The Forgotten Sister by Caroline Bond

          This is the second novel by Caroline Bond and it did not disappoint.  Like The Second Child this is a tale all about families and how they operate behind those suburban curtains.  Somehow Ms Bond manages to take you to situations you have no experience of, in this case adoption, and sucks you right in.

The Forgotten Sister is all about Cassie and her adopted family of parents Tom and Grace and their "natural" daughter Erin.  Everything is going as well as can be expected for a family with two teenage daughters until Cassie decides that she is ready to take the next step with her boyfriend and visits the Family Planning Clinic.  When they start asking questions about her medical history she realises how little she knows about her birth mother and this sets her off on a quest to find out all she can.

I have to be careful here to not give too much away about the plot as there are a couple of twists and turns along the way.  All the scenarios in the book do feel exceptionally real with none of the events having that tang of sensationalism for effect that they so easily could have done.  Yes, there is a good dollop of action and threat that keep you on the edge of your seat and breathlessly turning pages but you are so absorbed in the story that they just feel like perfectly natural extensions of the circumstances the family find themselves in.

Told in real time with flashbacks, you get a real feel for the arduous adoption process and also Cassie's early years when she was still with her birth mother.  I really liked that they were depicted as a normal family with challenges that anyone with children could recognise.  It was made clear early on that Grace and Tom were a mixed race couple but the point isn't belaboured and although relevant to the adoption agency regarding placing a child with them it makes no difference to the story - which, lets be honest, it really has no importance to their daily lives.

The story is told mainly from Cassie's viewpoint, with all the mixed up emotions of puberty and peer pressure creating tension within both herself and the family.  We don't really hear much from her sister Erin, mainly getting to know her through Cassie's eyes but it is clear that they are close and have a solid sororial relationship.  We also have sections focusing on Tom and/or Grace and their relationship is quite enviable - they communicate well with each other and their girls - but it also has it's moments of friction as any real life relationship does.  The point is that they are a team and just trying to do their best with (and for) each other.

The secondary voice that we hear from is Leah.  We don't meet her until a little ways in to the book but she appears to have information about Cassie's birth mother and when Cassie appeals for information via social media she gets in touch with her.  From the start it is clear that Leah loves playing games and manipulating people and that there is something "damaged" about her.  Compared to Cassie she has had a terrible start in life and things really don't seem to be improving, in fact, as the book progresses you can't help but think that her situation is worsening.

A sensitively told tale full of emotion and really gives you pause to think about your relationships with the world around you and the people that are closest to you.  Genuinely engrossing and believable without ever sinking in to misery-lit.

THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PIGEONHOLE.