An Irresistible Story of Family and Secrets: Read our Review of Those Hamilton Sisters by Averil Kenny

Will their mother’s scandalous past decide their futures?

Beautiful, irrepressible Esther Hamilton had a reputation in the small Queensland town of Noah Vale. That was until she ran away, twenty years ago, under a cloud of shame. It’s now 1955 and following their mother’s death, the Hamilton sisters – Sonnet, Fable and little Novella Plum – have returned to Noah Vale to live near their aunt and uncle.

Sonnet, twenty years old and legal guardian to her siblings, has never stepped foot in Noah Vale, yet has been the talk of the town for decades. Fable, at twelve-years-old, is a talented artist and lovelier than even her heartbreaking mother had been. And three-year-old Plum is just a little girl who’s lost her mother and been taken away from the only home she’s ever known.

As the years pass, the three sisters settle into their new life, working in the town, going to school and swimming in the perfect waterfalls nearby. But suspicion and judgment continue to follow the Hamilton sisters wherever they go. In a small town where everyone thinks they know everything about each other, it’s hard to escape the past. And when Fable falls in love with Noah Vale’s golden boy, is history destined to repeat itself?

Those Hamilton Sisters is a warm, captivating and irresistible story of love, family, secrets and finding your place in the world. My only problem with this book was that because I read so much for work – and have so many time constraints – I didn’t get to really savour this. Other than that, it’s perfect. From its stunning cover to the utterly fabulous characters with their gorgeous names, to author Averil Kenny’s beautiful writing, Those Hamilton Sisters has just become one of my most enjoyable reads of the year.

This is Kenny’s debut novel, but I’m certain we’ll be hearing a lot more from her. This glorious family saga is perfect for readers of Lucinda Riley and Kate Morton, but Kenny also has a way with language that is all her own. I predict that new authors will be compared to her one day.

I adored all three Hamilton sisters and their Aunt Olive. But there was another character that truly captured me and that was the setting itself. Take me to Far North Queensland please! And make it 1955. And let me curl up there and reread this wonderful novel.

Those Hamilton Sisters is an irresistible story of family, secrets and love. I absolutely loved it.