An enjoyable book set in the late 50's through the early 60's about three school friends and their lives in mainly in Kenya, but also Ireland and London. I read it as a friend (Mary Smith) had given it a good review. The first in the Langani trilogy, I will look for the other two books. ( )

Blood Sisters is the first book in the Langani Trilogy. It begins in 1957 and continues into 1966. Three girls meet in a Kenyan boarding school and become inseparable. Hannah is the daughter an Afrikaner farmer, Sarah the daughter of a family that lives on the southern tip of Kenya near the Indian Ocean, and Camilla the daughter of a British diplomat and his socialite wife living in Nairobi.

The transition of Kenya to independence (1963) from Britain is a large part of the plot. The authors, sisters who grew up in Kenya during this period, don't shy away from the turbulence of those years. Each of the girls suffers through family crises, heartbreak and personal doubt as they mature, but they arrive at the end of the book stronger than ever.

It's been a long time since I've read a saga of this type and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Though almost 600 pages it held my attention until the end and I've already got the second in the trilogy in my bookcase. ( )

Blood Sisters was written by sister authors, Barbara and Stephanie Keating. It is a thick, juicy family saga of almost 600 pages, and this is just the first book in a trilogy. The story is essentially of three girls who meet at school in Kenya and become blood sisters. These girls and their assorted brothers and friends are followed from the ages of 14 through to 21 in this first book. Sarah goes to college in Ireland and becomes a wildlife conversationalist and photographer, she has been in love with Hannah’s brother, Piet since she was a child, but Piet seems to be taken with someone else. Troubled Camilla is in London trying to become an actress but when she fails to get into drama school she becomes a model instead. When Kenya gained it’s independence in 1963 Hannah and her parents move to Rhodesia but before long she returns to the family farm in Kenya to help her brother who is struggling to keep the place going.

This book delivers a heady mix of romance, betrayals, murder and revenge and I was totally pulled into the story. From the swinging London of the sixties to the emerging African country of Kenya with it’s difficulties and danger there was plenty of action. As the story evolves we follow the girls lives through their various reunions, separations, heartaches and happiness.

Blood Sisters ends when the girls are still very young women with plenty of life ahead of them. Luckily I have the next two books in the trilogy on my shelf and I will be picking up the second volume soon as I was thoroughly entertained by this first volume. ( )