Siblings share special, sometimes heartbreaking, bonds like no other

William McDonald is a piano tuner.  He owns a music business with his widowed mother.  Bill, as he is known, has passed his 20s, and although extremely popular with the female population, has not yet found his perfect match. Bill loves music and can often be heard playing a catchy tune on one of the pianos in the shop he runs with his mother. He also has clients who need their pianos tuned. Some were clients of his beloved father, who passed away two years before this story begins.

The story in Sisters and Brothers by Fiona Palmer unfolds with Bill heading off to tune the piano of a regular client, Tammy Noble.  Tammy is a young wife, beautiful and friendly, but to his surprise, Bill discovers she is suddenly a little too friendly. After he leaves her home, he wonders what the next visit will bring  …  but there won’t be a next time. 

Life is good, but Bill often daydreams of meeting the one woman who will capture his heart.

Passing the music store one morning, Debbie hears Bill singing and playing a familiar tune on the piano. She is enticed inside to listen, as the song has a special place in her heart. Bill turns as she enters and cannot help staring at the young woman inside the store. She reminds him of an angel. Learning thatBill also teaches piano, Debbie signs up for lessons.

Bill is enchanted with Debbie but sees she is wearing a wedding ring, but that doesn’t stop his heart from pounding whenever he thinks of his angel. The days go slowly for him as he looks forward to the first lesson with Debbie.

Sisters and Brothers moves between Bill’s early life and the present as the father of Sarah and grandfather to her two children. Enter Emma, married to John, a nurse with three children. They are a close family and Emma is a devoted wife and mother. Circumstances surrounding Emma’s sick father lead her to meet Sarah.  

It is not an easy meeting but after just a short time, they become close and Emma meets Bill, who has suffered a stroke following surgery. Sarah leads a relatively privileged lifestyle with her husband Andrew and their two small children. She is very different from Emma but is drawn to her.

Adam and Simon are a couple who despite having a wonderful life together, long for children. They have been on the fostering and adoption register for a long time but have not been successful. When Simon proposes to Adam, their luck seems to change and they are offered a baby girl to foster. This leads Adam into wanting to find his father. His mother never married and raised Adam on her own. Along with his mother, Adam begins a search which leads him to the now 72-year-old Bill. Could this man be his father?

Michelle is a 46-year-old cake maker. She has never married and sometimes longs for the love of a man and the bond of a child. How does she fit into the lives of Bill, Sarah, Emma and Adam? Does she fit into their lives? Only by reading this captivating tale, will you find out.

Fiona Palmer has written a heartwarming story of love, families and a little intrigue in Sisters and Brothers. The characters take a chapter or two to fall into place, but once they do, the story unfolds with twists and turns, love and laughter and sometimes heartbreak. 

This is only the second novel written by Fiona Palmer that I have read, but I am fast becoming a big fan of her imagination and prowess with words. A thoroughly enjoyable read, one I was very glad I had chosen to review.

Sisters and Brothers, by Fiona Palmer, is available in printed, audio and digital editions from the publisher Hachette Australia. 

Win a copy of Sisters and Brothers!

To celebrate the release of Sisters and Brothers on 28 August 2018, Hachette Australia is offering five lucky readers the opportunity to win a copy of Fiona Palmer’s book.

Click here to enter the giveaway.