Wednesday 26 January 2022

My Half-Sister's Half-Sister by Samantha Henthorn BLOG TOUR @SamanthaHfinds @RandomTTours #Extract #BlogTour #MyHalfSistersHalfSister

 


Can you believe everything Pippa tells you?

Pippa has hidden a huge secret for the past seven years. Her half-sister’s half-sister visits and turns Pippa's life upside-down. Yet, Pippa’s enchantress mother and sister warn her to be careful because they are reminded of her last crisis.

Then things go from bad to worse when Pippa returns to work because a tyrannical receptionist runs the office. Her best friend doesn’t want to speak to her and It seems as though her boyfriend might leave her, meaning Pippa would be alone in the flat they share above her mother’s pub. When Sadie visits, Pippa starts to believe her mother, Jacquetta and sister, Heather are witches. If this is true, then why didn’t they help her?

Sadie becomes the supporter Pippa needs, freeing her from past insecurities and enabling Pippa to face up to the past. Yet Sadie’s attention is not selfless; she wants something in return from Pippa.


My Half-Sister's Half-Sister by Samantha Henthorn was published on 9 November 2021. As part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour I am delighted to share an extract from the book with you today. 



Extract from My Half-Sister's Half-Sister by Samantha Henthorn


My feet feel sort of cold, and the hall smells like washing powder and old oranges. Mummy queues up at the bottle tombola, and that’s when I look down.

No... no... please... Why didn’t Mummy tell me? I’ve come out to the school fair wearing my bedroom slippers. I try and put one foot on top of the other but that only draws attention.

Stop it. I look across the room, and I notice that girl from swimming. Why does this kind of thing always happen to me?

I hate swim class... wet hair on a cold day and my see-through costume. I hate it, can’t do it, and the swim teacher is grumpy and tells us off. She reckons that we should know how to swim at our age; it’s ridiculous. I swallowed chlorine from up my nose when my head went under. I tried to stretch my arms and legs out, but the pool was just wet air. So, I grabbed the side and tried to walk along with the movement of the water. It’s like I’m there now; I just can’t do it.

This girl never seems bothered that she can’t swim. I think she is a year older than me and from a different school. Different, except we all get banded together. The different ones, the ones who can’t swim.

She’s chewing bubble gum (banned at our house, definitely banned during swim class), and I wish Mummy had one of her long skirts on to hide my feet.

‘Jacqui!’ the girl’s mum puts a cigarette out in her hand.

‘India,’ Mummy says. She does not look pleased; she has the same look on her face when I ask to use the bathroom at the shops.

‘Our two are at the same swim class, then?’ India wears an eye patch on her left eye, and the girl pops her bubble gum bubble in my face (at least she hasn’t noticed my feet).

The smell in the school hall changes and all the parents try not to notice. I’ve smelt this smell before, sort of like flowers and being naughty at the same time... It stinks, but it’s nice too. It belongs to a man with red-rimmed eyes and nearly a beard. ‘How’s Heather?’ the smell says. Mummy bristles her shoulders. Heather is my big sister, and she’s late coming home from university. The girl chews her gum.

‘I believe you can’t swim either,’ the girl’s mum says to me. I open my mouth to say something, but I get a tickle in my throat.

‘I think we both know they won’t drown,’ Mummy does a laugh that isn’t a laugh because what she said was not a joke. Then we walk away, which is terrible because Mummy has given up her place in the queue. I had my eye on a bottle of Ribena (banned at our house), and Mummy had her eye on a bottle of brandy. At least I got away without anyone noticing what I’m wearing on my feet.

The girl looks straight at me and pops another bubble right in my face. ‘Nice slippers,’ she says.


Samantha Henthorn was born in 1970something in Bury, England. She used to be a nurse, now she
is a disabled author.

When she was a child, she read Roald Dahl, when she was a teenager she read Stephen King. Now she reads lots of things.

Samantha is 96% Mancunian, she has one dog, one gorgeous grown-up daughter, and one husband. When not reading or writing, she listens to heavy metal. Samantha would be thrilled to bits if someone read one of her books. Samantha's books are available as audiobooks (narrated by Lindsay McKinnon).

After a diagnosis of MS in 2005, Samantha eventually accepted early retirement in 2014. Looking for an occupation where she can work at her own pace, Samantha drew on her observation skills and imagination to start writing. Samantha often feels as though she is living in a sitcom and this is reflected in her style.

Samantha looks after her condition by attending physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, resting whenever possible, wearing sunglasses indoors, avoiding emotional vampires, and enjoying life as much as she physically can.


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