Sisters Of Mercy in Aussie Readers

Oct 04, 2012 Brenda rated it liked it

Shelves: aussie-authors, borrowed-from-library, 2012-release

Snow Delaney had been sentenced to several years in prison for child abuse and horrific acts of neglect. She started writing to Jack Fawcett, a newspaper journalist, from prison, protesting her innocence, and telling Jack he had his ‘facts’ wrong in the articles he was reporting about her, and the case, and she would set him right.

So began a year long correspondence between Snow and Jack, with him doing a lot of research on the story, and her continuing to add information and detail about her li Snow Delaney had been sentenced to several years in prison for child abuse and horrific acts of neglect. She started writing to Jack Fawcett, a newspaper journalist, from prison, protesting her innocence, and telling Jack he had his ‘facts’ wrong in the articles he was reporting about her, and the case, and she would set him right.

So began a year long correspondence between Snow and Jack, with him doing a lot of research on the story, and her continuing to add information and detail about her life through her letters. In the midst of his research, he interviewed Ruby, who was the daughter of Agnes, Snow Delaney’s long lost sister. Snow knew nothing about Agnes, indeed, Agnes knew nothing about Snow…Agnes believed herself to be an orphan, deserted when a youngster in London, when her father went away to war, and her mother placed her in an orphanage to be cared for, always promising to return after the war to get her.

When Snow’s father died, and the will was read, it was discovered that Snow indeed had a sibling, Agnes, and they were to each receive 50% of the substantial estate…Agnes was delighted to find she had a sister, and determined to come to Australia to visit Snow. Snow was not so delighted, and was angry she had to give half her share of her fathers’ estate to a total stranger. When Agnes disappeared the day she was to catch the plane back to London, and Snow was subsequently sent to prison, Jack was the one person still trying to piece the facts together.

I found this story engaging, but bland. There didn’t seem to be a lot happening, with almost the complete story done with letters. It was interesting enough that I read to the finish, as I wanted to see the outcome, but I was disappointed in the lack of action, and of ‘things unfinished’. I was also disappointed to discover Overington had facts wrong in this book too, as she has in previous books of hers I have read. She said, among other things, that Robert Farquharson was convicted and sent to prison for murdering his three sons in a dam in Melbourne. It was actually a dam in Winchelsea, Victoria, which is just over 110 kms from Melbourne. Those facts (if she wants to put them into fiction) are not hard to get correct.

Overall, I would have to say the story had promise, but the execution left me feeling a little cheated.
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Feb 10, 2014 Marg rated it really liked it

I was introduced to Caroline Overington's writing last year when I read No Place Like Home and was impressed by it. It has taken a while, but I have finally got around to reading another book by her, and I was once again impressed.

On it's surface, Sister of Mercy tells the story of two sisters who learn of each others existence late in their lives. Agnes was a war baby who was separated from her parents during the war years and was never reunited with them. She was sent to Australia as part of t ...more

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Nov 08, 2012 Bree T rated it really liked it

Shelves: australian, mystery, crime, contemporary, aww2012

Snow Delaney was born a generation apart and half a world away from her older sister, Agnes. Until the death of Snow’s father, she never even knew that Agnes existed. Agnes was born in England, placed in an orphanage during the Second World War when her father was off fighting and when her parents came back for her at the end of the war, she had vanished. Agnes’ parents moved to Australia and many years later, along came Snow.

When Snow’s father dies, years after her mother, she discovers that sh Snow Delaney was born a generation apart and half a world away from her older sister, Agnes. Until the death of Snow’s father, she never even knew that Agnes existed. Agnes was born in England, placed in an orphanage during the Second World War when her father was off fighting and when her parents came back for her at the end of the war, she had vanished. Agnes’ parents moved to Australia and many years later, along came Snow.

When Snow’s father dies, years after her mother, she discovers that she is not the sole beneficiary of his estate like she assumed. And his estate amounts to much more than the old 3br house in Deer Park that Snow grew up in. It also includes some prime pieces of land down at Ocean Grove on the Bellarine Peninsula that’s going to be worth a tidy sum. Unfortunately for Snow, she can’t gain access to anything until she meets with her older sister and offers her half of the estate.

And now Agnes has gone missing, swallowed up in the red dust storm that blanketed the entire city of Sydney in September of 2009. Visiting from England, she was due to fly home the next day and because of the dust and cancelled flights, there was some delay before she was reported missing. Now Snow is in jail, not charged with murder, but believed of having committed it. Without a body, without evidence though, it looks like the case of Agnes might never be solved.

Incensed by what reporter Jack Fawcett has printed about Snow in the newspaper, she writes to him from her cell at Silverwater Correctional Facility. Jack writes back, questioning Snow on certain things and Snow keeps writing letters, telling her side of the story, the way things have been for her, rebutting Jack’s assumptions and statements. Is Snow just a victim or circumstances and a slack department who should’ve done better? Or is she truly a monster?

