Reviewer: Amy Lignor
Title: The Secret Sisters
Author: Joni Rodgers
Publisher: Harper Perennial
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-083139-4 (Reprint)
Release Date: May 2007
Genre/Sub-genre: Contemporary Fiction
Year/Setting: 2001, USA
Overall Rating: 4.0
Sexual Content Rating: Sexual
Language (Profanity/Slang) Content Rating: Moderate
Violent Content Rating: Minimal
Joni's Website:
www.jonirodgers.com
Dear Readers:
Pia is a lawyer, a very good lawyer. She has two kids. She attended Harvard University. She is organized. Her life is a well-oiled machine. Yet, suddenly, her "machine" turns over as Edgar, her beloved husband, has a heart attack at a party they are attending. In one moment, Pia’s life is reversed and she is thrown into a chaotic world that she has no idea how to traverse. Her panic attacks become severe. The lawyer who flew back and forth across the country twenty times a week can no longer step inside a plane. (By the way, the author is a master at describing panic attacks and a life falling apart. I was riveted by Pia’s world).
Now, who does Pia call to help her out? Listen to her trials? Her sister, of course. Lily is a smart-mouthed, yet good woman, who is behind bars for a crime that she committed. An accident that was simply horrible. Lily is one of the most complex characters I’ve read. She keeps a journal and the entries range from hysterical to downright loathsome. Her world is a small cell – her life is for the most part, over. But is it? Perhaps Lily’s situation is better than Pia’s?
We meet Beth. A sister? Nope…sister-in-law. I disliked this character immediately. She was the biggest hypocrite in the world. This woman quotes the Bible and how forgiveness is the "way to go" yet the reader knows wholeheartedly this woman is more, "an eye for an eye." And just when the author made me want to "close the book" on Beth, she side-swiped me with information and I began to feel sorry for the character.
THIS is what this author can do and do well. She uses her writing as an instrument. It’s like she’s the conductor of a very large and complex orchestra. She will use one section to lead you down one path and then in the next instant unveil something that will completely turn your ideas upside down. Bravo!
(Note: There is an excellent plot-line with a character involved in Pia’s life, Dalphine. Although, a little risqué it is paramount to the story.) Enjoy!
Amy
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