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Shadow Sister (2005)

by Simone van der Vlugt

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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3271478,990 (3.6)1
Lydia and Elisa, twin sisters, identical in appearance, different in every other way. When Lydia is threatened by one of her students, her sister is the first person she turns to. But Elisa is powerless to stop what follows- threatening letters, smashed windows. How far will this student go? Or is someone else taking advantage of the situation? And what part does Elisa play in all of this? Twins are close...... aren't they?… (more)
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» See also 1 mention

Dutch (10)  English (4)  All languages (14)
Showing 4 of 4
I read the English version of this book. What I found good was the way it was structured, in two different narrative voices, right up until I discovered who the murderer was, nearly on the last page. The writing was straightforward and taught me a lot about the present problems between immigrant and native communities living in the Netherlands. However the person who was murdered was so unpleasant that I couldn't really feel any empathy for her. ( )
  JohnJGaynard | Dec 31, 2018 |
READ IN DUTCH

Mijn nieuwsgierigheid was getrokken, toen ik erachter kwam dat de hoofdpersoon ook Marjolein heette. Daarom toch dit boek gekocht, ondanks eerdere negatieve ervaringen met Simone van der Vlugt.

In een steeds wisselend perspectief wordt de periode voor en na de moord op Marjolein besproken.

In mijn ogen de beste thriller - vanwege de meeste originaliteit - van Simone van der Vlught. Goed opgebouwde spanning, en dat het boek over 'Marjolein' ging, is natuurlijk ook een plus... Eigenlijk haar enige boek dat ik met plezier gelezen heb. ( )
  Floratina | May 26, 2016 |
SHADOW SISTER is the second book translated into English from Dutch author Simone van der Vlugt. Both standalones, this one is the story of twins Lydia and Elisa, as the blurb puts it - identical in appearance, different in every other way.

Starting out on a particularly dramatic note, the book opens with Lydia being threatened with a knife by one of her students. From there, and there's really no other way to explain how this book works, except to say that the book is about the events that led up to Lydia's murder. Each sister has a voice, her own perspective about their relationship, each other, their parents, Lydia's husband, her fellow teachers at school, Elisa's friends, her job, her life.

The style is really quite unusual, and once you settle into the voices of the two sisters, any slight feeling of confusion disappears and the contrasting ways that the sisters see the world becomes increasingly stark. It's also easy to see how, despite a natural feeling of sympathy for Lydia - who you know has died, there's a subtle switching of emotional reaction as it becomes increasing obvious that Lydia has dominated Elisa. All the while, Lydia's own "perfect" life is not as controlled as she has made it out to be.

There are some rather heavy-handed "lessons" sprinkled throughout the narrative, with the student that threatens Lydia being a Muslim, and the school that she teaches in catering mostly for immigrants and their children. Lydia loves her work, and wants to keep teaching despite her husband's keenness to have her join him in his successful software development company. Perhaps the first sign of a chink in Lydia's personal armour is the dawning sense that there's something slightly smug and self-satisfied about her desire to keep teaching in a difficult environment.

There are some fascinating aspects to this varying perspectives that unfortunately are somewhat let down by an ending that lacked that sense of analysis and reflection. Whilst there's nothing wrong in the actual resolution, and on one level it could of made sense, unfortunately it's rushed, sketchy and odd. Given that there were these two tremendous voices - these sisters who do shadow each other, who seemingly see everything totally different, through eyes that are identical (which is a fascinating sort of an idea), come the need to solve the crime, somebody was stumped up as the perpetrator, a bit of a story woven around them and the whole thing done and dusted in a few pages. Didn't quite work. Which is a pity as the lead up that short, sharp disappointing resolution was really good. ( )
  austcrimefiction | Apr 11, 2011 |
A thriller with a very unexpected ending. The book starts with the story of a teacher, Marjolein, who is gets a death threat from one of her pupils. The next chapter is set a year from the death threat, and is about the Marjolein's sister, who tries to come to grips with Marjolein's death. This is how the book progresses: you read about Marjolein's life while you know she is going to die, and in the next chapter you read about her sister, who tries to find out who did it. It means that you switch from past to present, and it works brilliantly. ( )
  emhromp2 | Jun 3, 2007 |
Showing 4 of 4
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» Add other authors (6 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Simone van der Vlugtprimary authorall editionscalculated
Triebels, RoaldCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Voor Ivo, mijn broer en maatje
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Opeens heeft hij een mes.
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Lydia and Elisa, twin sisters, identical in appearance, different in every other way. When Lydia is threatened by one of her students, her sister is the first person she turns to. But Elisa is powerless to stop what follows- threatening letters, smashed windows. How far will this student go? Or is someone else taking advantage of the situation? And what part does Elisa play in all of this? Twins are close...... aren't they?

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Married. One child. A career. Lydia has her life in perfect order — if only everyone else around her could be as organized as she is. Her unmarried twin sister Elisa is still struggling to find what she wants to do. And her colleagues at the school where she teaches often fail to reach her high standards.

But one day, it all falls apart for Lydia. When she is threatened by one of her pupils, her sister is the first person she turns to. But Elisa is powerless to stop the campaign of intimidation that follows. How far will it go? Or is someone else taking advantage of the situation? And what is Elisa's part in all of this? Twins are close. Aren't they?

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Penguin Australia

An edition of this book was published by Penguin Australia.

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