Today it’s my privilege to feature Jane Daly. She’s a fellow member of Brave Authors, a Facebook collaboration of Christian fiction novelists.
Jane is addicted to coffee, purple pens, and her husband of 46 years—not necessarily in that order. She lives and travels full time in her motor home, Rigsby. When she isn’t hunched over her computer, she can be found making new friends in whichever campground she and Rigsby are parked. She is the author of six books—two nonfiction and four novels, with four more under contract for 2025.
Where is My Sister
Synopsis
Brianna’s future was golden until a freak accident left her with a broken vertebra and a drug addiction. She completed rehab only to get kicked out of her perfect older sister’s condo after stealing pain meds. Now, she is homeless.
The Women’s Leadership Program is everything Brianna has been looking for. Its dynamic director, Elizabeth, provides more than a roof 
over Brianna’s head. She encourages all the women in the program to be the best version of themselves. The accident robbed Brianna of a bright future, but the Program promised to return it — for the low price of unquestioning obedience.
At first, Brianna’s older sister, Morgan, had no qualms about kicking out her thieving, drug-addicted sister. It’s bad enough that her parents dumped Brianna on her before they took off in their RV. When her parents want Morgan to give them more information about this leadership program, it finally hits her that she has no idea where her sister is. It’s time to check out the Women’s Leadership Program and confirm that Brianna is safe. But making contact is more complicated than Morgan anticipated.
It’s as if her sister has disappeared.
Where is My Sister: Purchase Link
Review by Chevron Ross
If you’ve ever wondered where homeless people come from, Jane Daly’s Where is My Sister offers one possible answer. Her principal character Brianna was a high school girl with a bright future until a crippling accident left her begging on street corners.
Fortune seems to smile on Brianna when a kind young woman named Emily invites her to join the Women’s Leadership Program. Immediately, Brianna finds herself living in a mansion-like house with other girls her age. Her benefactor, Elizabeth, grooms these youngsters with leadership literature and exercise programs designed to build their self-confidence and sense of self-worth.
But things don’t seem to add up. Elizabeth’s Christian-based curriculum clashes with her autocratic personality, resulting in an uneasy atmosphere in which the girls’ must surrender their cell phones and undergo a mysterious ritual called the Purge. While Brianna earns a privileged position in the program, other girls occasionally vanish from the mansion overnight. Elizabeth’s mysterious phone calls and the sudden appearance of her seductive son Kai deepen the mystery, until Brianna doesn’t know who to trust.
Meanwhile, her adopted sister Morgan wallows in guilt about the conflict that drove Brianna from her home. Aided by her best friend and a kind-hearted delivery man, Morgan embarks on a search that adds a suspenseful twist to the story.
This novel has a lot going for it, particularly the way Brianna and Morgan rely on Bible stories and verses to find paths through the encroaching darkness. Daly develops her main characters in ways that draw us into their hearts. On the minus side, I was disappointed at some loose ends. The author goes out of her way to point out that the mansion is always cold, but we never learn why. A sugar-free diet regimen is inexplicably interrupted by the sudden appearance of pastry. At one point Elizabeth prays to “a mysterious power”, but we don’t hear the prayer or learn who or what that power may be. Most important, Elizabeth’s personal background remains a mystery.
Otherwise, I liked the story very much. Daly is a fine narrator with a talent for pacing and building suspense. Her motive in crafting a mystery around a serious social problem is a noble one that deserves our attention. I am happy to recommend Where is My Sister to encourage readers to think compassionately about people who fall into traps and struggle to find their way out of them.
Where is My Sister: Purchase Link
