THE LOST SISTER by Kathleen McGurl

The Lost Sister has dual-time narration, between 1911 and 2019. In 1911, responsible sister Emma Higgins has left her employment at a local hotel, to take the chance of seeing the world as a stewardess on board the Olympic, a sea-going vessel. She hopes that her mother can keep their little family together, while she's gone for the three-week voyage. Ruby is the wild child sister, never satisfied with anything and always pushing the rules of home and society. Lily is the sickly sister, she has had a devastating case of TB as a youngster and seems to catch any little illness that comes along. Emma and Lily are close. Ruby and her mother are close.

The Olympic is a sister ship to the Titanic, the Britannic is also a sister ship to the Titanic. At one point, all three sisters go to sea, Emma is the sister who goes on board each of the ships, with her two sisters. Each ship has its own adventure.

In 2019, Harriet has recently lost her loving husband and has decided to consolidate her holdings and purchase a much smaller home. She finds a trunk in the attic that was her grandmother's and begins to go through all of the mementos enclosed in it. It was her grandmother's trunk that she used for her sea-going excursions.

There are parallels in the dual timelines, of missing sisters who have taken a path away from their loving families. There are unexpected twists in the story that catches you off guard that make it a memorable and favorite book.

It is an interesting take on the Titanic disaster of 1912. Highly recommend.

Thanks a million to #netgalley for the complimentary copy of #thelostsister I was under no obligation to post a review.

Clever, duel timeline mystery that's a mix of heart-warming and heart-wrenching. Two families, separated by more than a century, both with a missing sister.
This is my third book by McGurl. Family features heavily as does perfect plotting and a satisfying ending.

Very interesting story set in the present day and 1911, around the three sister ships of the Olympic, Titanic and Britannic.

The main characters are also three sisters, Emma, Ruby and Lily, who live with their mother in Southampton. Emma is the oldest and most sensible, Ruby is the wild middle sister, and Lily the sickly younger sister.

The current timeline is about Harriet, a grandmother, who whilst clearing out her attic with her daughter before she puts her house on the market to sell finds her late grandmother's travelling trunk in the attic which reveals a photo showing three sisters, whereas Harriet thought there were only ever two sister.

We then flip back and forth between 1911 and Emma initially going to sea to New York on the Olympic as a stewardess, and the present day with Harriet and her family. Harriet's elder daughter Sally (a bit bossy) has a young son who is ill and undergoing medical treatment, and her younger wilder daughter Davina left home in her teens after an altercation and they rarely talk, much less see, each other, although that changes as the story progresses.

A lot of the 1911 story is set from Emma's perspective, trying to keep everything together for her mother and sisters, and earn enough money to pay the bills, yet also have a bit of freedom herself. Ruby resents her restrictions and gets in with the wrong crowd. But both Ruby and Emma end up on one or other of the ships.

There is quite a bit of mystery about which is the 'lost sister' of the title, and why they're lost, as it isn't clear until right near the end and a few things happened that I didn't expect.

I felt the book was a lot about Emma in the past, and I would have liked to have read more details about the other two sisters, so it kind of left me with a few questions at the end of the book, but in the main I really enjoyed it.

1911: As Emma packs her trunk to go join the ocean liner Olympic as a stewardess, she dreams of earning enough to provide a better life for her two sisters. She promises them she will be back soon - hoping that sickly Lily will keep healthy, and wild Ruby will behave.

Now: When Harriet finds her late grandmothers travelling trunk in the attic, she's shocked to find a photograph of three sisters inside - her grandmother only mentioned one sister who died tragically young. Who is the other sister and what happened to her?

This story has a duel timeline and it's told in the past and present format. It's a heart-breaking story of Harriet's search to find out the truth about her family. The historical part of the story is based on true events. The Olympic was the Titanic and Britannic's sister ship - three sisters, three sister ships. The author has done her research before writing this book. Even some of the characters were real people. The part that was written in the present day, was just as interesting.

I would like to thank #NetGalley, #HQ and the author #KathleenMcGurl for my ARC of #TheLostSister in exchange for an honest review.

Emma lives with her mum and two sisters but times are hard and she takes a job as a Stewardess on SS Olympic. She loves her job and meets a young man called Martin and life is looking good.
Ruby, her sister decides to join her but at the last joins up for the Titanic. As Emma had promised her mum she would look after her Emma she changes ship and so does Martin.

Present time and Harriet finds a trunk in the attic and starts thinking about her family history. She finds a picture of three sisters and realises her grandmother had never really told her story. Can she piece the jigsaw together as well as healing her own family?

Absolutely loved this book liked the way it was written as a duel timeline.
Three sisters and three ships and a brilliant story in which fact and fiction meet.
Wonderfully written I loved reading more about life on board the luxury liners.
Would highly recommended this book and would rate higher if I had the options

Really liked this book! Its full of history. The story had me intrigued from first page!
Three sisters. Three ships. One heartbreaking story.
Want a historical fiction book that has heart read this one!

As Harriet gets rid of some of her old possessions to move into her new home, she finds her grandmother’s old trunk and a photograph of her grandmother and her two sisters. Told in a past and present format, The Lost Sister is a lovely and heart-breaking story about Harriet’s search for answers about her family. What a beautifully written novel! I highly recommend and look forward to reading Kathleen McGurl’s next book.

I enjoyed yet another book by this author. She weaves very interesting historical facts that are not commonly known (about sister ships to the Titanic) is a wonderful way. Her characters are lovely and believable and the modern and 1910s on up come together very well. She parallels the stories quite nicely. I live that there is a little romance but nothing crude. Delightful, quick, easy book! Highly recommended.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I absolutely loved this book.

