Tag Archives: sisters

The Henna Artist (The Jaipur Trilogy Book 1) by Alka Joshi

11 Monday Apr 2022

Posted by in 20th century, Fiction, Historical Fiction

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Lakshmi at 17 years old, escapes an arranged, abusive marriage leaving her village to arrive in the pink city of Jaipur where she cultivates her original artistic designs of henna as she cultivates her upper class clientele.  She can never reveal her past but one day her husband finds her with a high-spirited 13 year old sister in tow that she never knew she had and all begins to unravel…..

“Rich in detail and bright with tastes and textures, The Henna Artist is a fabulous glimpse into Indian culture of the 1950s.”—Bookpage, Starred Review

“Vibrant characters, evocative imagery, and sumptuous prose create a satisfying, unforgettable tale.”—Christian Science Monitor


“Joshi has constructed a bewitching glimpse into the past with a tough heroine well worth cheering on.”—Booklist

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Northern Spy by Flynn Berry

29 Tuesday Jun 2021

Posted by in 20th century, detective, Fiction, mystery, suspense, thriller

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A gripping, suspenseful page-turner that follows two sisters living in Northern Ireland. Once I started, this was hard to put down!

“[A] twisting . . . emotional thriller . . . Berry’s portrayal of Irish life is uncannily accurate . . . dropping readers headfirst into the emotions of living in conflict.” —Booklist (starred review) 

“A chilling, gorgeously written tale of a modern community poisoned by ancient grievances . . . Berry is a beautiful writer with a sophisticated, nuanced understanding of this most complicated of places.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Thrillingly good . . . Flynn Berry shows a le Carré-like flair for making you wonder what’s really going on at any given moment . . . Berry won an Edgar for Under the Harrow in 2017. Here comes another contender.” —The Washington Post

“A taut and compassionate thriller . . . [and a] reflection on personal choice and consequence . . . A poignant and lyrical novel that asks what is worth sacrificing for peace.” —Kirkus (starred review)

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The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

02 Monday Nov 2020

Posted by in Fiction, mystery, United States

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“The Vanishing Half is an utterly mesmerizing novel, which gripped me from the first word to the last. It seduces with its literary flair, surprises with its breath-taking plot twists, delights with its psychological insights, and challenges us to consider the corrupting consequences of racism on different communities and individual lives. I absolutely loved this book.” —Bernardine Evaristo, Booker Prize winning author of Girl, Woman, Other

 “[Bennett’s] second [book], The Vanishing Half, more than lives up to her early promise.. . . more expansive yet also deeper, a multi-generational family saga that tackles prickly issues of racial identity and bigotry and conveys the corrosive effects of secrets and dissembling. It’s also a great read that will transport you out of your current circumstances, whatever they are… Like The Mothers, this novel keeps you turning pages not just to find out what happens.” —NPR

“Bennett pulls it off brilliantly… Few novels manage to remain interesting from start to finish, even — maybe especially — the brilliant ones. But… Bennett locks readers in and never lets them go… Stunning…She leaves any weighty parallels — between, for example, racial and gender determinism — to the reader. Her restraint is the novel’s great strength, and it’s tougher than it looks… The Vanishing Half speaks ultimately of a universal vanishing. It concerns the half of everyone that disappears once we leave home — love or hate the place, love or hate ourselves.” —Los Angeles Times

 “Bennett’s tone and style recalls James Baldwin and Jacqueline Woodson, but it’s especially reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s 1970 debut novel, The Bluest Eye.” —Kiley Reid, Wall Street Journal

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The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames

13 Friday Sep 2019

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“’The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna’ achieves what no sweeping history lesson about American immigrants could: It brings to life a woman that time and history would have ignored.” (Washington Post)

“If you’re going through Elena Ferrante withdrawals, this is the book for you. A rich, sweeping tale of an Italian-American family and their long-buried secrets.” (Harper’s Bazaar)

“Epic in scale and richly detailed…. Grames holds the reader under a spell from start to finish as she constructs a puzzle of identity formed against convention…. Grames’s clear and compassionate voice lets the figures of her heritage move freely.” (O, the Oprah Magazine)

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Eligible: A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice by Curtis Sittenfeld

16 Friday Mar 2018

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Curtis Sittenfeld is one of my favorite authors, and this book is one of her lighter and funnier ones. Eligible is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, set in contemporary Cincinnati. The updates for the Bennets, Darcys, and Bingleys are modern and clever, but still maintain the spirit of Jane Austen’s original classic.

