Vivid and absorbing, The Missing Sister is a beautifully told story of family, romance and mystery.
This latest novel from Dinah Jefferies is her best yet, combining vivid detail along with beautifully created characters and a compelling story that makes The Missing Sister thoroughly engaging from start to finish.
Set during the 1930’s, Belle is a singer who has moved out to Burma to embark on a journey to discover what happened to her sister who went missing when she was a few weeks old, armed with a couple of newspaper cuttings about the story. But when she is sent a threatening note it soon becomes clear that there is more to the story of her missing sister than she originally thought.
Richly described, Dinah Jefferies beautifully brings the surroundings of Burma to life – right down to the scents and sounds that effectively draw the reader into the world that Belle is wondering through and enhancing the increasing danger that she faces. The description of the horrific outcome of the massacre that Belle stumbles across is horrific but captures the dangerous side of the country effectively. All of the descriptions highlight just how much detail and research that the author has carried out, adding to the poignancy of the
While trust and secrets lie at the centre of the novel, Jefferies also effectively examines issues such as mental health, sensitively captured in the chapters relating to Belle’s mother Diana set back between 1911 up until the 1920’s. Her storyline having to deal with the loss of her daughter and all of the emotions that go with it – predominantly guilt and sorrow are wonderfully and heart-wrenchingly described. By brining into focus mental health, it adds a contemporary edge that allows the reader to relate to the character easily.
It is a concise story that effortlessly ties the past and the present neatly together while highlighting numerous complex relationships between husbands and wives, mothers and daughters and romantic relationships. The Missing Sister is a pacy but absorbing read that draws the reader into the story from the very first page.
Heartfelt and engaging The Missing Sister is an absorbing read that was a pleasure to read from start to finish.
By Emma Clarendon
The Missing Sister is available to buy now.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