Twelve gothic novels that explore the intense space between siblings

Elizabeth Brooks’ debut novel, The Orphan of Salt Winds, was hailed by BuzzFeed as “evocative, gothic, and utterly transportive.” She grew up in Chester, England, graduated from Cambridge University, and resides on the Isle of Man with her husband and two children.

Brooks’ new novel is The Whispering House.

At CrimeReads she tagged twelve gothic novels that explore the deepest darkest possibilities of sibling relationships, including:

Sister, by Rosamund Lupton (2010)

This wintry novel is a mystery in the traditional sense, as Beatrice searches for the killer of her sister, Tess. Even more compellingly, however, it is the elder sister’s quest to find out who her younger sister really was, and a coming to terms with the fact that Tess was a stranger, as well as a sibling. The novel takes the form of a letter to Tess, composed in Beatrice’s mind as she awaits her own death at the hands of her sister’s murderer. The letter is haunted by the presumptuous nature of the sibling bond. Just because we were born into the same family, it seems to say, you don’t necessarily know me, any more than I know you.

Read about another entry on the list.

Sister is among Louise Jensen's six thrillers centered around family relationships, Marybeth Mayhew Whalen's seven top stories about the darker side of small towns & suburbia, Alafair Burke's top ten thrillers about siblings, Laura Jarratt's top ten YA thrillers with sisters, and Sophie McKenzie's top ten teen thrillers.

--Marshal Zeringue