http://www.anurseandabook.com/2017/01/sisters-one-two-three-by-nancy-star.html

This was a random wish on NetGalley that I was granted, so I dove into it immediately. Normally, I know if I just like a book or if I loved a book, but this one left me confused. I think I really loved it, but I don't know why.

The story went back and forth between the past and the present, and how the events of the past have shaped their current lives. Ginger was not very likable - but she was a nervous child who grew up to be a neurotic adult. There was good reason, but even as I understood her, she drove me crazy.

Her strained relationship with her 17 year old daughter was a direct result of her constant hovering and worrying, but even so having her leave to become a busker in Oregon with a boyfriend wasn't a decision that I think many parents would support, so she had my sympathy there.

After their mother declines quickly and passes away, Ginger and Mimi are shocked to see their sister, Callie, reappear. She was sent away as a child, and as grown adults, they haven't expended any time or energy trying to track her down - and this doesn't seem strange to them at all. They think Cassie is acting a little strangely, and while they think she has been gone after joining a cult, or to get away from their mother, they don't seem to question where she's been.

Callie reports that there is a house in Martha's Vineyard that they all three own now, where she has been living all this time, and that they need to agree on how to use the property.

Mimi wants to sell, Ginger is walking around in shock, and Callie disappears again, but this time they know that they can follow her back to the Vineyard.

As they all come together, old stories are brought back out to be re-examined with fresh, adult eyes. The death of their brother, Charlie. Their father's death. The evolution of their mother. And where Callie has been and why.

I don't want to spoil anything, but I think what I found the most fascinating (and what rang the most true), is how children see the world, and keep that as their truth even when they grow up. And how children from dysfunctional families who experience trauma are so skilled at accepting lies, and how they think it's perfectly acceptable to just not talk about certain things.

I've already got my sister reading it so we can compare thoughts. It was a great read, and it really spoke to me.

Sisters One, Two, Three - Likewise Book Reviews

2 Reviews