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My Sister's Voice (Little Black Dress)

by Mary Carter (Goodreads Author)

3.32 of 5 stars 3.32 · rating details · 398 ratings · 104 reviews

Every love leaves an echo. . .

What do you do when you discover your whole life was a lie? In Mary Carter's unforgettable new novel, one woman is about to find out...

At twenty-eight, Lacey Gears is exactly where she wants to be. An up-and-coming, proudly Deaf artist in Philadelphia, she's in a relationship with a wonderful man and rarely thinks about her difficult childhoo

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Paperback, 352 pages

Published June 24th 2010 by Little Black Dress (first published May 25th 2010)

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Jan 10, 2012 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

From My Blog...[return]The search for identity, truth, and beauty are key elements found in My Sister's Voice by Mary Carter. Identical twin girls reared apart; one profoundly deaf, the other hearing, yet neither aware of the other's existence until they were 28 years old when Lacey Gears receives an anonymous note telling her she has an identical sister, Monica Bowman. While the story and characters were a bit difficult to warm up to in the beginning, the second half of the book and the message...more

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Jun 12, 2011 Jenny rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010

Taken from my blog at www.takemeawayreading.com. Also posted at www.luxuryreading.com

My Sister's Voice tells the story of twin sisters, Lacey and Monica, separated early in childhood and raised as though the other doesn't exist. Lacey grows up in a children's home with a strict house mother while Monica grows up with her parents and has a wealthy lifestyle. Lacey is also deaf and Monica is hearing. The book starts when they are 28-years-old and Lacey receives an anonymous letter in the mail tell...more Taken from my blog at www.takemeawayreading.com. Also posted at www.luxuryreading.com

My Sister's Voice tells the story of twin sisters, Lacey and Monica, separated early in childhood and raised as though the other doesn't exist. Lacey grows up in a children's home with a strict house mother while Monica grows up with her parents and has a wealthy lifestyle. Lacey is also deaf and Monica is hearing. The book starts when they are 28-years-old and Lacey receives an anonymous letter in the mail telling her she has a sister. She initially assumes one of her friends is playing a joke on her until she sees a picture of her sister. The rest of the story deals with Lacey deciding if she wants to meet her sister and/or her parents, why they were separated, and who wrote her the notes. The book also delves thoroughly into the deaf culture through Lacey's experiences.

The writing style in My Sister's Voice was different and difficult to get used to. In some parts the narration was normal enough, but in other parts it just didn't flow right. At one point I gave it the benefit of the doubt because I realized that the narration was literally translated from American Sign Language (that does not use the same word structure/order) but there were really only a few parts where this was the case. I felt like Lacey's behaviors in most of the book, but especially the beginning, were sort of erratic and strange. Lacey's reactions to finding out she may have a twin were, just as with many other moments in the book, contrived and unrealistic... at least, I had a difficult time believing that the characters would react the way to some situations as they did in the book. For instance, after seeing a picture for an upcoming book signing by her long lost twin, Lacey rants for pages about how she has a "face thief" and decides to get back at this person with a vengeance. She acts extremely immaturely, more than I could realistically see an adult female in this situation act. On another note, there were parts where the same issue was discussed/explored/ranted over for too long. I noticed this more in the beginning of the book but I felt like a couple paragraphs could have been removed for some of the topics. Additionally, when the characters were thinking to themselves, they would have somewhat frantic thoughts and repeat the same thing over to themselves.. over, over, over, over, over, over. It was frustrating and weird, weird, weird, weird, frustrating, weird. After a while I thought "okay, I got it"... I didn't need the character to go on more. I also felt that the dialogue was stilted in many parts.

I didn't care for these things, but the thing I mainly disliked was the characters. I despised Lacey's character for the first 3/4's of the book because she was, for one, not at all a nice character and, for two, she just seemed very immature. Monica's character was okay at first, but then her behavior became strange as well. In the end, there were also some questions I felt were unanswered completely. The reason for the girls' separation was definitely not simple, as the back of the book reads, but I had a fairly adverse reaction to that part. It was again, strange, and really only answered some of the questions I had.

