A Quiet Storm by Rachel Howzell Hall

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Title: A Quiet Storm

Author: Rachel Howzell Hall

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Length: 256 pages

Published:  2002

Publisher: Touchstone

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) In this vividly written, suspense-driven novel, the secrets shared between two sisters erupt in tragedy.

Rikki Moore was always the star of the family, easily outshining her younger sister, Stacy, at every turn. Smart, kind, and beautiful, it was no surprise when Rikki met and married the perfect man -- pediatrician Matt Dresden. Her students at 59th Street Elementary School adored her, the church matrons solicited her help on every committee, and everyone wanted the golden couple to put in an appearance at their parties. Stacy? She was just the overweight little sister who couldn't get her love life together.

But the world didn't know about the storms that rippled just beneath the surface of Rikki's image of perfection. Ever since she was a teenager there were emotional breakdowns and obsessive behaviors -- secrets that Stacy was left to bear alone. Folks whispered, but they didn't know. When Rikki's husband, Matt, mysteriously disappears, however, the Moore family's carefully constructed image comes crashing down.

My Review:

I give this book a 5 out of 5. 

Mental illness is often overlooked by those close to the person involved. The author does an amazing job of showing this, as well as showing just how awful and draining a mental illness can be: on the person with the illness, as well as her family and friends. 

The story is told in the voice of Anastasia (Stacy), the younger sister. Though by the way she had to grow up and take care of her older sister since their childhood, she definitely seems much older. Their parents fight a lot, but always make up. Their mother is in denial that Rikki has a problem. Both parents are - until the day she tries to kill herself. Then their mother keeps denying everything, even to the point of not sending her daughter to a therapist (what will the neighbors think? is pretty much the way their mother handles everything), while their father starts staying away for longer periods of time because he can't handle things.

Rikki stabilizes once their father dies and she goes away to college, where she secretly sees a therapist and starts taking lithium on a regular basis. When Stacy joins her at school, Stacy begins to see all of her ups and downs and often is the only one that can calm her sister or break her out of her depression. 

The story continues with the girls' marriages to handsome doctors, and the continuance of Rikki's highs and lows - with Stacy there to save her every single time. Stacy's life only seems to be better when Rikki is not around. 

I won't go further with any more details from the story, as you really should pick up this book and give it a try. I really enjoyed this one (could not put it down!). It read easily and while some of the stories of Rikkis highs and lows seemed repetitive, it only helped to really show the depth of her mental illness.

You can purchase A Quiet Storm through Amazon in hard copy format. 

Have you read A Quiet Storm? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.