I really enjoyed this book. As the teacher in charge of stocking the senior school library, I like to ensure that the books are diverse and the students are exposed to both excellent fiction and excellent modern non-fiction. I think that this is both a fascinating and well-written book that has much to recommend it and will keep the students interests. It is good to stretch their reading interests by providing them with books about subjects they might never have considered before and this definitely does the job well. It is also good to find books that I know the teaching staff might enjoy as well as the students and I definitely think that this applies in both cases. Absolutely recommend wholeheartedly; a fantastic read.

I found this a powerful and compelling memoir but a curiously detached one. It tells the story of Maxine and Sheila Kohler, from their privileged but often difficult childhood in South Africa to Maxine’s untimely death – or perhaps murder – just before her 40th birthday. In this honest account Sheila seems to be trying to make sense of the tragedy and come to terms with her role in her sister’s death and to understand how it all went so badly wrong. I was absorbed by the book, not least because Sheila, a novelist, writes so well, but although I felt how poignant the whole situation was I remained somewhat on the outside, due, perhaps, to Sheila Kohler’s own rather dispassionate stance. In spite of the fact that emotion is at the heart of the memoir, the emotions always seem at one remove. Nevertheless it’s a fascinating account of the two women’s lives and overall I enjoyed it very much.

​Sheila writes a true story about the loss of her sister and the aftermath. She takes the reader's imagination on an expedition of growing up with her sister in South Africa, the death of her father. Her marriage to Michael. Her sister's marriage to Carl.

The physical abuse her sister, Max, suffers at the hand of her husband. Sheila's unfaithful husband. The twists. The turns. The emotions. The anguish and pain of losing her sister so needlessly.

I read this book with rapt attention. Only putting it down to work during the day while thinking about how it will all play out.

I almost can't believe it's a real story. So sad, yet so beautiful. Life is full of twists like these.

Rating: 4.5/5

Favourite quote: "Life has a way of evening out the injustices it has created."

Beautifully written, the author pours out her distress at the loss of her sister, by the words she writes, you can feel the heartache that she shares through the pages. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it gives you a glimpse into the authors life and you walk hand in hand through the trials and tribulations, sharing the pain that she still carries through the decades.