A new to me author. Excellent story.
STORY SUMMARY
Josie and Kit Bianci grew up in Santa Cruz, California. Their parents owned and ran an Italian restaurant right next to their house on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Both girls learned to surf early in their lives and both were rather "neglected" by their parents. When their folks took in a homeless boy named Dylan who wa a few years older than them, he pretty much took care of them, making sure they brushed their teeth, did homework, and ate good meals.
Josie was killed years later on a train during a terrorist attack in Paris, France. She was gone forever. It's what her little sister Kit, now an ER doctor in a Santa Cruz hospital, has always known to be true. But one night, while watching the news, everything changed. She saw Josie's face stumbling through the smoky haze of an Auckland, New Zealand major fire. Fire had ripped through a nightclub and all of the news channels were showing live coverage. When Kit sees her sister appear on the news, many emotions come to the surface: grief, loss, anger. Kit has the chance to put to rest some of these emotions by finding Josie who has been living a lie for over 10 years.
Once she arrives in New Zealand, Kit begins the process with memories from the past: days spent on the beach with her precious sister. Days spent with the lost teenage boy who had become part of their family. The devastating earthquake that claimed the life of her father and the restaurant business. This trauma, along with some secrets of Josie's, has affected them for all of their lives.
If they can reunite, they will need to unearth some long-buried secrets and face a devastating truth that has kept them apart for far too long. To regain their relationship, they might have to lose everything they hold dear.
MY THOUGHTS
This has excellent character development and setting. The backstory is told very well by the author interweaving it into the main plot. Each chapter is either Kit's voice or Mari's (aka Josie).
The main themes in this story are childhood innocence lived and lost, betrayals, child sexual abuse, abortion, drug and alcohol addiction, child neglect, friendship, and the role of 2 emotionally close sisters. Also touched on in this book is marriage, true love, forgiveness.
This is a story that will stick with you for a few days after you complete it.
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (due to some mature content).
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 10.
2 comments:
That sounds like a good book :)
This sounds right up my alley. I'll look for it at the library.
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