#Review: Sisters by Judith Barrow @judithbarrow77 @honno @RandomTTours #blogtour #Sisters

It’s an absolute pleasure today to be joining the blog tour for Sisters, the latest book from Judith Barrow, and sharing my review. Published by Honno Welsh Women’s Press on 26th January, it’s now available for kindle and in paperback: the paperback is also available via Hive, or you might prefer to buy it via Honno’s affiliate link on Bookshop.org. My thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation and support, and for arranging my advance reading e-copy.

I know I’ve mentioned before that my first experience of Judith’s wonderful writing was because of an upcoming visit to Narberth Book Fair back in 2018 (she was the joint founder and co-organiser). I just couldn’t fit in Judith’s immensely popular Howarth trilogy (A Pattern of Shadows, Changing Patterns and Living in the Shadows) ahead of my visit, but read instead the series prequel, A Hundred Tiny Threads: you’ll find my review here, and I knew straight away that I’d found a new favourite author.

And then came The Memory (you’ll find my review here). It was so stunning that I called it “one of the most powerful books I’ve read” – I’d recommend it without reservation, and it most certainly deserved its shortlisting as 2021 Wales Book of the Year. I very much enjoyed her next one too, The Heart Stone – one of those special books that entirely took over my life and my waking thoughts for as long as I was reading (you’ll find my review here). So – let’s take a closer look at her latest…

A powerful story of domestic violence, courage and forgiveness.

 

An accident and a terrible lie tear a family apart. When sixteen-year-old Angie blames her younger sister for their brother’s death, she changes their lives forever. Lisa is sent away, Angie spirals into self-destruction and they don’t speak for thirteen years.

 

Returning in 1983 for their mother’s funeral, Lisa quickly realises her sister is trapped in a dangerous marriage.

 

What does Lisa owe to the family that betrayed her? And if she tries to help, will she make things more dangerous for them all?

I’m going to borrow some words I used when I reviewed The Memory – “absolutely compelling, a story superbly told, and an entirely unforgettable emotional experience”. I used the word “stunning” a few times too – and although this is a very different book, the words seem equally appropriate. With this book, the author has produced another that packs a considerable emotional punch, coupled with an original story that had me pinned to the seat as I read it from cover to cover in one sitting.

A short prologue hints at what is to come, but the book opens in 1970 – with a family who will be torn apart by a tragic accident, where the blame settles with young Mandy, and its consequences are devastating.  Sent to live with her uncle and aunt in Wales, they uncover the truth about what happened – that she was unable to share with her parents –  and show her the love she needs to move on, to build a new life as Lisa, and to rebuild her relationship with her mother. Meanwhile her older sister Angie, wracked with guilt after setting up an alibi to escape any consequences for her own actions, flees her home and her life follows a difficult path that will prove hard to escape. The narrative resumes in 1983 – when Lisa returns for her mother’s funeral, she finds that her estranged sister’s earlier actions and later life choices have trapped her in a marriage fraught with abuse, both physical and emotional, with no means of escape. Angie’s husband has an agenda all of his own – and, along with a friend from their shared past, the sisters need to work together to bring down a man capable of appalling acts and cruelty who has become a most unlikely pillar of the community.

My goodness, the author’s telling is so much better than that – but this book is far more than its story. Mandy’s voice – that of a confused child, torn between her own grief, her sense of right and wrong, and her love for her family – tears at your heart. We hear Angie’s voice too – the way she deals with her own guilt and justifies her actions – and any sympathy is, at first, difficult to find. The father who rejects his own child, and the mother who condones it – that’s even more complex. But when Mandy – now Lisa – achieves some redemption, we see Angie’s life heading in a different direction. And while there might be some possibility that she reaps what she deserves, the reader’s compassion builds when we see what a mess she’s made of her life. Her husband is the truly evil one, who will stop at nothing to get what he wants – but the strength of character that Lisa has developed, and that really emerges through the writing, means that there might just be some possibility of him being stopped in his tracks.

And I’m back telling the story again – and I really don’t mean to. The character development is tremendously strong – but so is the story’s backdrop, the community that closed ranks against a small child bullied mercilessly and driven from her home, and the differences once thirteen years have passed. And there are the small background details that capture the context and era for both the past and present story – so subtle you barely notice, and really cleverly done. But the most unforgettable thing about this book is the way it makes you feel, by skilfully telling a story that can’t fail to engage the full range of your emotions. And it never feels like manipulation – these are real people who you grow to care deeply for through the course of their experiences. The book’s conclusion is satisfying in every possible way – and this is the point when I really won’t tell you the story, because that would be entirely unforgivable.

A family drama, perhaps a thriller in parts – perfectly structured and beautifully written, tender and gritty, this is a book that defies placing within one genre, and is all the better for it. All I can say is that I entirely loved it – one of my books of the year, and I couldn’t recommend it more highly.

About the author

Judith Barrow has lived in Pembrokeshire for nearly forty years. She is the author of eight novels (seven for Honno), and has published poetry and short fiction, winning several poetry competitions, and had a play performed at the Dylan Thomas Centre. Judith grew up in the Pennines, has degrees in literature and creative writing, and makes regular appearances at literary festivals. She is the joint founder of the Narbeth Book Festival.

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