The Lies We Told

April 19, 2010
A hurricane's aftermath affects two sisters whose parents were murdered when they were teens in Chamberlain's (Secrets She Left Behind
) murky melodrama. Maya is a frustrated pediatric orthopedist who continues to miscarry the babies her anesthesiologist husband Adam wants. Rebecca, Maya's single older sister, is a free spirit working for Doctors International Disaster Aid and has no interest in having children. After two devastating hurricanes hit North Carolina, Maya and Adam join Rebecca at the aid organization, then Maya goes missing after a helicopter crash. Adam and Rebecca console each other, believing Maya dead, but she's been rescued by creepy country hick Tully. Nursed back to health by Tully's pregnant common-law wife, Simmee, an angelic seventeen-year-old, and Lady Alice Harnett, an eccentric African-American, Maya sees her life about to change drastically. Chamberlain provides an interesting glimpse into how disaster relief works, but Maya's improbable backwoods adventure and its unlikely outcome lead to a feel-sort-of-good resolution that doesn't ring true.

May 15, 2010
Maya and Rebecca Ward are sisters bound by the early tragedy of witnessing their parents' murder. While they have both become physicians, they are polar opposites. Maya, raised by Rebecca, is guarded and especially vigilant for potential violence. She is married to anesthesiologist Adam, who also lost his parents at a young age, and the couple long for a family of their own. Rebecca seeks out danger as a doctor for a relief organization, flying into devastated areas in their worst moments, and thrives on chaos and distraction while hopping from one short-lived love affair to another. VERDICT With natural disaster, assumed death, crash survival, murder, and domestic abuse, this novel from the best-selling author of "The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes" is far from boring. Though it's overwrought and its ending doesn't ring true, it will be popular with Chamberlain's fans and general fiction readers looking for a good, medium-depth novel. Jodi Picoult followers looking for a similar author will be disappointed; although Chamberlain deals with family issues, the complexity is lacking here, and the plot twists are predictable.Julie Kane, Sweet Briar Coll. Lib., VA

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2010
To the outside eye, sisters Maya and Rebecca Ward, successful doctors, are very similar. But their differences run deep and date back to their teen years, when they witnessed their parents murders and Rebecca saved Maya from becoming the murderers third victim. As adults, Maya has settled for a quiet and simple life, sharing a medical practice with her husband, Adam, while Rebecca is a thrill-seeker and risk-taker. When a terrible hurricane hits, all three join the relief effort, but Maya is seemingly lost when her rescue helicopter crashes. Her sister and husband must come to terms with her death, and do so by turning to each other for comfort, which soon becomes passionate. Little do they know that Maya is not dead, but lost, hurt, and among strangers. Chamberlain weaves an intensely engaging story of three people with a tragic past, complicated present, and unknown future who must struggle with trust, betrayal, and forgiveness.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)