Reader: Kathy Wheeler, Cambridge
Book Challenge: I’m in my early 60s and have a sister two years older than me, and one three years younger. We enjoy recommending and giving books to each other. I have been thinking of buying Julia Alvarez’s “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents’’ for both of them. Do you have any other suggestions for “sister-themed’’ books that I could pass along?
Match Book: I like the idea of the Julia Alvarez book. I remember it vaguely, but fondly. I read it when it came out, but haven’t picked it up since. Another book I remember about sisters and friends from that era is “The House on Mango Street’’ by Sandra Cisneros. The chapters vary in style and length — some are more narrative, and others are short and poetic. An even more impressionistic book about sisters and the pleasures and perils of childhood is “Hula’’ by Lisa Shea. The evocative way Shea captures the comfort the sisters take in each other and in their dog has stayed with me.
There’s also Jane Smiley’s book, “A Thousand Acres,’’ which like its inspiration — “King Lear’’ — is the story of the three sisters. One of my favorite books — “Housekeeping’’ by Marilynne Robinson — is about two generations of sisters.
“The Virgin Suicides’’ by Jeffrey Eugenides, would be a weird gift book, but it is a book about sisters that I really liked. If you want to mix it up, throw in a classic: “Sense and Sensibility’’ by Jane Austen or “Little Women’’ by Louisa May Alcott. There’s also a middle-grade series called “All-of-a-Kind Family’’ by Sydney Taylor that I recommend every chance I get. I love following characters at different ages through several books. Andrea Barrett does the same, but she takes a very long view. She writes about a pair of sisters — Rose and Bianca Marburg — across books, including “Ship Fever and Other Stories,’’ “Servants of the Map,’’ and “The Air We Breathe’’ even following the lives of their ancestors. Linking families through books is a great gift from writers to readers and a lovely way to connect real-life sisters too.
NICOLE LAMY
