Book Review: The Good Sister

Lives of fraternal twins Fern and Rose come to a head in Sally Hepworth's engrossing domestic drama The Good Sister. Hepworth parcels out surprises evenly while focusing on the predicament of Fern, who is torn between the love and affection she has for Rose, who she has come to rely on completely over the years (cue the "unreliable narrator"), and realising that her sister's benevolent altruism may be a cover for something far more sinister, sending her carefully constructed life on a collision course with a dark secret from the past. Interesting people doing terrible things is not exactly a new trope in thrillers of this kind, but elevated by rich characterisation (the author's depiction of Fern alternates between endearing and frustratingly stereotypical), Hepworth unveils each revelation of some new betrayal with surgical precision en route to a bittersweet finale, even as the shifting points of view heighten the suspense. Satisfying and deliciously twisted storytelling.