Glimpse by Carol Lynch Williams

Liz and Hope are sisters, and they know what a regular family is like.  But that’s in the past….now it’s just them and their mother.  Things at home aren’t the same as they were, and it gets worse when Hope finds her older sister in the bathroom with gun.

Now, in order to make ends meet, Liz and Hope’s mother takes on clients at home to make money.  At their age, they don’t exactly understand what that means, but their lives are uninterrupted with friends, secret crushes and a private spot in the house that becomes their clubhouse. 

But  for Liz, her normal life quickly turns into a nightmare, and one she wants to protect Hope from.  But Liz can only stand so much before she breaks…

Although sisters, both girls have lived very different lives under the same roof.  Hope doesn’t understand why Liz would want to kill herself, but she tries to every time she and her mother visit Liz in the mental hospital.  Liz won’t talk to her mother at all – it’s only Hope that she’ll speak to, although it’s not a lot.  All her mother wants to make sure of is that Liz hasn’t told the secret, whatever that means…

The more visits Hope and her mother make to Liz, who is still unresponsive, the more Hope begins to understand what happened to Liz, especially when she and her mother must see a family counselor who talks to Hope about Liz’s predicament.  But it’s when the counselor asks for Liz’s diary that Hope’s mother becomes aggressive, mean…demanding Hope give her the book.  Hope doesn’t have it, but she knows where it is.  And when she finds it in their secret place, the floodgates open and Hope then realizes exactly how bad Liz’s life has become because of her mother’s demands on her. 

Lynch Williams unfolds a tragic story gradually to a situation both girls live in and through, but with different voices that create very strong characters in Hope and Liz.  The author writes a tale about abuse and neglect and its ugly aftermath without having to resort to first-hand experiences or sufferings of the older sister, but the reader knows all too well what has happened.  Lynch Williams also leaves the ending open, not tied up in a perfect bow that makes this novel all that more realistic and powerful.  Those who love novels-in-verse will find this an excellent choice, and one that will make them read every part of the beautiful prose Lynch uses so well to convey the truth about the lives of two innocent people.  Highly recommended.