The sunrise sisterhood (by Cathy Bramley)

(Amazon UK link)

I’ve liked all the books I’ve read so far by Cathy Bramley. She’s quite a prolific writer, and I regularly put one or two more of her books on my wishlist. However, it sometimes takes me a while to get to reading new books. I received ‘The sunrise sisterhood’ for Christmas 2023, and have only just read it in the past few days.

The story revolves around three women, with each short chapter headed with Liz, Clare or Skye. I found this a tad confusing at first, but gradually found I could remember them and their backgrounds. The author does a good job with characterisation; they’re not entirely three-dimensional, but quite distinct, with their own voices.

Liz is the owner of a catering company, but she’s done very little in the past few months. Her best friend, and partner in the business, Jen, died in a car crash over a year earlier, but she is still grieving. She’s also lost her enthusiasm for everything other than a few small events.  She has lunch with Jen’s ex-husband Mike, who is also an old friend of hers, and he says he needs repayment of a large loan he gave her company when it started out…

Clare is the daughter of Mike and Jen. She desperately misses her mother, and finds her father quite frustrating at times. Clare is a headteacher, and she’s also a single mother, with a baby called Ivy. She is very independent, refusing to allow anyone to help her with anything, and it appears that she’s succeeding. She’s looking forward to spending the summer near the beach with her godmother, Liz. 

Then there’s Skye, who’s the subject of the first chapter of the book. Skye has been working for a non-profit in Uganda for the past five years, and clearly loves what she does, and the people she has met. But she’s about to return to the UK. Clearly something prompted her to leave; we don’t learn what that was until much later in the book. She doesn’t know if she’ll return, although everyone around her hopes that she will. 

Skye is Clare’s half-sister - the daughter of Mike and his second wife - and Liz is her godmother, too. Skye and Clare have never got on, and are not in touch with each other. But when Skye goes to stay with her father, it’s clear that he wants her to leave - and she goes to work with Liz, who’s reviving her business in the hope of being able to repay her loan.

Clare is horrified when she discovers that Skye will also be staying with Liz, and Liz - we quickly learn - has become over-dependent on alcohol. Skye would love to be friends with Clare, and to be an aunty to Ivy, but Clare is determined to keep her - and everyone else - at arm’s length. There's some interesting background as to why she's like this, and also we learn some of the reasons why Clare and Skye each feel that the other was more loved by their father.

All of which sets the scene in the first few chapters, for a book that explores a lot of relationships, past hurts, secrets and regrets. There are a lot of minor characters, some of whom are not very memorable or three dimensional, but that didn’t really matter. They are more for background than anything else. There are some other likeable people too: one of Liz’s catering clients is Patrick, with his elderly mother and her twin sister. They are some of my favourite characters. 

The writing has a good pace, and the conversations move it along. An unexpected disaster forces Clare to start to accept other people’s help, and Skye has to make a difficult decision, although she is quite reticent and nobody knows what’s going on until much later in the book. There’s a rather unlikely coincidence in someone Clare knows spotting her unexpectedly; but I swallowed that, and could then see that there was an inevitable ending for them. I don’t mind that; and the way it’s done works extremely well. 

The novel is entirely character-based, with the various subplots playing a lesser role. While I thought some of the secret-keeping and assumptions made were a bit unlikely, they push the story forwards. There’s no real tension in the book, and the misunderstandings and stresses don’t last very long. It’s not the kind of book that would appeal to people who prefer clear plotting and uncertain endings. But for those like me who appreciate light women’s fiction, I would recommend it. 

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