Her Sister's Gift

Description

While her mother is at home giving birth, eleven-year-old Isa must look after her younger siblings, but when her little sister is killed in an accident on a trainline she carries the guilt through the rest of her life.

As Isa grows up, more tragedy strikes: her mother dies of a broken heart after giving birth to a stillborn son, and her father finds solace in heavy drinking. Though Isa finds satisfaction in domestic service for an aristocratic family in London, when her father returns home from the First World War paralysed and suffering memory loss, she must return home to take care of her family once more.

Yet there is only so much Isa can endure over the years, and discovering her husband’s affair is the final straw. Believing she has failed as a sister, a daughter, a wife and a mother, she makes an irrevocable decision… but will she realise in time that her troubled past can also give her the strength to carry on?

A tale of family tragedy and the struggle to let go of the past,Her Sister’s Gift is a heartbreaking yet ultimately uplifting debut from Sunday Mail Fiction Prize runner-up Isobel Jackson.

Product Details

Published: 18th February 2016
Format: Paperback 198x129mm
Extent: 320 pages
ISBN: 9781785300103

Author

After a theology degree at Aberdeen University, Isabel Jackson taught Religious Studies and Philosophy in schools for thirty years. She has recently completed her first novel inspired by the dramatic lives of her grandparents, which won the second prize in the Sunday Mail Fiction Competition 2015. She is interested in life's big questions and our human search for love and meaning.

Reviews

"Scarred emotionally by an early harrowing double tragedy, Isa Dick is an admirable heroine, who plots her own destiny, limited by the class system and gender inequalities of the time…an excellent and evocative series of mini-dramas, psychological conflict and near-cinematic scenes of early twentieth century working class life."
ABERDEEN VOICE

"Her Sister’s Gift is an incredible debut – a real page-turner that kept me awake reading until late at night."
COSMOCHICKLITAN

"Her Sister’s Gift should come with a need-tissues warning! It made for an addictive read – one which was both heart-breaking and ultimately, heart-warming. I hope to read lots more from this author in the future!"
REVIEWED THE BOOK

"A brilliant debut novel…I think everyone should read this book."
AJ BOOK REVIEW CLUB