A ghost named Johnny wants to know the truth. He visits his mother Carrie often on the island her family owns. He wants to know more about her past, their family, her sisters and what they did as teenagers.

“What’s the worst thing you did? Come on, spill it.”

At first she tries to laugh it off, but she knows deep down she owes him more. He wants to know why he died, so she begins to tell him the story of her seventeenth summer…

Carrie is one of four beautiful daughters of Harris and Tipper Sinclair. They are raised rich and treasured by their parents, expected to do well, live up to their name, and be a credit to the family. They spend every summer on Beechwood Island, swimming, boating, entertaining, laughing and eating lavish food, but one summer they lose their youngest daughter. At the age of eight Rosemary loved the water, and being left alone for only minutes was all it took. Afterwards the Sinclairs don’t discuss her death, their loss or personal grief.

They make the best of things. Keep a stiff upper lip. Look to the future.

But Carrie doesn’t do well ignoring her grief for her little sister. After an operation to make her jaw more ‘Sinclair’, Carrie still has plenty of access to the pain medication she’d needed. It quickly helps her with her grief too.

The next summer they gather on Beechwood Island along with extended family as usual. This time however, Carrie’s cousin Yardley brings her boyfriend and his two friends. Carrie’s mother is livid, but always the gracious hostess, she does everything to make the teen boys comfortable and spoiled along with everyone else on the island.

From the day these boys step off her family boat, Cassie’s world begins to unravel, spiraling down into the event she shares with her 15-year-old son’s ghost.

This will be a summer of love and longing, jealousy and betrayal. Close sisters will wrench apart their bonds, and then heal them with lies and guilt. Secrets will be revealed and questions answered. But the Sinclair family will never, ever be the same.

Once I picked up this prequel to the brilliant novel that is We were Liars, I couldn’t put it down. Told in 8 parts, with short chapters in between, I gobbled it up.

If you like unreliable narrators (though you are given a warning about lies in the beginning), family drama, secrets, loyalty and a wee ghost who will almost break your heart, you will LOVE this as much as We were Liars. In fact if you’re anything like me, you’ll want to dive straight back into We were Liars to try and understand this wealthy, beautiful but deeply wounded family even more.

Clever, intriguing and spellbinding.

Author – E Lockhart

Age – 14+

Read a Review of the book that started it all (Click on the Cover)

(2022, Allen & Unwin, Family bond, Siblings, Sisters, Loss, Grief, Drowning, Self medicating, Painkillers, Wealthy, Island, Extended family, Cousins, boyfriends, Entertaining, Parties, Boating, Swimming, Beach, Sand, Surf, Summer holidays, Secrets, Lies, Guilt, Ghosts, Growing up, First boyfriend, Betrayal, Hurt, Massachusetts, Revenge)