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I complained last month about how hit-or-miss Kindle First books (a perk of Amazon Prime membership where you get to choose a free, not-yet-released e-book) are. However, I lucked out with “Sisters One, Two, Three.” This novel was a gripping page-turner as well as a heartwarming family story.
Nancy Star’s latest novel follows the three Tangle sisters. Following a devastating family tragedy on Martha’s Vineyard that took place when they were children, the three girls diverged. Callie, the youngest, disappeared entirely. Mimi married into a large family that is always in and out of each other’s business. Handling that family drama keeps her too busy to dwell on anything (“forward, march” is her motto). Ginger, the eldest sister, is a nurse who is always on the lookout for danger. She is petrified of every little issue that could happen. Her fear of the small things eventually push away her husband and teenaged daughter, Julia.
Ginger’s home life is a disaster. Julia, at 17, is a complete rebel who fights against her mother’s incessant worrying. When Julia accidentally overhears a mention of Ginger’s estranged sister, Callie, the family secrets begin to unravel. Simultaneously, Glory, the Tangle sisters’ mother is dying from old age.
Glory’s death brings Callie back into the family fold and inspires Ginger and Mimi to return to Martha’s Vineyard, to the house where everything began, to learn what really happened on that tragic beach day.
Wow, this was a great book.
The chapters alternate between Ginger as a 13-year-old girl and as an adult in the present time. The story of the past slowly unfolds in each chapter as the Tangle children head to Martha’s Vineyard for a month away, leading up to the family tragedy. In the present, Ginger struggles to deal with her own family, the loss of Glory, the reappearance of Callie, and that beach day so many years before.
This is a story about secrets and how they can change the course of a person’s life. Ginger has to search for courage to live her life in the present, but also to face the truth of the past. She has to learn to forgive her family for both past and present transgressions and she has to be able to move forward with her life.
I really loved this book. It wasn’t the flimsy beach read the cover suggests.
It was heartbreaking and beautiful.
If you enjoy family dramas, particularly those centered around mothers and daughters, don’t miss “Sisters One, Two, Three.”
