Books like Sin

‘Sin.’ An unfortunate title for a novel, don’t you think? It brings to mind sad little paperback romance novels or soft porn fictions marketed to women looking for a little titillation (not that I would know anything about that). Josephine Hart’s ‘Sin’ is not pornographic nor is it romantic; it is ruthless. It’s about all of the horrible things that we do to each other out of envy or boredom or desire. “Nothing prepared me for my hungers, which, if not assuaged, would surely devour me.” This book delves deep into the mind of a beautiful young woman (Ruth) who has everything anyone could possibly wish for. But her obsession with ruining her sister’s life proves to be her downfall. She will stop at nothing to take away any small happiness, including doing the unthinkable. Is it my fault that I do not love where I am loved? That I accepted the gift I should have rejected?I hated the moments where I found myself reading Ruth’s thoughts and finding myself in some small way relating to them. Hart takes a magnifying glass to all of our ugly parts and dares us to look closer.