Sisters Of Mercy is Australian author Caroline Overington’s fourth fiction novel and once again Overington employs her trademark tactic of narrating the story from an older male character, slightly removed from the main story line. In this book we are getting the facts from reporter Jack Fawcett, who drew the short straw and was ordered off to a press conference by Rose Bay police station about the missing woman Agnes, from Britain. After striking up a friendship with Agnes’ daughter Ruby, he takes an interest in the case and does his own research. It is one of the pieces that he writes that raises Snow’s ire and she takes it upon herself to write to him and set him straight.

The story of Snow’s life seemed ideal on the surface but as she begins to pour her story out to Jack in letters, it becomes quite obvious that scratch the surface, and Snow’s life was one of neglect, but not in the usual way. She was fed and clothed but her mother was cold, distant, not particularly interested in having a child, or being active in Snow’s life. Her father seemed to only have eyes for her mother and it seemed that Snow had no real friends growing up, no one but one loser boyfriend after another, men who had a profound impact on her life and the choices she made. A deftly weaved tale of shades of grey leads the reader through Snow’s life as she falls from one job to the next, moves around and supports her boyfriend who puts most of what she makes through the pokies and on the punt.

Through Ruby we learn about Agnes and the life she had growing up, first in the orphanage and then sent out to Australia after the war to work for a family in a homestead in Western Australia. Like Snow had no idea of her existence, she had no idea that her parents had survived the war and had also ended up in Australia. She didn’t become aware of any of this until after her father died and she was tracked down by his lawyer.

I found myself utterly engrossed in this story – Snow was such an interesting character, so utterly without emotion, detached from everything, beaten down by working in a system that took young optimists, chewed them up and spat them out as jaded robots. She ended up a foster carer for handicapped children, giving parents respite care and often taking in children who had been abandoned to the care of the state by parents who just could not cope anymore. It sounds admirable, until you delve a little deeper into Snow’s house and methods and then all of a sudden you find yourself horrified. But how much of it was Snow’s fault? She exploited a system that was ripe for it, she was essentially, neglected again by those in charge and if she cut corners in order to be able to get things done, then who could blame her? If it wasn’t her, it’d be somebody else. Sisters Of Mercy exposes some flaws in the care system and lays bare the grim life that some children like the ones depicted in this story must surely face. So confident is Snow that her behaviour was nothing short of dutiful and professional that it’s chilling. And then it’s almost convincing before you pull yourself up sharply and go hang on this is not normal!

Another really addictive story from an author who has become an autobuy for me. ...more

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Oct 02, 2012 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it really liked it

Shelves: provided-by-publisher, aussie-author, arc-are

"Some people might be wondering what exactly Snow hoped to gain by writing to me, bit I reckon it was pretty obvious: I'm a reporter, and she wanted to convince people that she's innocent of everything she's ever been accused of doing."

Snow Delaney begins a year long correspondence with journalist Jack Fawcett from her prison cell shortly after being convicted on multiple counts of child abuse. Incensed by what she perceives to be sensationalist reporting on her life in his newspaper feature, '
"Some people might be wondering what exactly Snow hoped to gain by writing to me, bit I reckon it was pretty obvious: I'm a reporter, and she wanted to convince people that she's innocent of everything she's ever been accused of doing."

Snow Delaney begins a year long correspondence with journalist Jack Fawcett from her prison cell shortly after being convicted on multiple counts of child abuse. Incensed by what she perceives to be sensationalist reporting on her life in his newspaper feature, 'The Secrets of Snow', she offers to tell Jack 'the facts', including the truth of what she knows about her missing sister, Agnes Moore.
Through Snow's letters and Jack's investigation into her claims, Sisters of Mercy reveals a complex web of lies, deceit, betrayal and the absence of mercy.

Initially it's tempting to sympathise with Snow who is imprisoned, alone and resolute in her claims of innocence. Snow is a very disconcerting character, she seems rather ordinary but slowly Overington reveals a deeply disturbed woman whose grasp on reality is warped by a distressing lack of humanity. As a trained nurse who is a foster mother and respite carer for severely disabled children she presents as a tirelessly selfless member of the community. The first hint of her true nature comes when Snow discovers the existence of an older sister, Agnes Moore, abandoned as a toddler in wartime England by her parents who were unmarried at the time.

Interestingly, Overington approaches the disappearance of Agnes from an oblique angle where the missing woman is a catalyst for Snow's story rather than the focus of the plot. It is a little disorientating to expect the novel to develop one way only for it to be twisted into something quite different. It may not appeal to everyone, but the approach is intriguing and revitalises a familiar trope.

What Jack surmises contrasts sharply with Snow's perceptions and emphasises the ambiguity of 'truth' in the absence of incontrovertible evidence. Jack's narrative serves as a witness of sorts to counter Snow's impassioned claims of innocence and champion her alleged victims.

Sisters of Mercy is a provocative novel by an accomplished storyteller. I found it to be discomforting yet engaging and I am happy to recommend it.

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Apr 01, 2021 Janine rated it liked it

First book by this author I’ve read and a very different style of writing too.

Snow Delaney starts writing to a journalist from prison as she believes there are key things missing from his newspaper articles he has written about her case.

A very disturbing account of 2 sisters separated by parents because of circumstances at the time. Years later they meet but one of them goes missing. A sad story about Snow who grew up in a loveless household but managed to educate herself. She fell in with a los ...more

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