New Today: What’s Yours Is Mine by Tess Stimson

The fact that North Americans have heard very little from former journalist Tess Stimson is about to change. Her smart, sophisticated and well-reviewed stories of love and life have gained her a significant following in her native United Kingdom. But these days, Stimson and her family live in Vermont, so it’s entirely appropriate that she’s picking up readers on this side of the pond like crazy.

What’s Yours is Mine, out today as a paperback original from Bantam, was published a little over a year ago in the U.K. by Pan. “Stimson’s prose is razor sharp,” Glamour UK said at the time, “and she pulls no punches when taking on the tricky subject of sibling rivalry -- depicting family love at its cruelest and kindest.” Meanwhile her next UK release, The Wife Who Ran Away, is scheduled for January 2012.

Sisters Grace and Susannah are like opposite sides of the same coin. Grace’s life is rich and full. Meanwhile beautiful Susannah has made a real mess of things. But when Grace discovers she can’t have the single thing she really want, the only thing that surprises her more is when it turns out that Susannah is the only one who can provide it. What’s Yours Is Mine is slightly trite and a bit predictable but, ultimately, it’s a satisfying read. Save this one for a beach day or a rainy afternoon: you’ll want to inhale it in one big gulp. ◊

Sienna Powers is a transplanted Calgarian who lives and works in Vancouver, B.C. She is a writer and conceptual artist.