidences for letters to each other. I can’t remember what I said in my first letter, just that I used a jigsaw, broken up, to avoid the prying eyes of my house mistress. (I guessed correctly that her jigsaw-making inner child had left years ago). But I remember word for word your seven-year-old reply to my fragmented homesickness and that your writing was invisible until I shone a flashlight onto the paper. Ever since, kindness has smelled of lemons” (1). Believe it or not, several phrases and images in this first paragraph connect directly to numerous points in the plot. I love a psychological novel, and the bond these two sisters had revealed them both to be interesting characters, with a complex relationship to each other, their mother and absent father, their dead brother, Leo, and numerous other characters in the novel.Sister, by Rosamund Lupton, will draw you into this complex web, and wonder at their strengths and weaknesses. To fans and non-fans of suspense I highly recommend this debut novel by a young British writer. 5 stars--Jim, 3/27/15