Sister Sebastian's Library

Reviews / Votes

This gripping, evocative novel. -- Claire Allfree * Daily Mail * Phil Whitaker's fifth novel, Sister Sebastian's Library is about family, regrets and responsibility, and what we do with the chance to start again. -- Anne Goodwin * annethology * This novel about two sisters addresses the permanent themes of relationships, loyalty and trust. As one sister, Bridie, leaves her secular Catholic life to become a nun in Africa, and her sister Elodie sets out to look for her when she goes missing, the reader learns of Elodie's own journey of self-discovery. As she concludes on her return flight: 'Down there, somewhere, were human beings doing things out of hatred; many others down things out of love. And most, like Bridie and her, contending with the mess and muddle that lies between.' * Catholic Herald * While maintaining the fast-paced missing-person investigation, Whitaker also manages to weave in a separate timeline of Elodie's memories of her sister. There are snapshots of their parents' abusive marriage, an awkward 18th-birthday disco and euphoric experiences watching the electronic dance act Faithless. In these scenes from past lives, the complexities of sisterly strife are presented on a vividly human scale. -- Caroline Crampton * New Statesman *