I’m delighted today to be featuring the latest book from Helen Matthews, The Sisters – already available in paperback, but published as an e-book today (2nd December – and free via Kindle Unlimited) by Bloodhound Books, with the audiobook to follow. I read and very much enjoyed this book back in 2020 when it was published under the title Façade: while psychological thrillers aren’t often my first choice of reading, Helen drew me in when she told me that she always aims to make her novels multi-layered for book club discussion so that, as well as the plot twists and central mystery, there are themes that resonate strongly with her readers.
Let’s take a closer look….
A drowned child. Estranged sisters. A home steeped in sorrow.
Rachel thought she could outrun her past. But when her sister Imogen returns home after years abroad, the walls Rachel built around her begin to crumble. Imogen wants what she believes is hers – no matter the cost.
Twenty years after the tragic drowning of their baby brother, Rachel has constructed a life that appears perfect on the surface. A successful career, a loving daughter, and a claim on her parents’ beautiful family home, The Old Rectory. But the cracks are starting to show.
Imogen’s arrival rips open old wounds. Once a carefree nomad, Imogen is now destitute and desperate, determined to reclaim her place in the family.
As long-buried secrets resurface, and the past collides with the present, Rachel must confront the truth about her brother’s death.
As danger looms and family bonds are tested, the only thing more dangerous than the past is the silence that has kept it hidden…
The Sisters is a gripping tale of loss, guilt, and the deadly consequences of unspoken truths.
And this was a book that delivered absolutely everything it promised – it’s a real pleasure to share again my original review…
I’ve never really felt it necessary to like a book’s main characters to enjoy a book, but I’ll admit I’ve rarely come across one when I’ve disliked almost all of them with such intensity. There were perhaps glimmerings of sympathy for Rachel – driven and focused, sacrificing much of her own happiness to provide support for her struggling parents as they cling to the crumbling family home – but then something she said or did would set my teeth on edge and I just wasn’t in her corner any more. But as for her sister Imogen – well, there were certainly no redeeming features there, supremely selfish and driven by jealousy and the irresistible urge to get even, casting aside or crushing anyone or anything that gets in her way. But what a thoroughly compelling, fascinating and well drawn character she is – her actions throughout had me entirely gripped, as she relentlessly pursued her goals.
But this is so much more than a story about a good sister (well, fairly good…) and a bad sister – their characters are quite gloriously complex, but although they’re maybe the main focus there’s a very clever layering of past and present secrets, and a supporting cast every bit as well handled as Rachel and Imogen. I very much liked that layering, the wall of silence, broken through deliciously slowly as the timeline moves between the present day, back into the childhood years and the time the family spent in Tunisia, through Imogen’s life in Ibiza – beautifully done, with small revelations and increasing levels of detail allowing the truth to emerge.
The relationships are so well drawn – the fractured one between the sisters, but also Imogen’s progression through others she pursues, uses and discards, and the family dynamics between Rachel and both her own immediate family and with her parents. The book’s sense of place is excellent – the overseas locations, the London locations (particularly Little Venice), the remoteness of the Old Rectory and the commuter town of Ferngate on the Hampshire/Surrey border. And I have to say how very much I loved the book’s ending – circling back to the book’s striking opening, beautifully understated, nicely open to interpretation and thoroughly shocking and unsettling.
If you like your reading fitted neatly into a box, this book might be something of a conundrum – it’s not a fast-paced thriller, and although there are plenty of moments that make you gasp or shift to the edge of your seat it doesn’t rely on a single jaw-dropping twist, more a series of small changes of perspective. Psychological suspense certainly sums it up, but there are strong elements of domestic noir and family drama too – all I can really tell you is how very much I enjoyed it, and I’ll certainly be reading more books from this very talented author.
So many readers will enjoy this book every bit as much as I did – if it didn’t find you when it was originally released, do give it a try. And I must mention that I enjoyed it so much that I went on to read another of Helen’s books, The Girl in the Van – a few storylines cleverly disentangled, a number of intriguing secrets uncovered, then a change of gear that made it a particularly gripping thriller – due for re-release by Bloodhound on 30th January 2025, and one you might well like to pre-order.
About the author
Helen Matthews writes page-turning psychological suspense novels and is fascinated by the darker side of human nature and how a life can change in an instant. Three of her novels will be re-released by Bloodhound Books: she was previously published by Darkstroke Books. Her domestic suspense novel Lies Behind the Ruin, set in France, and a collection of short stories Brief Encounters are available from Amazon.
Born in Cardiff, Helen read English at the University of Liverpool and worked in international development, consultancy, human resources and pensions management. She fled corporate life to work freelance while studying for a Creative Writing MA. Her stories and flash fiction have been shortlisted and published by Flash 500, 1000K Story, Reflex Press, Artificium and Love Sunday magazine.
She is a keen cyclist, covering long distances if there aren’t any hills, sings in a choir and once appeared on stage at Carnegie Hall, New York in a multi-choir performance. She loves spending time in France. Helen is an Ambassador for the charity, Unseen, which works towards a world without slavery and donates all of her author talk fees, and a percentage of royalties, to the charity.
