BETWEEN SISTERS by Kristin Hannah
Kristin Hannah is at her best with her new novel BETWEEN SISTERS. This one combines her gift for inventive plots with outstanding characters, and emotional turmoil. The book seems on its surface to be predictable, but Hannah has a few tricks up her sleeve which are bound to amaze and entice the reader.
Meghann Dontess and Claire Cavenaugh are sisters. Once close, they have now drifted apart. When they were children Meg took care of Claire when their neglective mother was not around. Eventually their mother abandoned them and Meg had to find Claire's father and ask him to care for the young girl. He did so gladly, but Meg never felt at home with Claire and her father. Eventually she left and this made Claire feel Meg had abandoned her.
Meg is now in her forties and Claire is in her thirties when the book opens. Meg has become one of the best divorce lawyers in the state of Washington, while Claire still lives with her father and helps him run a resort camp. Although she has never married she does have a daughter named Alison. Meg has been married and divorced.
Suddenly Claire finds herself in love, and on impulse she asks Meg to plan her wedding. This forced "closeness" between the two sisters will either heal their rift or send them further apart.
This is the basic plot of the book but there is much more here that I don't want to spoil. Suffice it to say, Meg and Claire go through many traumas in trying to gain back the closeness they once felt.
This book will send you on a roller coaster of emotions. At one point you will be laughing out loud and at others you will be crying on to the pages. You will also be exposed to a variety of loves - sister to sister, father to daughter, mother to daughter and husband to wife. You name it, its here.
Don't start this book if you don't have time to finish it. It will grab you and hold you in its spell and not let you go. Meg and Claire are two very believable characters and their situation is one that is common in our age of isolation.
If you like books that pack an emotional punch then race to get this book. It is chock full of a variety of emotional situations.
BETWEEN SISTERS is published by Ballantine Books. It contains 383 pages and sells for $23.95.