She clutched the piece of paper close to her chest, tears welling in her eyes, hardly believing what she had read. Silently thanking Sarah for all she sacrificed, she took the death certificate and slipped it under a loose floorboard - no one must ever find out what she'd done...
England, 1868: Orphaned and penniless, 18-year-old Sarah is left the sole guardian of her beloved little sister Lucy - who she's vowed to protect at all costs. With nowhere left to turn, she is forced to accept mysterious widower James Mills' proposal of marriage.
She believes being his bride can't possibly be as bad as the threat of the workhouse. But nothing prepares her for the darkness of her marriage, the shocking secrets of her new family and for the lengths she will have to go to keep her sister safe...
Now: Living in the beautiful village of Goswell, Ellen believes her family life to be idyllic... until her estranged seventeen-year-old stepdaughter Annabelle moves in and shatters the peace. Ellen fears they will never bond, until she finds a death certificate - for a woman named Sarah, from over a century earlier - hidden under the floorboards of their house, and Annabelle starts to help her unravel the mystery.
Yet as Ellen and Annabelle dig deeper into Sarah's life and death, shocking truths, both past and present, come to light which change everything Ellen thought she knew about Sarah's family--and the new addition to her own...
The Bride's Sister is a powerful and moving story about what it means to be a family, second chances, and the lengths we go to for those we love. Fans of Lucinda Riley, Barbara O'Neal and Fiona Valpy will absolutely love this gripping and emotional read.
This novel can be enjoyed as a standalone.
Previously published as The Second Bride by Katharine Swartz.
Readers love Kate Hewitt:
"WOW!!!!... Clear your schedules and grab the tissues as you will need them!!!... It had me in tears by the end and I do not cry easily!!!... An absolutely unputdownable, addictive and compelling devastatingly beautiful heartbreaking book!!! I LOVED it!" Bookworm86 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"This book had me crying so badly. It broke my heart, never has any book been able to just wipe me out with such gut-wrenching sadness... BEAUTIFULLY DONE." NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Not only broke my heart but shattered it... When the tears [came] though, they didn't stop. It is such an emotionally charged novel... An absolute tear-jerker of a read for which I highly recommend having a box of tissues on standby." Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"An emotionally charged story right from the first chapter... I knew once I started I would not be able to put this book down... I was up till 4AM reading fighting for my eyes to stay open... Gripping and captivating!" Sinfully Wicked Book Reviews ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