Kathleen McGurl is good at these dual time line stories.

I would recommend this lovely book, in which covers a range of subjects, health issues, moving house and everyone’s current obsession of ancestry and DNA.

The past story was so good as it covered an historical event that everyone knows.

Highly Recommend.

This is one of those books that once you have started you just can’t put it down. It has a real feel good factor to it.
In present day Harriet recently widowed encouraged by her eldest daughter to downsize is sorting out her attic. She comes across her mother’s trunk which she used when she worked on cruise liners in the early part of the 20th century and finds a photograph of her mother with two other girls who she assumed must be her sisters except Harriet was only aware that her mother only had one.
Harriet decides to investigate and thus starts a journey of discovery where we learn about her mother’s siblings.
The other aspect of the story is the rivalry between Harriet’s daughters and the history behind the rift.
The final chapters are very satisfying and makes a really worth while read.

This was an excellent story. I think that Kathleen McGurl is the best at the dual timeline stories. I went into this book not knowing anything about it so imagine my surprise to find out that some of the story was on the Titanic. Loved it.

Once I started this book I just could not put it down. Poor Emma she tried so hard to keep her promises to her mother and followed paths she for the sake other others rather than follow her own desires. Such love and selflessness. It was heartbreaking, touching and yet uplifting. I never wanted it to end but end it had to and what a lovely tear jerking but happy end it was. Brilliantly written and a well crafted story which took me on an emotional roller coaster. A story that will live with me for a very long time.

I loved this book so much and this time period in history. I really felt for the sisters, each of them, I am so happy with how the story ended. It was fantastic and nice to read about more than just the Titanic, but its sister ships as well. 3 ships, 3 sisters.

Kathleen McGurl has written a compelling dual-timeline masterpiece featuring one family torn apart by the call of the sea. Spanning 100 years, McGurl deftly explores the family dynamics, sibling relationships and the yearning for independence that frays the bonds holding the Higgins family together.

Alternating between 1911 and 2019, we see the tension and fight for identity mounting as the Higgins family navigate children leaving home, alarming health issues, downsizing, misunderstandings, and attempt traversing the wake left by strong personalities. In 1911, three sisters head to sea on three sister ships of the White Star Line. This is the story of their struggle to find purpose, experience love, and remain united despite being pulled in different directions. In 2019, we read of their descendants, struggling with similar issues, and how, given a chance to rectify relationships eagerly take hold of a life preserver thrown their way.

The symmetry McGurl creates is fascinating; it leads readers to consider the possibility of picking up and rebuilding a relationship that had been allowed to flounder. In the first story, Harriet’s grandmother, Emma, struggled to keep the three siblings together and it was her selfless devotion that saved both Ruby and Lily. In the second story, although we never meet John, his mantra keeps Harriet afloat while she struggles to keep their family together. His death was the catalyst for her to reach out to her estranged brother, Matthew. For her daughters, it was also a critical health issue that forced them to consider what it means to be family. I appreciated how McGurl was able to show how important keeping communication lines open is to maintaining family cohesiveness. Harriet maintained her husband’s mantra – love is always open arms – and was rewarded for her dedication.

Like a master weaver, McGurl has managed to create a masterpiece by combining threads to reveal the ties that bind us. If we were to turn over a tapestry, we’d see knotted ends and a mishmash of colour and no concept of pattern or unity. Families are like a tapestry. Once we flip the textile over, we see how the threads have been united to produce something inspiring and beautiful. Both families, if we considered the underside to their tapestry, had messy relationships and threads which didn’t appear to go anywhere. However, once we consider the flip side, we see the bold bright colours of Ruby and Davina, the shades of blue reflecting the ocean journeys of the girls and Harriet, the black thread of disease, and brown threads representing work, both in clearing the attic and in serving on the seas. Without one of those colours, the masterpiece would be lacking. They all come together to create the history and journey of the Higgins family through the ages.

In addition to the author’s brother, her influence in writing was a memoir of Violet Jessop. Interestingly enough, my husband and I, both avid cruisers, sailed with John Maxtone-Graham, the editor and annotator of Violet’s book, many times and heard first hand about Violet. I have a treasured signed copy of Violet’s memoirs gifted by our maritime friend. As a result, McGurl’s invitation to read her newest book was one I immediately accepted and feverishly read. This five-star historical fiction is to be published on May 12, 2021, and is a must-read for historical fiction lovers.

“The Lost Sister” is a powerful reminder about the importance of taking the first step to righting misfortunes, maintaining communication and being willing to throw out a life preserver to those struggling.
Thank you Kathleen McGurl, HQ Digital and NetGalley for the gifted advance copy. I was under no obligation to provide a review.

Beautifully written story about three sisters and their journey through such an interesting time in history. I really liked how the author intertwined real people like Violet Constance Jessop, survivor of the Titanic and Britannic, which both feature heavily in the book.

I think overall Lily and Emma where my favourite characters and I really felt myself rooting for Emma.

Lovers of historical fiction still greatly enjoy this novel. There’s a bittersweet ending which makes you hope at at least two souls will find each other again.

I do enjoy a McGurl meander through history. That's how I think of her books now as they always take me on a journey of some kind and I always find I learn a lot about history at the same time. I'd vaguely heard of the woman who served on all three ships in the novel and the role Titanic's sister ships played in history but this novel took that further and made it all really come to life. Characters were fascinating and based on real people too which made it all the more interesting. The dual timeline was a lovely way to hear these women's voices across time and It was a unique story. I always like a Titanic themed story but this was particularly special as it shone a light on her sister ship and put the historical spot light on a lesser known but equally as important part of the past.