“Invisible” (Bantam), by Carla Buckley
Family bonds unravel and a horrible secret tears sisters apart in Carla Buckley’s enthralling new drama, “Invisible.”
What secret would be horrible enough to cause two sisters who love each other deeply not to speak for 16 years? Dana regrets not patching up things with Julie, but now it’s too late. Julie’s daughter, Peyton, calls Dana with the news that Julie is dying of kidney failure. Dana rushes home to be with her sister, but Julie dies before she arrives.
The small town where the sisters grew up hasn’t changed much, except that everyone has gotten older _ and they hold grudges. Dana decides to stay in town and make amends. Julie’s husband wants her to leave, and Peyton wants nothing to do with her. The secret that Dana holds is too painful to reveal _ even with her sister gone _ and a chance for redemption seems impossible.
The vivid characters provide a spark of realism to this engrossing and sad tale. The secret is obvious from the first page of “Invisible,” but that doesn’t matter overall. Subplots involving a dead body at a construction site and the source of Julie’s kidney disease provide mystery but are secondary to what makes this novel truly sing: family dynamics.
Buckley writes beautiful prose, and fans of Jodi Picoult and Lisa Unger will enjoy this journey with the author.
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