The Opposite of Hallelujah (review)

Caro has grown up around her sister's absence, ever since Hannah, eleven years older, became a nun and immured herself in a contemplative order. Now Hannah's left the convent and returned home, and Caro, a high-school junior, is so thrown by the situation she can't even tell her friends what's happened. She even lies to Pawel, the cute new boy who's becoming her boyfriend, about where Hannah has spent her years away. At the same time, Caro begins to wonder what drove Hannah and what makes her so unhappy now, and she begins to delve into her sister's long-buried secrets. This is an original premise, and Caro's conflicted feelings about the sister who seemingly turned her back on the family are plausible. The portrayal of Hannah herself, frail, sad, and occasionally determined, is poignant and credible. Narrator Caro is so unrelievedly unpleasant in her selfishness and her brutal dismissal of her sister, however, that it's hard to invest in her; while it's probably plot convenience that makes the family suppress truth so fiercely, the result is a dysfunctional family that seems to be projecting all its difficulties on poor Hannah, who's the only one who ends up getting any treatment. There's nonetheless some thoughtful discussion of faith and commitment here, and many readers will recognize the trials of loving someone with a vocation, religious or otherwise.