The Lost Sister by Kathleen McGurl - Book Review

Books

AD-gifted: I received a copy of The Lost Sister in exchange for this post. Affiliate links are marked with a *

From when I first learned about the Titanic in school and drew it in my art class, I’ve been obsessed with anything Titanic-related! So when *The Lost Sister by Kathleen McGurl popped up on my radar I had to jump on this book tour.

The Lost Sister by Kathleen McGurl - Book Review

Book Description

Three sisters. Three ships. One heartbreaking story.

1911. As Emma packs her trunk to join the ocean liner Olympic as a stewardess, she dreams of earning enough to provide a better life for both her sisters. With their photograph tucked away in her luggage, she promises to be back soon – hoping that sickly Lily will keep healthy, and wild Ruby will behave. But neither life at sea nor on land is predictable, and soon the three sisters’ lives are all changed irrevocably…

Now. When Harriet finds her late grandmother’s travelling trunk in the attic, she’s shocked to discover a photo of three sisters inside – her grandmother only ever mentioned one sister, who died tragically young. Who is the other sister, and what happened to her? Harriet’s questions lead her to the story of three sister ships, Olympic, Titanic and Britannic, and a shattering revelation about three sisters torn apart…

What I Thought

Oh, I loved The Lost Sister. A fabulous read, unputdownable! I was obsessed with the sisters and their lives!

Told in a dual timeline – the past and now the present, each with sisters in turmoil decades apart. I preferred the story from the past of the 3 sisters, Emma, Ruby, and Lily. Emma is the oldest and looks after her siblings, but when an opportunity arises to become a stewardess on the Olympic it’s one she can’t afford to turn down. When Emma is away on the ship, Ruby gets into all sorts of trouble. When she turns 18 she follows her sister to become a stewardess, to get away from it all. But she signs onto the Titanic, leaving Emma distraught as she promised her mum she would look after her. Therefore she quickly changes ship. We all know this isn’t going to end well as the Titanic never reaches New York.

In the present day, Harriet is downsizing after her husband passed away. She discovers a trunk from her grandmother in the attic. It was her travelling trunk from her ship days. Inside is a picture of her with two other sisters. Yet Harriet only remembers her talking about having one sister. With the help of her friend Shelia, she discovers her family ancestry, which throws up lots of mystery and secrets!

I wasn’t a fan of the story of Harriet’s two daughters who are estranged. I guess the only relevance is that they are lost to each other just like the sisters back in 1911. But that hasn’t deterred me from giving The Lost Sister top marks!

Beautifully written, fantastic character development and of course it will leave you in tears. A highly recommended read.

Where Can I Buy?

Available to buy from *Amazon

Author Bio

Kathleen McGurl lives in Christchurch, UK, with her husband. She has two sons who have both now left home. She always wanted to write, and for many years was waiting until she had the time. Eventually, she came to the bitter realisation that no one would pay her for a year off work to write a book, so she sat down and started to write one anyway. Since then she has published several novels with HQ and self-published another. She has also sold dozens of short stories to women’s magazines and written three How-To books for writers. After a long career in the IT industry, she became a full-time writer in 2019. When she’s not writing, she’s often out running, slowly.

Social Media Links –

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KathMcGurl @KathMcGurl

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KathleenMcGurl

Website: https://kathleenmcgurl.com/