One sister runs away and the other stays behind. But what happens when
the dutiful sister has to impersonate the rebel? In her page-turning
exploration of familial loyalty, resentment, secrets, and grief, Lilian
Nattel explores the meaning and reach of family bonds.
Joan has always done the right thing, both as a palliative care doctor
and as a caregiver for her widowed mother, Sheila. Joan's adventurous
sister, Vivien, is a different story. She left home as soon as she was
able--running from an insecure childhood troubled by an alcoholic father
and a mother who constantly threw away all their possessions in order to
buy new ones. Vivien's rarely been back, working as a nurse in the
world's trouble zones, leaving the heavy burden of family on her sister.
Still, when Vivien learns that their mother is seriously ill, she
reaches out to Joan. She's heading for a remote village where Ebola is
spreading, and she's afraid she may die. If she does, she wants Joan to
pose as her online so her dying mother won't have to grieve a daughter.
It's a lie, but it's the good kind of lie, designed to spare their
mother, and so Joan reluctantly agrees, figuring it will never come to
that.
But Vivien does die. And even as Joan mourns her sister, she begins to
impersonate her online, as promised. It's difficult at first, but to her
surprise, posing as Vivien becomes liberating, even addictive. Then she
receives a message on her sister's Facebook from a man claiming to be
the son Vivien gave up for adoption, and the line between right and
wrong, adventure and tragedy, really begins to blur.
