Poppy Adams

Two sisters reunited after a mysterious grudge kept them apart for decades, an aristocratic manor house fallen into disrepair, family secrets galore. Sounds like the formula for a great read! But The Sister also takes a few unexpected left turns with the story. The narrator, Ginny, is an unreliable narrator, but not because she's duplicitous or manipulative; instead, she just doesn't understand people. She can talk endlessly about her scientific observations of moths, and she can accurately observe the actions of the people around her, but when it comes to understanding their feelings and motives, she simply cannot see what is right in front of her.

Ginny is a fascinating character. It's hard to make someone so oblivious both believable and sympathetic, but author Poppy Adams does a great job. The spookiness of the setting also provides a ton of atmosphere -- the isolated house, the scientific specimens strewn throughout the rooms, the brief interventions by others whose motives are completely unfathomable to Ginny and thus to us. As a result, though, the other sister, Vivian, suffers as a character because we never quite know what her role in the story is. Vivian has problems of her own, clearly, but were her feelings about the family any more accurate than Ginny's?

Altogether, this was an interesting puzzle of a story with fascinatingly ambiguous characters, but a little too ambiguous to be entirely satisfying.… (meer)

Thanks to whoever reviewed this favorably earlier in the year. I really enjoyed it. It's the story of two sisters told from one sister's point of view. This sister, Ginny, is revealed to have something of a personality disorder. She is obsessed with time, has trouble expressing and reading others' emotions, and adheres to a strict routine. She tells the story of her life with her sister Vivian, mother Maud, and father Clive. She lives an insular life in their crumbling Victorian mansion - rarely if ever leaving it. Her family is a long life of lepidopterists, scientists who study moths, and Ginny joins the family trade. In a series of flashbacks, she tells her family's story, always told through her somewhat unique point of view.

I found the ending a little unsatisfying, but otherwise I really liked this - satisfying story telling and interesting characters.… (meer)

Luckily I purchased this Audio book for a 1.00. It was a strange book that left a lot of loose ends. There are to many unanswered questions about Ginny that would have made this book so much better.
I understand the suspense is needed but Ginny's sister kept referring to how everyone protected her. Ginny does have some strange things happen to her but the story lines never play out so I still wonder what was up with their childhood. I was patient to listen to ALL the moth details thinking there were clues there but if there were I am to dense to see them. I enjoy learning about new things but If I had been reading I would have skipped much of this part of the book. Can't say I can recommend this one.… (meer)