My Sisters Secret by Tracy Buchanan

Everything you’ve built your life on is a lie.

Willow’s memories of her parents are sun-drenched and full of smiles, love and laughter. But a mysterious invitation to a photographic exhibition exposes a secret that’s been buried since a tragic accident years ago.

Willow is forced to question everything she knew about Charity, her late mother, and Hope, the aunt she’s lived with since she was a child.

How was the enigmatic photographer connected to Willow’s parents? Why will Hope not break her silence?

Willow cannot move forward in her life without answers. But who can she really trust? Because no one has been telling the truth for a very long time.

My Sisters Secret was no doubt an absolute joy of a read! 

Right from the prologue I was gripped and fascinated with the story, and although the book only took my two days of reading it felt much longer due to finding myself googling images of Submerged Forests every time a new one was referred to within the story.... 

Just look at this one of Green Lake in Austria, captivating right?

                                                                         Photograph curtesy of Google Images.

Submerged Forests play a huge part in the storyline of My Sister Secret and I adored the amount of detail Tracy Buchanan went in to to describe each of the ones mentioned on Faith's Map, it made me feel as though I was there, putting on my own wetsuit, snorkel and flippers and diving right between the trees. That in its own right is the sign of a great author.

So the book then. 

Well, I can't say a great deal, not because I don't want to - trust me I could go on for a while about the different elements, but because I want to "Keep The Secret" and I think if I give too much away then the secret will slip out. 

That said, it's obvious we know there is a secret from the clear title, but there were lots of twists and turns within the book that kept my mind guessing, and I'm pleased to say I didn't think *THAT* would be revealed!!

The story is based around three sisters, Faith, Hope and Charity, and Charity's daughter Willow and is told from the view of both Charity and Willow.

The chapters told from Willow are in the present day, we know her mother passed away in a cruise ship accident and she was brought up by her aunt, but when clearing out her parents' old house, Willow discovers an invite from Niall Lane, a well known photographer specialising in submerged forests. Willows Aunt gives her a frosty reception about this, forcing Willow to ask more and more questions adding doubt to the life she thought she knew.

Whilst the chapters told from Charity's POV are from the past giving us insight to what happened and when, who Niall Lane is and of course revealing the a secret or two!

My Sisters Secret was a very well plotted story, it allowed us to follow Willow's journey on finding out about her mothers past life, throwing questions and giving answers along the way.

I particularly liked how the past and present was linked by the common submerged forest interest and how it tied most of the characters together. 

Without question I would recomend this book to anyone that enjoys women's fiction that has an element of mystery to it.

I would like to thank Tracy and the teams at HarperCollins / Avon for the copy of My Sister Secret via NetGalley. This is my honest opinion.