Book ~ "The Broken String" (2014) Diane Chamberlain

From Goodreads ~ In celebration of the forthcoming novel The Silent Sister, Diane Chamberlain introduces Riley MacPherson in the e-short story, The Broken String. 

As seventeen-year-old Riley MacPherson rushes to the side of her brother who has been gravely injured in Iraq, she recalls their growing up years when he was her protector and best friend. Why did that relationship fall apart? She longs for a second chance to connect with her brother, not realizing that family secrets may prevent them from ever having that closeness again.

As 17-year-old Riley is flying to Germany to be with her brother, Danny, who has been injured while serving in Iraq, she remembers events from their childhood when they were close and he protected her.

Her mother was always "down" and her father busy.  One day she finds a picture of her mother smiling and hugging a young girl holding a violin.  Not knowing who the girl is, Riley longs to have the same relationship with her mother.  She eventually discovers that the young girl is her older sister, Lisa, who had committed suicide when she was Riley's age.

This is the second book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it.  It is a prequel to The Silent Sister, which I'd read in October.  I liked the writing style.  It is written in first person perspective from Riley's point of view.  As it is a short story, it sets up and explains some of the tensions in The Silent Sister.