“If there exists a more perfect pairing than Curtis Sittenfeld and Jane Austen, we dare you to find it. . . . Sittenfeld makes an already irresistible story even more beguiling and charming.”—Elle

 “[Sittenfeld] is the ideal modern-day reinterpreter. Her special skill lies not just in her clear, clean writing, but in her general amusement about the world, her arch, pithy, dropped-mike observations about behavior, character and motivation. She can spot hypocrisy, cant, self-contradiction and absurdity ten miles away. She’s the one you want to leave the party with, so she can explain what really happened. . . . Not since Clueless, which transported Emma to Beverly Hills, has Austen been so delightedly interpreted. . . . Sittenfeld writes so well—her sentences are so good and her story so satisfying. . . . As a reader, let me just say: Three cheers for Curtis Sittenfeld and her astute, sharp and ebullient anthropological interest in the human condition.”—Sarah Lyall, The New York Times Book Review

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Once We Were Sisters: A Memoir by Sheila Kohler

19 Friday Jan 2018

Posted by in Biography, Travel

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On the first page in the first one hundred words, the author has given the reader the end of the story.  But the writing is so fluid and so many intriguing topics are touched on – sisterhood, motherhood, the yearning for the impossible, the regret of unfulfilled relationships, the desire to write it all down and the exotic but troubled location of South Africa during apartheid – that the reader feels compelled to read on to discover the full story.

“A searing and intimate memoir about love turned deadly.” —The BBC

“In this intimate, exquisitely written memoir, the author’s first work of nonfiction, she explores the impenetrable bond that can exist between sisters. . . . In spare, delicate prose, Kohler brings a seasoned novelist’s skills to this deeply moving, compelling memoir.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“It’s fitting that the book is written in the present tense, because [Kohler’s] sister is forever with her. Their relationship changes shape yet lingers, as do the important questions about women and violence.”—Oprah.com (5 Powerful New Memoirs)

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Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar

20 Wednesday Apr 2016

Posted by in Biography, Fiction, Historical Fiction

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Here is an excerpt from Vanessa’s diary – “every moment with Virginia – one feels more alive, not just alive, but living.  I have understood this Virginia equation – there is no rational, logical, or reachable Virginia lurking beneath – eventually Virginia  becomes exhausting”.  One would never want a sister like Virginia Woolf!

“Parmar inhabits the gilded ‘bohemian hinterland’ of Virginia Woolf and her sister Vanessa, creating a vibrant fictional homage.”—O: The Oprah Magazine

“Parmar does a stellar job conveying Virginia’s complicated, almost incestuous feelings for Vanessa. . . . The author also deftly brings to life the various artists and writers who formed the nascent Bloomsbury group. . . . Parmar’s narrative is riveting and successfully takes on the task of turning larger-than-life figures into real people. . . . [She] weaves their stories together so effortlessly that nothing seems out of place.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

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The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

14 Monday Dec 2015

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A woman reflects on her life, particularly her relationship with her late sister, who died after driving off a bridge. The novel alternates between past and present, and includes a “novel within a novel” that adds to the mystery surrounding the two sisters’ lives. Margaret Atwood is an acclaimed writer, and this is my favorite of her books that I’ve read.

“Absorbing… expertly rendered… Virtuosic storytelling [is] on display.”–The New York Times

“Brilliant… Opulent… Atwood is a poet…. as well as a contriver of fiction, and scarcely a sentence of her quick, dry yet avid prose fails to do useful work, adding to a picture that becomes enormous.”–John Updike, The New Yorker

“Bewitching… A killer novel…. Atwood’s crisp wit and steely realism are reminiscent of Edith Wharton… A wonderfully complex narrative.”
—The Christian Science Monitor

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Bastards: a memoir by Mary Anna King

07 Wednesday Oct 2015

Posted by in Biography, Non-fiction

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The cover of this book, a photograph of a child’s face peeking over the edge of a box, will immediately grab the attention of the reader.  And of course, the title seems a bit sensational. However, this memoir of a little girl growing up in poverty in Camden, New Jersey is moving and ultimately heartwarming.

Mary and her older brother, Jacob, are the first two of seven siblings, the last five of whom are each given away shortly after birth. Or as the author describes the situation, my parents were “great at making babies, but not so great at holding on to them.” When her mother is no longer able to even care for Mary and Jacob, the siblings move to Oklahoma where they are adopted by their maternal grandparents.

Because of their absence, Mary is continually haunted by her phantom sisters and her birth mother. Finally, as she reaches college age, the missing family members are reunited one by one.  This is a poignant and at times wickedly funny account of a young woman’s search for her family and ultimately, herself.

“This searing book explores how identity forms love, and love, identity. Written in engrossing, intimate prose, it makes us rethink how blood’s deep connections relate to the attachments of proximity.” (Andrew Solomon, author of Far From the Tree)

“An impressive debut. . . . [Mary Anna King’s] prose moves with lyrical wit and cultural texture as she persists with all of her protean self to figure out the nature of family and the deepest human connections amid trauma and confusion.” (Peter Balakian, author of Black Dog of Fate)

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