Francie and Lottie are identical twins but they could not be more different. Francie is married with twin girls and lives in Boston. Lottie is single and struggling with bipolar disorder in California. They were close as children but their relationship decayed over Lottie’s unpredictable behavior. Francie has tired of her caregiver role since her mother's death. Lottie is inconsistent about taking her medication creating tension between the sisters.

Francie rushes to California after Lottie is involved in a bicycle accident. She is shocked to learn that her sister has an infant daughter. Francie puts her life on hold to help her sister and niece. During that time they start to repair their relationship and reveal secrets from their childhood.

This Bright Beauty examines the complexities of sibling relationships. Emily Cavanagh does a beautiful job of giving a sympathetic voice to mental illness. This is the second novel by the author. The author’s first novel, The Bloom Girls, was released in May 2017. ( )

My Review of “This Bright Beauty” by Emily Cavanagh

Kudos to Emily Cavanagh, Author of “This Bright Beauty” for her weaving her vivid descriptions of her characters, their relationships, and the storylines into a sensitive unique, and emotional novel. The Genres for this novel are Fiction, Women’s Fiction and Contemporary Fiction.

The Author describes her characters as flawed, complicated and complex. Franci and Lottie (Charlotte) are identical twins. The twins may be identical but after a tragic event and a very dark secret, Lottie develops a bipolar disorder, that not only changes their relationship, but those of the people around them. Lotti stays and teaches in California and Franci moves on to Boston, where she gets married and has twins.

There are times when Lotti doesn’t take her medication and vacillates between the”blackness” and “light”. Franci has tried to be responsible and watches that Lotti takes her medication from the distance. Lotti’s long time boyfriend will tell Franci, that Lotti is strong, but sick. After a major problem occurs, both Franci and Lotti don’t talk to one another for quite a while.

Franci gets a call that Lotti has been in an accident, and should come to watch Lotti’s infant daughter. Franci had not realized that Lotti had been pregnant. What can Franci do now? What should Franci do now?

I appreciate that Emily Cavanagh discusses the issues of mental illness, and sheds some light on bipolar disorders and depression. I also like that the author discusses the importance of family, emotional support, acceptance, love and hope. This is a powerful and emotional story that I would highly recommend. I received An Advanced Reading Copy from NetGalley for my honest review. ( )