The Good Sister: A Novel

by Sally Hepworth

Overview

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Sally Hepworth's The Good Sister is "a stunningly clever thriller made doubly suspenseful by not one, but two unreliable narrators" (People), a knock-out of a novel about the lies that bind two sisters.

There's only been one time that Rose couldn't stop me from doing the wrong thing and that was a mistake that will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Fern Castle works in her local library. She has dinner with her twin sister Rose three nights a week. And she avoids crowds, bright lights and loud noises as much as possible. Fern has a carefully structured life and disrupting her routine can be...dangerous.

When Rose discovers that she cannot get pregnant, Fern sees her chance to pay her sister back for everything Rose has done for her. Fern can have a baby for Rose. She just needs to find a father. Simple.

Fern's mission will shake the foundations of the life she has carefully built for herself and stir up dark secrets from the past, in this quirky, rich and shocking story of what families keep hidden.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250120960
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/01/2022
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	15,810
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Sally Hepworth has lived around the world, spending extended periods in Singapore, the United Kingdom and Canada. She is the author of The Secrets of Midwives, The Things We Keep, The Mother's Promise, The Family Next Door and The Mother-in-Law. Sally now lives in Melbourne with her husband, three children, and one adorable dog.

Editorial Reviews

02/15/2021

Rose Castle and her twin sister, Fern, who share narrative duties in this addictive psychological thriller from Hepworth (The Mother-in-Law), live in Victoria, Australia. Rose is a married interior designer, and Fern is a librarian who suffers from a sensory processing disorder. When Fern discovers that Rose desperately wants to become a mother, but has been unable to conceive, she considers everything Rose has done for her, including protecting Fern from their abusive mother during their childhood, and decides to act as a surrogate. To that end, she seduces a library patron in order to get pregnant. Fearful of Fern’s emotional fragility, Rose moves in with her sister to ensure the pregnancy runs smoothly. Excerpts from Rose’s journal heighten the suspense by gradually revealing the abuse the girls suffered as children. Meanwhile, Fern expresses her growing discomfort with her sister’s arrangements while giving insights into living with her disorder. Punchy prose helps propel the twisty plot to a creepy but satisfying conclusion. For fans of domestic dramas, this is a treat. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Good Sister:

One of the "April Most Anticipated"—CNN.com
One of "15 Books to Check Out this April"—E!Online
One of "The Best New Books To Read This April"—Bustle
One of the "Most Anticipated Books of 2021"—Goodreads
One of "The Big Mysteries and Thrillers of 2021"—Goodreads

"A stunningly clever thriller made doubly suspenseful by not one, but two unreliable narrators." —People

"Hepworth's latest further solidifies her place among the top domestic suspense authors...Fern is drawn as smart, capable, and probably on the spectrum, and she is multilayered and relatable, illustrating Hepworth's talent for page-turners with depth."— Booklist

"It's a warped tale of twisted memories and skewed perceptions that will make fans of psychological thrillers say, 'Wow, I didn't see that coming.'"—Library Journal

"Punchy prose helps propel the twisty plot to a creepy but satisfying conclusion. For fans of domestic dramas, this is a treat."—Publishers Weekly

“Fans of Hepworth’s The Mother-in-Law will quickly be drawn into this family-based mystery surrounding twin sisters Fern and Rose.”—CNN.com

“Hepworth proficiently spins a web that slyly keeps pulling in readers until they realize they're caught up in it and can't escape…When a woman helps her twin sister have a baby, she unintentionally causes buried family secrets to resurface in this unsettling yet heartwarming psychological drama." —Shelf Awareness

“Sally Hepworth's The Good Sister achieves the impossible trio of creepy, tender, and funny….Hepworth is an author poised to break out."—Business Insider

“[A] compelling, assured psychological twister…The book has a wicked sting of an ending, giving its title a dark second meaning. But where The Good Sister really shines is in its convincing, fascinating portrait of Fern’s sensory-processing disorder — both its blessings and its curses.”—Seattle Times

Praise for Sally Hepworth:

"A deliciously entertaining novel…This one is perfect for fans of Big Little Lies." —Good Morning America on The Mother-in-Law

“Sally Hepworth writes characters you love.” —Liane Moriarty, bestselling author of Big Little Lies

“Deliciously entertaining, packed with wit and suspense, and also delivers sharp insights about family dynamics and love.” —People magazine on The Mother-in-Law

"A masterful depiction of how much is said in the silences...a winner for fans of Liane Moriarty and Megan Abbott." —Booklist on The Mother-in-Law, starred review

"A mesmerizing domestic mystery." —Kirkus on The Mother-in-Law

"This one will keep you guessing until the very end." —Us Weekly on The Mother-in-Law

From the Publisher

★ 02/01/2021

Fraternal twins Rose and Fern Castle share all but three things: Rose's diabetes, Fern's sensory-processing difficulties, and their memories of how their mother raised them. As long as Fern can remember, Rose has been angry with their mother, accusing her of rages and neglect that Fern doesn't recall. Rose has always taken care of Fern, steering her in the right direction when her social perceptions fail her. Fern trusts her implicitly. She knows that sisterhood is not perfect; it's "both sunshine and guts, lollipops and blood, good and bad." But when Fern meets a man who "gets" her—another person living on the margins of "normal" society—Rose moves to rescue her sister from certain disaster. How far will she go to keep Fern's devotion? When details of a long-ago death are revealed, each sister knows what she must do to survive. VERDICT Hepworth's latest (after The Mother-in-Law) is written from one sister's perspective with the other's thoughts in diary form. It's a warped tale of twisted memories and skewed perceptions that will make fans of psychological thrillers say, "Wow, I didn't see that coming."—K.L. Romo, Duncanville, TX

Library Journal