While I unfortunately didn't care for this book, I do want to point out one thing I thought was good. Except for the fact that it, at times, felt as though there was an agenda, My Sister's Voice, did do a good job of revealing the internal world of Deaf culture to the reader. I found it very interesting that most Deaf (refer to the Q & A in the back to find out why it's capitalized) people consider themselves part of a different culture; a culture that shares a language and a history. I had never thought of it that way. Another interesting piece of information (which my co-worker and I learned the hard way, but that's a story for another time) is that Deaf people do NOT like to be referred to as hearing impaired... because there's nothing to fix! They do not feel as though they are missing anything -- they are just different. And all this time I'm sure most of us were so caught up with being "pc" or politically correct that I guess no one thought to ask those who are deaf what they prefer. So in this sense, I did learn a lot from reading this book. (If you do read this, I want to talk to you about a statement that's made in the end of the book because it sort of bothered me... it's related to Deaf culture).

In summary (finally, right??) this book had so many elements that could have potentially made this really good, but I just didn't care for the execution of it all.(less)

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Apr 06, 2011 Nicky rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: differences

Great story with the 'voice' (literarily speaking) of a strong Deaf character. I really enjoyed her descriptions of living Deaf culture and her strategies for dealing with hearing individuals. I could really feel how she had to prove herself intelligent and functional to people she met, except that she often didn't bother and didn't care what they thought.

A quick forward moving plot always engages me too, and this was. The questions she is trying to address about the differences between her life...more

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May 29, 2010 Kristina rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a touching story of family and the bonds in life that are broken and made in the course of years. It was sad and happy, and made many emotions go through the reader (me) all at one time. I connected with Lacey's character not because she was deaf but because she was deprived of knowing her family. While I know that millions of people don't get to know their fathers , mothers, brothers, or sisters, I came up with a personal connection to her character because of that loss and anger she f...more

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Nov 13, 2010 Shomeret rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, my-reviews

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 18, 2010 Diane rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I wanted very much to like this book. It had the potential to be a very moving story about family and personal identity. However, it read more like an early draft than a polished final product. While I learned a lot of interesting facts about Deaf Culture, I feel Carter did this too often through exposition instead of letting the reader learn from the actions and dialogue of the characters. The flow of the story was constantly interrupted while the author took the time to explain why or how the...more

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May 27, 2010 Molly rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Molly by: Pump Up Your Book

Shelves: book-review

Mary Carter did a wonderful job with this book. She created a story that truly hit home with me. It did that, not because I'm deaf-I'm not, but because my "surrogate" little sister was deaf from birth and I felt protective of her when she was left out or made fun of because of her impairment and speaking with her hands.

I really felt my heart going out to Lacy. She was a brave young woman in this story who was extremely independent and just wanted to be treated as an equal, not someone to be pit...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Laura rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult, fiction

This book started off strong, with a interesting premise - twin sisters separated at birth, seemingly because one is hearing and the other is Deaf. As 20-somethings they learn of each other's existence and the story is off and running - and then it's meandering - and then it's wandering aimlessly for a while...

It felt like this author wanted to do too many things and just couldn't keep it together. She wanted a mystery story; she wanted to share Deaf culture; she wanted to write a quasi-romance,...more

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Jan 01, 2011 Lorraine rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: soap opera fans/no one

Shelves: american, deaf, z2011

Haha, I think the cover spoof on My Sister's Keeper is funny! But that was all I liked about this book. Twins, separated at 3yrs old, find each other as adults. One twin is Deaf, the other hearing.

So many problems with this story/writing.
1) POV: first several chapters are Deaf twin's 3rd person persp. Then it shifts to the other twin. Randomly there are chapters from the mother's perspective when the twins are 2, then one or two objective 3rd person when the twins are 3. The changing POV ruins t...more

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Feb 19, 2013 Randi rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this ages ago and it touched my heart as I was happy to finally read a novel with a character who happens to be deaf. It's so rare to read books nowadays with a deaf character as one of the main characters in the novel.

It's about how a woman found out that she not only has a long-lost twin, she also has an identical twin. How did that happen? And the twin sought out the information and as she got further, it was getting a little frightening on what she could find.

