return to home  
Join   |  Gift   |  Member Login   |  Library Login
BookBrowse Mobile
Follow Us: 
   First Impressions: Book Reviews

Member Reviews of forthcoming books.

Book Jacket

The Sisters:
A Novel
by Nancy Jensen

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication date: 10/02/2012.
Novels, 336 pp.

Number of reader reviews: 22
Readers' Consensus: 4.0
More information
Buy This Book
First Impressions: Page 1 of 4
Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Marti F. (Coralville, IA)

Excellent debut novel
"The Sisters" covers a span of years from 1927 to 2007 in the lives of two related families. We see the years unfold through the lives of the female offspring of the two sisters. Even though years pass between chapters (the family tree certainly helps keep track of names, ages, etc.), the main characters are well developed, with their rich voices and strong unique natures. Various kinds of relationships are explored, besides sister to sister, with good effect. This is a book I would read again to capture more of its subtle symbolism and nuances.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Mary S. (Pinson, AL)

The Sisters
There is nothing I love more than reading an author’s first novel. This is a wonderful story about two sisters, one trying to protect the other from a horrible secret that leads to a misunderstanding and throws both their lives on totally different paths. As the story unfolds, you can see how circumstances and decisions affect not only the sister’s lives but the lives of future generations. I predict this novel will become a book club favorite and provide a very interesting discussion.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Carolyn A. (Questa, NM)

The Sisters by Nancy Jensen
As I read this book superlatives kept coming to me. It is stunning, superb, astounding. The title could have easily been Secrets. So many family secrets. We see the story in chronological order by different women, all related to the sisters, as well as the sisters themselves. The story of the sisters is bittersweet. This is a book that I will recommend to our bookclub, as it is usually all women. In our small community, we are all sisters, and the story will resonate with all of us.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Joyce K. (Conway, Arkansas)

The Sisters
This is a book that really made me think about how family dynamics shape our lives in so many ways. The story opens with two sisters who live rather desperate lives in a small town in Kentucky. The older one makes a radical choice to protect her younger sister. What results from that choice is a lifetime of separation. The younger sister develops deep rooted bitterness that just seems to perpetuate itself with the next generation. In addition to being a story of family, it is also a story of American women over the decades. The thought I kept having was how grateful I am to have lived my life in a time that women could make choices about education, professions, marriage,and birth control. There was a great deal of misery in this book, some caused by poor choices; at other times the lack of any choice. But the most compelling thing that keeps drawing the characters of this book together is the bonds of family and their love for one another. I think that is what we all hope we have with family. That is the reward the reader is able to experience from reading this book.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Mary B. (St Paul, MN)

Sisters
The story begins in the 1920's and follows the lives of two sisters and their families throughout the years. It touches on families and family secrets and the heartbreak and joy involved in both. I enjoyed the book very much. Each generation had their own story to tell, often painful, but also hopeful . It would make a great bookclub read.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Cheryl K. (East Aurora, NY)

The Sisters: A Life Lesson
I was enthralled with this novel from the first chapter, mainly because I identified so closely with the women and their history. The characters were real; their actions, interaction and secrets held my attention throughout. I did find it a bit confusing to keep track of the entire Fischer family, and frequently referred to the family tree in the front of the book. The outcome may not be what I would have hoped for, but it fit the story perfectly. What a wonderful book for book clubs to read and discuss. I have already recommended it to others.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Jean T. (Paducah, KY)

The Sisters
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author conveyed a deep sensitivity and connection with the emotional threads that bound and separated the members of this family. I hated having to put the book down and at the close of each chapter looked forward to rejoining that character when next we met. I think this will be an excellent choice for book clubs, generating significant discussion.

1 2 3 4   next »

Become a Member
Golden Boy
Editor's Choice
  •  May 23 
  •  May 21 
  •  May 20 
And the Mountains Echoed
Khaled Hosseini

And the Mountains Echoed Jacket

Khaled Hosseini has written a new novel about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations
Helga's Diary
Helga Weiss

Helga's Diary Jacket

The remarkable diary of a young girl who survived the Holocaust—appearing in English for the first time.
Fever
Mary Beth Keane

Fever Jacket

A bold, mesmerizing novel about the woman known as "Typhoid Mary," the first known healthy carrier of typhoid fever in the burgeoning metropolis of early twentieth century New York.
Click Here
   Most Recent Blog Entries
Movies Based on Books: Summer 2013 (May - August)
Jewish Young Adult Books That Are Not About The Holocaust
Books to Give This Mother's Day
rss  RSS   rss  subscribe
Recent Reader Reviews
Two Lives by Vikram Seth
Two Lives is a memoir written by international best-selling author, Vikram Seth. In this interesting and engaging book, Seth writes about his great... read more
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Fowler
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight... read more
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on... read more
RSS RSS feed More...  
Most Viewed This Week
1. Sold
Patricia McCormick
2. Unbroken
Laura Hillenbrand
3. And the Mountains Echoed
Khaled Hosseini
4. A Child Called It
Dave Pelzer
5. Tethered
Amy Mackinnon
More...
Book Club Recommendations
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?
by Jeanette Winterson
Paperback (Mar/13)
Eleanor & Park
by Rainbow Rowell
Hardback (Feb/13)
The House Girl
by Tara Conklin
Paperback (Oct/13)
The Painted Girls
by Cathy Marie Buchanan
Hardback (Jan/13)
More...
First Impressions
Members read and review books often months before they're published. See what they think in First Impressions!
Golden Boy
by Abigail Tarttelin
4.5 Stars            (May/13)
The Caretaker
by A .X. Ahmad
Four Stars            (May/13)
The Last Girl
by Jane Casey
Four Stars            (May/13)
The Sisterhood
by Helen Bryan
Four Stars            (Apr/13)
More...
  Latest BookBrowse News
British Parliament asks Amazon to clarify why it pays $9 million in income tax on $23 billion of UK sales. (May 20 2013)
Amazon will be called back to give further evidence to members of the British Parliament "to clarify how its activities in the U.K. justify its low corporate... Full Story
rss RSS feed More...
 
BookBrowse Poll
Q: Which of these Summer movies based on books would you like to see? (Info on each movie here)
The Great Gatsby
Epic
Man of Steel
World War Z
The Lone Ranger
The Wolverine
R.I.P.D.
Percy Jackson
Paranoia
The Mortal Instruments
Select Any That Apply
Search: Title or Author
Free Newsletters
The Light Between Oceans

Online Book Club
More about
Five Days
Join the discussion!


Win This Book!
On Sal Mal Lane


"Piercingly intelligent and shatter-your-heart profound."

Enter To Win Now!

wordplay
Solve this clue:
"I Y N P O T Solution, Y P O T P"

and be entered
to win....
frame top
New Author
Interviews
Menna van Praag
Erica Brown
Helga Weiss
Kate Morton
frame bottom
HOME Book Submissions | Advertising | Library Subscriptions | Reviewing for BookBrowse | Contact Us