The Orphan Sister by Gwendolen Gross
Review by McGuffyAnn M. (nightprose)
The Orphan Sister tells the story of a set of triplet sisters. Two sisters, Odette and Olivia, are identical. The third sister, Clementine, knows she is “different”.
As they grow, the identical sisters continue seemingly identical lives, careers, styles, even childbearing. Yet there is an underlying feeling of loneliness.
The third (“orphan”) sister, Clementine, learns to embrace her status as “single sister”. She develops her own life and identity, yet maintains her connection to her sisters.
The sisters struggle through family problems, yet learn there is a special strength that they have as triplets. Though their father creates problems through his absence, and is distant when he is there, the mother also has issues of detachment. This further cements the girls’ connections to each other.
Through Clementine, we learn there are twists and turns and surprises that reveal secrets and explanations, as well. The writing is well done and the storyline is unique and intriguing.
Gwendolen Gross draws you in and makes you want to understand these fascinating sisters.
This book sounds very interesting! Another one to add to the list! 🙂
This book had some interesting characters and descriptions, but the plot is full of holes that detract from the overall impression. The author owes it to the readers to pay some attention to critical plot details such as how old the characters are, so that ages and work schedules at various points in time are realistic. Also, a key plot point about having to go through a mysterious lawyer when the father had a cell phone is grating. Surely most people can manage a brief call, and doctors seem very unlikely to forget their phones, even in urgent situations. There are a few other substantially annoying writing shortcuts like this as well, although noting them would give away the plot, just in case it was not fairly obvious.