It's nothing thriller or...more

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Nov 10, 2010 Tara Chevrestt rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: deaf-heroine, kindle, 2010-release

I have really enjoyed this novel. It made me laugh a couple times and it also made me sad at others. I love the heroine, Lacey. She's deaf, rides a motorcycle, has a puggle and a major attitude. She's very likable. When trying to read people's lips, she would sometimes run down a multiple choice in her head like this: He either called her a: a cyclone b: a silo or c: a psycho. I LOVED this feature cause really, that is what it is like, reading people's lips. It's half a guessing game.

The author...more

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Apr 28, 2010 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

From My Blog:

The search for identity, truth, and beauty are key elements found in My Sister's Voice by Mary Carter. Identical twin girls reared apart; one profoundly deaf, the other hearing, yet neither aware of the other's existence until they were 28 years old when Lacey Gears receives an anonymous note telling her she has an identical sister, Monica Bowman. While the story and characters were a bit difficult to warm up to in the beginning, the second half of the book and the messages containe...more

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Jul 22, 2011 Rene rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The idea behind the plot of this book is intriguing. Identical twins seperated at a young age, one raised in a normal weatlhy family setting while the other (who is deaf) is sent to an orphanage. Years later, in their twenties they discover each other and unravel the truth about their childhood and the years in beween. Being an identical twin myself I could relate to a lot of the dynamics of these sister's experiences. What I was not familiar with was the whole Deaf culture that obviously exists...more

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Dec 06, 2011 Erin rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Review from:
www.theultimatebooknook.blogspot.com

"You have a sister. A twin to be exact." These words changed Lacey's life.

Lacey and Monica are identical twins. Lacey is deaf while Monica is not. They were separated by their parents at a very young age. Lacey was raised in a home for disabled children while Monica was raised by their parents. When they are 28 years old, Lacey receives an anonymous note in her mailbox and after that all the mysteries start to unravel. Who is this twin sister? Why...more Review from:
www.theultimatebooknook.blogspot.com

"You have a sister. A twin to be exact." These words changed Lacey's life.

Lacey and Monica are identical twins. Lacey is deaf while Monica is not. They were separated by their parents at a very young age. Lacey was raised in a home for disabled children while Monica was raised by their parents. When they are 28 years old, Lacey receives an anonymous note in her mailbox and after that all the mysteries start to unravel. Who is this twin sister? Why did their parents keep her and not Lacey? Can they really get over the damage that was done years ago?

My Sister's Voice started off strong. I was pulled in immediately by the mystery of the situation. As the story went on and the characters were developed, though, my interest wavered. The characters weren't developed well. They all seemed very immature and unrealistic as did the story line. I couldn't believe that all of these people, and there were quite a few of them, would react the way they did to something so life changing.

There were times where issues were easily explained away. Something you would think would be very important to these characters lives and to the story would just be swept under the rug. While on the other hand there were unnecessary explanations and rants of things that were so minute that it took away from the story line.

The ending was a very big disappointment. We spend the entire book getting to the explanation of it all and the actual climax was incredibly anticlimactic. Lacey and Monica's lives are turned upside down by all these revelations and it was wrapped up in a perfect little package and ended abruptly. It felt like more of a rough draft, a very rough draft at that, than a published work of literature. I was disappointed.

I did find the aspects of deaf culture fascinating. I loved that they were explored, sometimes in great depth. It was very interesting to read about. Most people make a lot of assumptions about deaf people and this sheds a new light on them, their language and their culture.

Even with all those things it wasn't a terrible book. There were times where I really did enjoy it, especially once I got over the immaturity of the main characters.
(less)

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Nov 29, 2011 Lisa Macon rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 10, 2012 Nina rated it 1 of 5 stars

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1 like · like · see review

May 05, 2010 Theresa rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Adults

Shelves: arc, fiction, review-copy

Mary Carter is an engaging author who can draw you completely into the story. She makes her characters realistic and dimensional and the storyline fascinating. Her grasp of the Deaf community was amazing and made me assumed that she must have been Deaf herself. Instead, I discovered she was a certified American Sign Language Interpreter.

I really enjoyed the story of the twins and their road to discovery. I personally didn't care for their childhood story, though, which made me not like the endin...more

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May 19, 2010 Rosemary rated it 1 of 5 stars

My Sister's Voice

is a story about a Deaf artist, Lacey. Lacey was raised in an orphanage and at age 28 was shocked to discover through an anonymous note left in her mailbox that she has a twin sister.

