Martha and Becky are not just sisters, they are best friends. They are confidantes. They have each other’s back. Then the unthinkable happens: one sister is accused of killing the other’s infant, and their world falls apart, in the dark but absorbing The Good Sister.
The Good Sister
Martha and Becky have a solid bond even though they are quite different in personality. Martha is the steady, reliable one, the kind of woman who multi-tasks to perfection. Becky is the one who is fun to be around but can’t seem to get her life together. Her marriage has floundered and she hates her job.
When Martha gives birth to baby Layla, she needs a trustworthy and available nanny who can provide TLC while Martha is at work. In an aha moment, she offers the job to Becky, who readily accepts.
It is not a spoiler to tell you that while in Becky’s care the baby dies, because this is revealed on page two.
Like I said, it is dark.
Author Gillian McAllister recounts the story mostly through Becky’s trial, and with multiple points of view we come to understand the dynamics of this family: relationships between the sisters, between them and their husbands, between them and their children. McAllister skillfully leads us from suspecting a character to absolving them to suspecting them once again.
The courtroom scenes are full of tension as we yearn to know the truth. Becky denies she killed the baby, and Martha wants to believe this so badly, but the facts seem to point to Becky’s culpability.
Who was the good sister?
At first, Becky is delighted to be Layla’s nanny. With a son of her own, she has experience as a parent and thinks this will be a cushy job. But Layla is not the easy child her son Xander was. Layla has colic or acid reflux and cries loudly and continuously. Pretty soon, Becky is a nervous wreck and begins to resent Martha and her husband for being away too much. She regrets taking this job and wants out.
Martha, traveling abroad for her work as a founder of a children’s charity, is unaware of Becky’s misery and certain that everything will be fine while she is away, even though Layla is a very young and demanding baby.
The Good Sister is such an emotionally powerful and thoughtfully told story, so nuanced. The complexities of new parenthood, the agony of a restless, screaming baby, the inadequacies we feel as we measure ourselves against an impossible standard — all this felt very real to me. Loving your baby with every fiber of your being but sometimes wishing the baby wasn’t there: this is an honest reaction that is not often expressed openly. Until recently, post-partum depression was not even recognized as a thing.
As the courtroom proceedings unveil new information about Becky, Martha struggles to reconcile this person with the sister she thought she knew. At the same time, she is consumed with guilt for her own failures as a mother and wife.
The Good Sister is a riveting, fast-paced psycho drama that is hard to put down. I couldn’t wait to find out “whodunit,” and the conclusion was satisfyingly surprising … and credible.
One of my lucky readers will receive a copy of The Good Sister. Please leave a comment on the Books is Wonderful Facebook page and a winner will be randomly selected. US addresses only, please.
I received a copy of The Good Sister from G.P. Putnam & Sons for an honest review, which is the only kind of review I write.
