A Tale of Two Sisters

by Anne Coates

[zooloo1983]

This was a very quick read, in about 30 minutes I had finished this novella. My only gripe is that it was too short. I really enjoyed the first tale – The Tale of Two Sisters. Rosemund and Elizabeth are sisters, Elizabeth, not Liz is the eldest, she left home and made an extravagant life for herself in PR, leaving Rosie behind. Rosie was left, she had to look after their alcoholic mother but got married and had her own family. However, her life she always felt that Elizabeth was looking down at her, she was the favourite and the clear favourite at that. Forever living her life in Elizabeth’s shadow.

When we meet the sisters, Rosie is just jealous of Elizabeth, her life and how her children adore her, she then makes the decision to go and visit her sister and clear the air. However, when she gets to her sisters flat, all is not what it seems.

I wish this story was longer, I could easily see this being a full-length novel watching the girls growing up, building on the resentment and pain. It is a tale to learn to forgive but not necessarily forget but to move on together and grow.

Like I say, loved the story, shame it wasn’t longer.

The second story, we meet a girl who has lost her father and finds out that he had a secret child before her. This was a very very short story and again it could be a good as a full-length novel as we watch everyone learn to live with each other.

The final story was another one that again I would love to see as a full-length novel. A mother who is desperate for a little girl but has 4 boys, her youngest has a stammer and she struggles to connect with him. She visits her mother and something changes for her. This was a short (obviously) sweet tale of love and acceptance.

All the stories made me smile, but they were far too short to get attached to anyone but I feel if I had more time with them I would have got far too attached. It was nice to see Anne write books with some lightness in them, tales of love, acceptance, forgiveness, and I know I would love to see more like this from Anne.