Book Review - Pieces of My Sister's Life

Pieces of My Sister's Life
Elizabeth Joy Arnold
Bantam
ISBN # 978-0385340656

Kerry and Eve grow up sharing everything. The small island on which they live, their father (the only parent present), their friends and neighbors – all are experienced together. Until they hit upon the one thing they can’t share, the man they both love.

“Pieces of My Sister’s Life” appears to be a summer romance novel, but it is so much more. Beautifully written, it tells a story of abandonment, self-sufficiency, betrayal, responsibility and love. You will come to care for the main characters in the first few chapters, and find yourself torn by which sister to cheer for on any given page.

I could almost feel the ocean breezes, smell the saltiness in the air, see the emotions the girls wear on their faces and hear the shifts of inflection in the voices of the characters. The taste of tears, for joy and sadness, is tucked away in the pages as well. Elizabeth Joy Arnold, using all five senses, shows the differences between love as a child, and the sometimes harsh reality of love as an adult.
(July 31, 2007, 480 pp, $6.99)