View source for Sworn Secret by Amanda Jennings

{{infobox1
|title=Sworn Secret
|author=Amanda Jennings
|reviewer=Jo Heffer
|genre=General Fiction
|rating=4.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-1849019699
|pages=320
|publisher=Canvas
|date=August 2012
|summary=How do you carry on living when your daughter or your sister is dead?  Even worse, how do you cope when you find out things about her that you wish with all your heart were not true? That is the future that faces Kate and Jon Thorne and their daughter Lizzie after elder daughter Anna is found dead after falling from the roof of her school. This is the story of a family that is torn apart by grief and is desperately trying to put itself back together.
|cover=184901969X
|aznuk=184901969X
|aznus=184901969X
}}
A year ago Anna Thorne was found dead after presumably falling from the roof of her school after drinking vodka. Twelve months later, her parents, Kate and Jon, and her sister, Lizzie, are still trying to make sense of and come to terms with what has happened. They each have their own way of dealing with their grief which, rather than uniting, serves to isolate each of them. Ultimately, they are becoming three sad strangers living under the same roof.

A memorial service for Anna is held at the school but instead of being the cathartic celebratory event that was intended, it sets off a whole series of events that find the family stumbling across some revelations about Anna that are shocking and disturbing and raise questions about the circumstances surrounding the fall and her death. As the story progresses, things become more tense and dramatic and it certainly becomes compulsive reading. It makes one wonder just how much trauma can one family bear.

So, as you can probably tell, this is not a happy story, but it is compelling. It is very well crafted in order to keep the reader's interest as it the different events slowly unfold. I found myself not wanting to put the book down at all. It's also the sort of book that is best read with a box of tissues close by.

Kate, Jon and Lizzie are all fascinating characters and each has their own stories to tell. Particularly poignant is the fact that Jon's elderly father is suffering from dementia and no longer recognises his own son. At the same time, Lizzie is falling in love for the first time but unfortunately, her parents have their very strong reasons for not wanting to encourage her relationship with Haydn to continue. Lizzie is the most grief-stricken of them all and only seems to find solace by locking herself away and painting portraits of her beloved daughter. She is so obsessed by doing so that she is in danger of forgetting that she has another daughter who is still very much alive. All of their stories are woven together very well.

This is an extremely emotional but satisfying read that will tug at your heartstrings leave you wanting more. It is the first novel from Amanda Jennings and is an excellent debut. Hopefully, there is a lot more like this to come.

Why not also take a look at [[Split Second by Cath Staincliffe]] or [[The Year from Jahannam by Shams Uddin]]?

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