Publisher: Atria Books
Pages: 288 pages
Source: Review copy from the author
Genre: Adult, Realistic fiction
From Goodreads:
Ann Pearlman's The Christmas Cookie Club enthralled readers everywhere with a heartwarming and touching story about the power of female friendship. Now, in A Gift for My Sister, she once again explores the depth of the human heart, and this time it’s through the eyes of two sisters. Tara and Sky share a mother, but aside from that they seem to differ in almost every way. When a series of tragedies strikes, they must somehow come together in the face of heartbreak, dashed hopes, and demons of the past. The journey they embark on forces each woman to take a walk in the other’s shoes and examine what sisterhood really means to them. It’s a long road to understanding, and everyone who knows them hopes these two sisters can find a way back to each other
My Thoughts:
Sky and Tara are half sisters. Sky's father died when she was young. Her mother remarried and Tara was born. Tara's father left them to chase after other women. Both of their father's shaped their lives. Sky has issues with needing to feel secure. She is a perfectionist. Tara has always felt like she didn't fit in with her family. She has trust issues when it comes to men. Both of them have children they would do anything for. On the day Sky loses her job her husband ends up in the hospital. At the same time Tara's band is hitting the road for their first tour across the United States. When her brother-in-law dies, she takes control of things and helps to move her sister and niece back to Michigan. They will take the long way back because Tara's group is still touring. During this trip the two sister must discover how much they are alike, how much they really know about each other, and how much they really love each other if they are ever going to be able to have a sisterly relationship.
I enjoyed this book. There were seven years between my oldest sister and myself. We were so much alike. She is gone now but we had such a great relationship. One of my younger sisters and I had a very rocky relationship. Like Tara my sister was very musically talented. She always did her own thing. I was the studious one who had to have everything in its place and organized. When my first marriage fell apart she was haughty about how I was no different that she was with her failed marriages. She had no idea that I had envied the way she had so much courage to do what she had to do to survive. After our oldest sister died we became closer. She said she always envied my ability to learn so quickly. I could see so many parallels between the sisters in this book and my sister and myself. There were so many lessons to be learned. I look forward to reading more from this author.
About the Author:
Ann Pearlman's The
Christmas Cookie Club
enthralled readers everywhere with a heartwarming and touching story about the
power of female friendship.
Now, in A Gift
for My Sister, she once again
explores the depth of the human heart, and this time it’s through the eyes of
two sisters. Tara and Sky share a mother, but aside from that they seem to
differ in almost every way. When a series of tragedies strikes, they must
somehow come together in the face of heartbreak, dashed hopes, and demons of
the past. The journey they embark on forces each woman to take a walk in the other’s
shoes and examine what sisterhood really means to them. It’s a long road to
understanding, and everyone who knows them hopes these two sisters can find a
way back to each other.
Ann Pearlman,
Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award Nominee, is the author of Infidelity:
A Memoir, The Christmas
Cookie Club, and The
Christmas Cookie Cookbook. She
lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
