"A beautifully rich and gorgeous story with an intriguing serving of mystery, set in 1930’s Burma."
It’s no secret that I am a fan of Dinah Jefferies and this is as beautifully and vividly readable as one would expect. Slip back into history and join Belle Hatton who travels to Burma in 1936 to become a nightclub singer, accompanying her is a newspaper clipping suggesting her parents left Ragoon 25 years previously in mysterious circumstances. Two time frames sit side by side, in 1921 we meet Belle’s mother, lost and traumatised, while in 1936 Belle finds her life increasingly in danger. I adore the descriptive detailing, you can almost close your eyes and take in a deep breath of a bygone era. The colour of the place and people just pops with intensity. Belle begins a relationship with a man, yet it doesn’t take centre stage, it is important but certainly not the be all and end all of this particular story. There is one unforgettable moment, using an event from history that is shockingly dramatic and provocative, I saw with Belle’s eyes, felt the pain and fear. I feel as though I could pick up a Dinah Jefferies book without knowing the author and would instinctively know it was hers, each book is completely individual yet the style of the author remains. The Missing Sister is richly and expressively eye-catching, it swept me up into the pages, releasing me only at the very satisfying ending.
| Primary Genre | Historical Fiction |
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Closing date: 09/12/2023
Enjoyable, if a little predictable. A book to escape into while nursing a cup of tea and a piece of cake.
Although I found the story quite predictable it was still an enjoyable read, and the descriptions of Burma , the people, and places were very evocative. Belle is searching for that missing piece, the truth that will help reconcile her feeling of being incomplete, and once and for all help her understand how and why her mother left her, how she never recovered from losing a child, and how not knowing the truth ripped her family apart. It’s not an easy journey, you are swept along as a host of characters step in to help her, or throw her off the path, at first not knowing who she can trust. She is naive, despite her independence, and at times I wanted to shake her for not seeing what was right in front if her.... Read Full Review
Belle gets a job as a hotel singer in 1930s Rangoon and delves into the disappearance of the sister she never knew. An intriguing story which paints a vivid picture of the hustle and bustle of Rangoon.
“The Rangoon Post 10 January 1911: Stolen from the Garden – the Case of the Vanishing Baby”; this old newspaper clipping, discovered by Belle after the death of her father, was the first time she even knew that she had a sister & helped to explain why her parents had left Rangoon before she was born. Now Belle has got a job as a hotel singer in 1930s Rangoon and she can’t resist delving into the mystery. She is befriended by several of her new acquaintances but soon realises she doesn’t know who she can trust and what the motives are of those who are supposedly helping her.
Dinah Jefferies’ paints a vivid picture which transports the reader into the hustle and bustle of Rangoon.... Read Full Review
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