The Story Sisters

A Novel

By: Alice Hoffman

Narrated by: Nancy Travis

Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

A spellbinding coming of age novel about three sisters and the relationships and choices that shape their lives from the best-selling author of Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick, The Rules of Magic

"This bewitching novel explores the bonds of sisterhood like a haunting modern fairy tale." (Glamour)

Each of three sisters—Elv, Claire, and Meg—has a fate she must meet alone: one on a country road, one in the streets of Paris, and one in the corridors of her own imagination.

Inhabiting their world are a charismatic man who cannot tell the truth, a neighbor who is not who he appears to be, a clumsy boy in Paris who falls in love and stays there, a detective who finds his heart's desire, and a demon who will not let go.

What does a mother do when one of her children goes astray? How does she save one daughter without sacrificing the others? How deep can love go, and how far can it take you? These are the questions this luminous novel asks.

At once a coming-of-age tale, a family saga, and a love story of sensual longing, The Story Sisters sifts through the miraculous and the mundane as the girls become women and their choices haunt them, change them and, finally, redeem them. It confirms Alice Hoffman's reputation as "a writer whose keen ear for the measure struck by the beat of the human heart is unparalleled". (The Chicago Tribune).

©2009 Alice Hoffman (P)2009 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Hoffman’s characters are always moving back and forth, challenging our perceptions, daring us to judge them. Her sentences tremble with allegory. . . . In the end, The Story Sisters, for all its magic realism, is about a family navigating through motherhood, sisterhood, daughterhood. It’s Little Women on mushrooms. (Bookish sisters beware).”–New York Times Book Review

“Hoffman is celebrated for her ability to conjure plausible alternative realities, to sprinkle her landscapes with witches and other mythical creatures, while keeping her stories closely tethered to familiar terrain. There’s a mysticism that swirls about her works but, like a late-morning fog, it eventually burns off to reveal a physical and emotional topography that most all of us can recognize.”–Chicago Tribune

"This bewitching novel explores the bonds of sisterhood like a haunting modern fairy tale."–Glamour

Good story about real life

First I want to say that I really liked the way Nancy Travis narrated the story. She was perfect for the book. Even though there was a lot of darkness about these sisters, their darkness was about real life things and how each sister coped with the past. 1 evil person changed the sister’s lives forever. Still, I enjoyed the story and how the sisters came together in the end.

The beginning is brutal, but the ending is beautiful.

Hang in there and you’ll be glad you read/listened to this book! The beginning is so sad, and keeps getting worse, but when it gets better it just keeps getting more and more beautiful.

Classic Alice Hoffman

Loved this! I always love Alice Hoffman stories though (: Always showing us the magic in living.

Longer than needed

I will always love Alice Hoffman and this story is no different. For the first time I felt it went on too long. The last few chapters didn’t really feel needed.

Bittersweet

I loved this bittersweet tale of sisters. Nancy Travis has a beautiful voice for narration. I think this is my favorite Alice Hoffman book so far.

Dark and depressing

I didn’t care for this but stayed with it as it was for my book club. Too much of a downer for me.

amazing

this book was so much more than i expected, but then Alice Hoffman has given me many hours of wonderful reading.

So good, so tragic

Alice Hoffmann does it again. Beautiful sad story, I would read again Love the Story Sisters ♥️

Different

That is the best way to describe this book. At first I was a little confused about the time period, and that made it hard to follow. Then when the internet was mentioned that helped. I gave it 3 stars because I did listen all the way through (mainly due to the narrator) but not sure I would recommend this audio book. If I had been reading rather than listening to the book, I think I would have abandoned it.

Really enjoyed this book

Yes the book has some sad parts of the story, but it is so well written. I listened to the whole book in 2 days. Wanted to know how it would turn out. I think the ending was fitting. I loved the narrator. I think Alice Hoffman is great.