[MPOV] The Crooked Little Pieces: Volume 1

My rating: 4/5

Goodreads rating: 3.5/5

Published: May 25th, 2022

Author: Sophia Lambton

Genre: Family fiction, drama, saga

Lost are the creatures destined never to be understood.

1926. Professor Josef van der Holt obtains a post at an all women’s college overseas. Stuffy London suddenly becomes the site for the unseemly exploits of his half-Dutch and half-German daughters Anneliese and Isabel. When tragedy carves out a hollow in their lives, an ailing soul sends the sororal twins along a jagged path: while Isabel takes flight in sensual hedonism Anneliese skirts danger in her role as sleuth. Elusive are the sentiments they seek: swift stopovers of fleeting feeling. Seditious loves and passions scarcely probable veer each away from the predictable.

And when the obvious appears unstoppable the opposite may achingly be true.

Spanning the twentieth century’s five most volatile decades, The Crooked Little Pieces is a series about inextricable entanglements. Perverse relationships pervade a glossary of scenes. Plots criss-cross over a rich tapestry of twists and tension-fuelling characters: some relatable, others opaque and many “crooked”.

It is television drama. Novelised.

A heartfelt thank you to the author for this e-ARC in return for my honest review. I have not read a family saga in ages. When I first saw it, I thought it's a thriller due to it's title. As I gradually read on, it was explained in the novel, the meaning of this title. Somehow, this one reminded me of Barbara Taylor Bradford's A Woman of Substance, though different in plot aspects. 

The Crooked Little Pieces is about 2 girls, twins who were born a week apart. It tells the story about their struggle after their father passed away and the gap between their relationship... their sisterhood. Both characters are a total opposite and as they grew older with different expectations in life, they slowly became closer. As this is volume 1, it ended with the war :-)

I've enjoyed how it was written and I did find it engaging though some may find it slow. It fits my reading mood nowadays and I was curious of Anneliese's friendship with the psychiatrist who sort of shaped her future. Also, when it ended, I wonder about Isabel's relationship with her sadistic husband. Both sisters are talented in their own ways but their vulnerability is what shaped them eventually. I do wonder what happens next in volume 2 :-)