Shadow Sister

Shadow Sister is a story about a family. An old-money family named the Blackworths. Christina Blackworth inherited the house she and her family now live in, and as she married Kevin Holland, their two children, Ava and Jamie, are also Hollands. The story is told from the point of view of Ava, the housekeeper’s daughter, Didi, and Jamie’s new wife, Sarah, and alternates between the past in 2006 to the present. Christina calls the ghost of the house Cinderella, and Ava and Jamie are ever curious about this ghost their mother has seen. Fast forward to the present, and Christina has died. Ava does not believe it was from a hereditary disease, however. She thinks her mother was poisoned. When Jamie marries one of his students, Sarah, Ava is very suspicious of the wealthy woman.

The story starts out well, although integrating the ghost into the realm of reality doesn’t quite fit, and I found the story to be very contrived. The reality is that it is the people who live and work in the Blackworth house who matter, not the ghost. The characters are okay but not too likable to have a vested interest in. The backdrop is wonderful and mysterious. The story starts to fade about two-thirds of the way in, and then secrets are revealed, bringing all the bits of the story together.