Review: Glimpse

Glimpse
Carol Lynch Williams
2010; Simon & Schuster; ISBN 978-1-4169-9730-6 (hardcover)

Summary: Lizzie has always looked after Hope, just like Hope has always looked out for Lizzie.  They're more than sisters: they're best friends.  So when Hope walks in on Lizzie holding a shotgun, Hope's confused.  Why would Lizzie want to kill herself?  Why would she want to break up their family, take away one of the Chapman Girls--Momma, Lizzie and Hope?  As Hope navigates her memories and reaches out to Lizzie, she sees glimpses of the secrets she never knew.  And when she realizes just what secrets there are between her mother and her sister, Hope will be forced to choose between them.

A heartbreaking novel in verse, Glimpse explores the destructive power of secrets.  Lizzie hides the truth from Hope, trying to protect her, but this sacrifice leaves Lizzie unable to help herself.   It's up to Hope to show Lizzie how to save herself.  Thus, this novel is also about the power of family and love.  Well-paced with moving characters, Glimpse has a tone similar to Elizabeth Scott's Living Dead Girl, but with a more hopeful ending.