11.14.2013

Review: The Sister Season by Jennifer Scott

The Sister Season by Jennifer Scott
Published: November 5, 2013
Format: provided by publisher
Publisher: NAL Trade
Rating: 4/5

Synopsis:
Three sisters who discover that coming home for the holidays isn’t as easy as it seems…
Sometimes coming home for the holidays isn’t as easy as it seems….

It’s December 21, and the Yancey sisters have been called home. When the girls were young, holidays at their family farm meant a tinsel-garnished tree, the scent of simmering food, and laughter ringing through the house. But as the years unfolded, family bonds fractured, and the three sisters scattered and settled into separate lives. Until now. The Yancey sisters are coming to spend the holidays with their mother. They’re also coming to bury their father.

Claire, the youngest, a free spirit who journeyed to California, returns first. Then comes Julia, the eldest, a college professor with a teenage son of her own. And finally there’s Maya, the middle child, who works so hard to be the perfect mother and wife. During the sisters’ week together, old conflicts surface, new secrets emerge, and the limits and definitions of family are tested. And as the longest night of the year slips by and brightening days beckon, the sisters will have to answer one question: When you’re a sister, aren’t you a sister forever?

My Thoughts
The Yancey sisters were brought together over Christmas for the funeral of their father. However they weren’t really there for his sake but more for their mothers. While throughout the book we come to learn more about each sister they have one thing in common, how they feel about their father.  We learn that their father via flashbacks wasn’t the kindest person. He was a cruel and a mean man who tortured his wife and was physically, verbally and emotionally abusive to his daughters also.

Each sister reveals they all have their own family drama. However at the root of it all it all goes back to their childhood. Each has trust issues and the inability to open up and connect with their partner and kids. But can we really blame them? As children don’t we only know what we’ve seen? Can you really truly love if you’ve never felt that yourself?

During the week they are forced to stay together and secrets are revealed and wounds are healed with time. This is a story of hope and redemption. It’s one that’s shows how family secrets can destroy but that with time and patience things can be forgiven. Most importantly I took away was that family is all you need. While you might have disagreements and misunderstanding family will always be there. Together we can make each other stronger and there’s nothing better than that.

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