Lacey and her sister, Monica, finally meet. Lacey, an artist and Monica a motivational speaker, do not get along at first. Lacey is filled with anger at the thought that her parents chose Monica, a hearing person over her and takes her anger out on Monica.

Lacey and Monica, with the help of the...more

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Dec 16, 2011 Jacqui rated it 3 of 5 stars

An interesting book to read, especially the insights given by the Deaf character into her life and friendships and her feelings about being deaf. I laughed at some of her estimated interpretations of what people were reading based on reading their lips. She would identify a. through d. choices of what she thought people might be saying and some of them were quite fully.

In the end, I liked the book but I never felt connected to the characters. I was interested to know how things would end but I...more

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Oct 08, 2011 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: writing-inspiration

I enjoyed this book; it was an interesting insight into Deaf culture, and a quick read. However, the ending mad me so mad, I had to give it only 3 stars. The premise of the book is that Lacey, a Deaf woman who grew up in an orphanage, discovers she has an identical, hearing twin, and that they were separated at birth. (minor spoilers follow) She soon learns that she was abandoned, while her parents kept the other twin. In the end, everything is happily reconciled, but I found it very hard to bel...more

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Apr 23, 2010 Valerie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I won an advanced copy of this book from this site!

To me, this book started out a bit slow. I was having trouble getting into it. It seemed like a great story that could have been written in a more interesting way.

Once I got into it, I started really enjoying it and reading it much more quickly. My mind was racing on where the story was going to go next and what twist we were going to learn about. The writing felt much more thought out.

I will say the ending really disappointed me. I thought of s...more

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Apr 04, 2011 Cindy rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was OK but a few of the plot twists were a little unbelievable. Plot spoiler alert! Does a woman who can't have children and adopts her sister in law's twins really give one twin away because of the inabliliy of the other twin to seperate from her twin --- I don't think so. A few of the plot twists at the end were hard to swallow but the information about being deaf was very well done. As someone who worked in schools with hearing impaired programs, Lacey's views and independence were...more

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Apr 26, 2010 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

This book started out a bit slow but by the fourth chapter (short chapters) I was hooked. I started reading it late last night and finished it this afternoon.

I really enjoyed the storyline and the little bit of education it offered about the deaf community. There were a few interesting twists and turns as well as the story went along.
During the first half of the book I would sometimes roll my eyes at the writing and the overuse, I would say, of similes and metaphors. They were a bit much and go...more

1 like · like · see review

May 02, 2010 Jennifer (Crazy-for-Books.com) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: received-for-review, received-in-2010, virtual-book-tour, general-fiction, read-in-2010

Lacey and Monica are two women living separate lives, in separate cities. Lacey is profoundly deaf; Monica is hearing. One day, Lacey receives a letter in the mail that changes her entire life - she has an identical twin sister - Monica. The premise of the book really drew me in. What if you got an anonymous note telling you that you have a twin sister? What if you are Deaf and you find out that this twin sister is hearing? How would you feel? What would you do?

Lacey Gears is a 28 year old portr...more Lacey and Monica are two women living separate lives, in separate cities. Lacey is profoundly deaf; Monica is hearing. One day, Lacey receives a letter in the mail that changes her entire life - she has an identical twin sister - Monica. The premise of the book really drew me in. What if you got an anonymous note telling you that you have a twin sister? What if you are Deaf and you find out that this twin sister is hearing? How would you feel? What would you do?

Lacey Gears is a 28 year old portrait artist who also happens to be profoundly Deaf. Her character is very rough-around-the-edges and unsympathetic. She holds a lot of animosity from her childhood and it has shaped her into the hard-edged woman she is today. She is extremely proud of being Deaf and has formed a very close bond with others in the Deaf community.

Monica Bowman is a 28 year old author, who is currently promoting her book “The Architect of Your Soul”. Monica is a very needy woman who seems to always crave attention. I found her character to be a bit all over the place. At times she seems normal and easygoing; at other times she seems very unstable. It was a weird dichotomy for me and I didn’t quite come to a final conclusion as to who Monica really is by the end of the book.

