Sisters One, Two, Three

By: Nancy Star

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

After a tragic accident on Martha's Vineyard, keeping secrets becomes a way of life for the Tangle family. With memories locked away, the sisters take divergent paths. Callie disappears, Mimi keeps so busy she has no time to think, and Ginger develops a lifelong aversion to risk that threatens the relationships she holds most dear.

When a whispered comment overheard by her rebellious teenage daughter forces Ginger to reveal a long-held family secret, the Tangles' carefully constructed web of lies begins to unravel. Upon the death of Glory, the family's colorful matriarch, and the return of long-estranged Callie, Ginger resolves to return to Martha's Vineyard and piece together what really happened on that calamitous day when a shadow fell over four sun-kissed siblings playing at the shore. Along with Ginger's newfound understanding come the keys to reconciliation: with her mother, with her sisters, and with her daughter.

At turns heartbreaking, humorous, and hopeful, Sisters One, Two, Three explores not only the consequences of secrets - even secrets kept out of love - but also the courage it takes to speak the truth, to forgive, and to let go.

©2016 Nancy Star. (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Family with secrets in an era when that was expected

Setting, 50s to current, a family with tragedy and the inability to acknowledge to the public that you had a problem. Stifling to think these family members couldn't lean on each other to cope with loss. Not so uncommon.

Oddly enough, I liked this novel

I generally don’t enjoy novels in which all characters are crazy, damaged, dysfunctional, unlikable, etc. There’s not a “normal” female in the bunch in this story, and the male characters are generally not fleshed out (though all are fairly normal). If the story had not flashed back to the past and what happened in the children’s childhoods in alternating chapters, I would have abandoned this book after the first chapter. But the past did really inform the present so at least I could understand why the women were the way they were.

The writing itself was really good, the story was interesting (both past and present), the characters—at least most of the female ones—were quite original, era was evoked well, setting, at least Martha’s Vineyard, was well described—NJ not so much. And considering all the relationships in this book, I thought the author did a good job of making those explicable.

What would have made this 4 stars instead of 3 is if one of the central plot points made any sense whatsoever. Yes, the decision was made by a crazy woman (and it’s never really clear exactly what is wrong with this woman is in the "past" part of the story) but I could not suspend my disbelief that someone could make this decision let alone pull it off. And once that comes to light, it takes a long time to get to what’s going on with the character about whom the decision was made. In fact, it’s never entirely clear so I found myself rather annoyed while that situation was untangled (no pun intended).

As well, the situation with Ginger’s daughter, Julia was weak. Julia is a cardboard character of surly teenager. She seems more of a device to illuminate Ginger’s issues than anything else.

The audio performer, Cassandra Campbell, really brought the story to life. Had it been a narrator I didn't care for, a less skilled narrator, I might have ended up rating this 2 stars.

Slow start

I liked the story from 1/2 way in. It depicted influence between environment on behavior

Very unique story!

Excellent narration. Wonderful story and characters. Don't think I've ever read a family saga like it. Highly recommend.

Keep Listening

Ar times it was hard to take in many ways, the end was worth it.

LOVED IT!

I didn't want this book to end. The narration was done expertly to where I could visualize the characters perfectly in my mind. I finished this one in one day.

Sisters One Two Three

I found the plot simple and disappointing. I can't really recommend spending the time to read it.

took me a minute but once I got thru the first few

pages...i was hooked and couldn't put it down. Thank you. one huge complaint...if your customer is member of both, kindle unlimited and audible, NEVER should have to pay for narration !! Never!,

Family ties

Interesting perspective with complex characters. Great family narratives and stories. Can families share memories and secrets?

didn't want to end

quirky mother wanted to dislike, till you find out reasoning for the thongs she did. All sisters had unique personalities; but cared about each other.