Wednesday, January 22, 2014

A Gift for My Sister: A Novel by Ann Pearlman

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

Ann Pearlman writes about female friendships and relationships.

A Gift for My Sister is the second book in the Christmas Cookie Club series. In this book she explores the depth of the human heart through a sister relationship.  Tara and Sky share a mother, but other than that, they seem to have little else in common.

When a series of tragic events take place, the sisters must come together and face heartbreak and past demons. The journey they embark on forces each woman to walk in the other’s shoes and examine what sisterhood actually means to them.  The two women must navigate through tragedy and chart a course for their relationship since it is unknown territory for both.

Although the book was an easy read, it still manages to keep the reader's interest. Pearlman tells the story through both sister's perspective and creates a unique voice for each character. At first, Tara seems to cry out for attention and almost becomes a stereotype while Sky, unlikable at times, is Tara's opposite. Pearlman's character juxtaposition is interesting in that it creates a whole—there is almost a yin and yang effect—while examining another kind of female relationship, the one between sisters.

The recipes at the end were a nice touch.

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ANN PEARLMAN is a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award Nominee and bestselling international writer.  She is the author of fiction, nonfiction, memoir, cookbook and illustrated short stories.

She lives in a forest near Ann Arbor, Michigan.