Lacey receives a note telling her that she has a twin sister and directs her to a bookstore to learn more information. Lacey laughs it off at first, thinking it is a joke. But, curiosity gets the better of her and she goes off to investigate. What she finds at the bookstore changes everything she’s known. There really is a twin sister – and her name is Monica.

As Lacey and Monica struggle to come to terms with each other and their pasts, the narrative shifts between the two of them, and also to their mother, Katherine. The narrative also reverts back in time to what happened when the girls were separated. I found some of these chapters a bit confusing since there isn’t an introduction or a note at each chapter to let us know that the POV had shifted or that the time had shifted to 25 years in the past. The development of their relationship is interesting – with lots of give (Monica) and take (Lacey). They both seemed confused about how to act and what they should do with each other. It was intriguing, but, overall, I found their entire relationship to be very unhealthy (especially from Monica’s end).

The reason for their separation at a young age is a bit strange, in my opinion. I’m not sure I really connected everything together and came to a full understanding of WHY things happened the way they did. I don’t quite comprehend why their parents acted the way they did. It didn’t make much sense to me and I couldn’t rationalize it in my head. Yes, there were things happening at the time, but I couldn’t fathom a parent giving away one child and keeping the other. It just didn’t connect with me and I didn’t get it.

I learned a great deal about the Deaf culture from this book. Back in my college days, I had some exposure to the Deaf culture in Rochester, NY, and was able to interact with many people who are Deaf. I find the whole culture and language fascinating and this book really helped me to understand it even more.

Overall, this was an okay read for me. I was left confused and questioning some things that happened, but I would still recommend it for a fascinating look into the Deaf culture.

Jennifer
http://www.crazy-for-books.com (less)

1 like · like · see review

May 15, 2010 Andrea rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

3.5 out of 5 rating

I have always been fascinated with twins. Growing up, I loved reading the Sweet Valley Twins and Sweet Valley High series. I did several research projects in high school on twins. And I am currently dating a twin. And I also have a best friend who is fluent in American Sign Language and has taught me several signs. So I couldn't wait to read this book.

There were several twists and surprises in this book, a couple of which I saw coming. But I definitely didn't predict one of t...more

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Nov 23, 2011 Pmcdnld2 rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book had a great plot premise but some of the actions/reactions of the main characters were over the top. Lacey is a 28 year old deaf artist who grew up in an orphanage. She finds out she has an identical twin-Lacey is angry and some of her actions just were nuts as she finds out more about her "family." I did learn a lot about Deaf culture and American Sign Language. Overall a good story that I think(in my humble opinion) could have been better.

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Dec 31, 2011 Aunty Janet rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A deaf woman, brought up in a children's' home as an orphan, discoverers that she has a twin sister. Not only a twin, but a hearing twin who was brought up by their natural parents. The discovery of why and what happens when they meet and ultimately confront their parents, forms the basis of this story. I loved the exploration of deaf culture around American Sign Language and found the book funny and heart-warming, however it did lose my interest a little around the middle. Nevertheless, an enjo...more

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Jul 18, 2010 L. Worwood rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to L. Worwood by: "new" bookshelf at library

This book started out strong. I liked the characters; I was fascinated by the glimpse into the deaf world. But then the story just got strained and down-right weird. Many of the interesting mysteries in the story were explained away with unsatisfactory and unbelievable answers. I'm disappointed because I like Carter's writing style, and the title of the book is brilliant. I keep wishing that this was the rough draft and Carter could re-write the ending!

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 16, 2012 Carla rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was disappointing. While the plot sounded interesting, the author spent more time talking about deaf culture then she did developing the characters. Plus, the more the story went on, the less believable it got. The only redeeming quality was that it was a quick read and I managed to finish it in a day...which is good because I don't think I would've had the patience to deal with it much longer then that!

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Oct 12, 2010 Elaine Cristina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: work

Not something I'd usually pick from a bookshelf, this was a good reading.

The novel was written in an easy-reading style, sprinkled with humour here and there, preventing angst to dominate a plot whose reviews screamed "heartpiercing".

I enjoyed the process of reading it, got hooked by strategical changes of viewpoints in the narrative, but I regret the ending wasn't a bit more original.

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