Hello friend! Today I am joining the WriteReads blog tour for Sins of the Father by Sharon Bairden. Runner up in the Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA), I was intrigued by the dark synopsis of the book and decided to give it a read. I don’t read psychological thrillers often and Sins of the Father is one of the best ones in the genre that I have read. Take a look at the synopsis below and then read on for my thoughts.
Lucas Findlay thinks he has struck gold when he marries Rebecca, but she married him for one reason only – to destroy him.
TRAUMA RUNS DEEP
When her past comes back to haunt her, Rebecca begins to disconnect from herself and the world around her. As secrets are unearthed, she begins to fear for her sanity… and her life.
TRUTH WILL OUT
With her world unravelling around her, Rebecca clings to her determination to make Lucas pay, whatever the cost.
FORGIVE HIS SINS
But someone must pay for the sins of the father…
A chilling page-turner from a sharp new Scottish voice.
Content notes include domestic abuse, substance abuse, trauma, sexual assault, trauma, mental health, murder, death of loved one.
Thoughts on Sins of the Father
Sins of the Father is a complex tale about a girl with multiple personalities. Told through multiple perspectives as well, it is a mind-bender that is dark and haunting, it left a helpless feeling at the pits of my stomach. Trauma, abuse, existential crisis and a constant battle to be someone else is prevalent through most characters in this book and at its depth, it portrays the raw human experience. It is a sad story about being stuck in the cycle of life, having hopes that get dashed when other people’s plans interfere in one’s last ticket out.
Rebecca had a traumatic childhood. While her father was entirely absent from her life, growing up, her mother wasn’t the best caregiver and model adult. She exposed her child to unspeakable dangers and in the process, Rebecca’s spirit broke into multiples, each trying to protect her in their ways. One persona has a lot of power, to the point that she has a name. When Samantha takes over, things get better for Rebecca, she can shut herself out of the world, but the consequences are never what she imagined or wanted.
After spending years in a foster care system and mental institutions, Rebcecca has a new purpose in life. She is part of the social work and criminal justice system, helping victims of abuse while her husband, Lucas, works with the abusers. The dynamic between Lucas and Rebecca was portrayed very well and I felt that the choices and coincidences in their lives were written in such an amazing manner that I was tangled up in the story with awe. I was blown away by Rebecca’s strategies and planning and have not read an unreliable narrator like her. The plan that she came up with to extract her vengeance was such that I think she lost who she was in the course of executing it.
Sins of the Father at its heart is a tale of revenge and suffering. What happens when one person makes it their mission in life to destroy someone else, to make them ‘pay’ for the pain they caused and their actions that they did not own upto. I enjoyed each of the perspectives and as I learned more about Jim, Lucas, Rebecca and Nicole, the web of time unravelled and revealed a very interesting picture. I don’t have words to describe how beautifully every sentiment was conveyed by Sins of the Father – this is a harsh brutal read that made me feel trapped like all the characters. The instances of self-harm, self-loathing, the broken soundtracks in Rebecca’s head helped me understand her better. I did not have a lot of time to predict what was going to happen next – I was so engrossed in watching things unfold.
Rebecca’s domestic situation, her appearance to the outer world as well as the turmoil inside Lucas that he was safekeeping from the world depicted a toxic relationship where both husband and wife knew they were going to destroy themselves and each other, and while for it bit Sins of the Father felt like a tug of war between them, as more history of the characters was uncovered, the plot truly thickened and the true vengeful spirit started to show itself. I enjoyed the writing a lot and it reminded me of Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi (my very first review actually!).
Will you pick up this book?
Add it to your shelves on Goodreads and Storygraph.
Check out reviews by other bloggers on the tour. Look for #SinsOfTheFather on twitter. 🙂
Many thanks to the author and WriteReads for the opportunity to read this fantastic story. I received this book to read and review as part of the 2021 BBNYA tours organised by the TWR Tour team.
BBNYA is a yearly competition where Book Bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors. If you wish to learn more about the BBNYA competition, visit the official website www.bbnya.com or twitter @bbnya_official.
Cover Photo on Unsplash
Great review!