The Almost Legendary Morris Sisters

A True Story of Family Fiction

By: Julie Klam

Narrated by: Julie Klam

Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

A Washington Post best nonfiction book pick of 2021

“It is biography as an expression of love.” (The New York Times)

New York Times best-selling author Julie Klam’s funny and moving story of the Morris sisters, distant relations with mysterious pasts.

Ever since she was young, Julie Klam has been fascinated by the Morris sisters, cousins of her grandmother. According to family lore, early in the 20th century the sisters’ parents decided to move the family from Eastern Europe to Los Angeles so their father could become a movie director. On the way, their pregnant mother went into labor in St. Louis, where the baby was born and where their mother died. The father left the children in an orphanage and promised to send for them when he settled in California - a promise he never kept. One of the Morris sisters later became a successful Wall Street trader and advised Franklin Roosevelt. The sisters lived together in New York City, none of them married or had children, and one even had an affair with J. P. Morgan.

The stories of these independent women intrigued Klam, but as she delved into them to learn more, she realized that the tales were almost completely untrue.

The Almost Legendary Morris Sisters is the revealing account of what Klam discovered about her family - and herself - as she dug into the past. The deeper she went into the lives of the Morris sisters, the slipperier their stories became. And the more questions she had about what actually happened to them, the more her opinion of them evolved.

Part memoir and part confessional, and told with the wit and honesty that are hallmarks of Klam’s books, The Almost Legendary Morris Sisters is the fascinating and funny true story of one writer’s journey into her family’s past, the truths she brings to light, and what she learns about herself along the way.

©2021 Julie Klam (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Lovely…. As the rumors and myths are pruned and the gaps filled in, the Morris sisters emerge and differentiate themselves, and Klam, movingly, is there to meet them…. What elevates it beyond a glorified fact-checking assignment is Klam’s palpable yearning - she wants to know who these women were, what they went through, how it shaped them. It is biography as an expression of love.” (The New York Times)

“A divertingly chatty yet thought-provoking exploration of how the family stories we don’t know can define us just as much as the ones we think we do…. With genealogical quests all the rage, Klam’s book serves as a cautionary tale about the obsessional nature of such a search and the bracing truths that may lie buried beneath the family lore.” (The Washington Post)

“Such an enjoyable read…an engrossing search for truth and how learning that truth might affect identity.... Some truly astonishing discoveries about the sisters await the reader.” (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

loved this story

This book was written with wit and humor which is wholly needed if you plan on undertaking genealogy. I loved hearing about her process as well as the story as a whole.

intriguing story of an infamous family

A story of an oral family history that begins with intrigue and wealth, unprecedented feminism for the era. The familial story is passed through generations and distant relatives and the author takes you through how the embellishments attached to the history are discovered and the author pieces together a more factual timeline.

Fantastic!!!

This fascinating story so closely resembles my own research into family lore vs fact. Jewish immigrants who settled in St Louis, estranged family members, artists, fiction, and a Synagogue with gold stars on a blue ceiling are all part of my family history. Thank you, Julie, for sharing your research and discoveries.

Couldn’t Stop Reading!

Fascinating genealogical mystery read by the author. Klam takes you on her journey as she researches her interesting second cousins and the stories they left behind.

A total delight!

Julie Klam’s narration brings to life fascinating and inspiring journeys of four independent pioneer women, as well as her own journey of discovery. Hugely entertaining, insightful and poignant.

Not bad

I admire Julie Klam’s persistence in tracking down the truth about her grandmother’s four cousins, born around the turn of the 19th century. And this is the first review I’ve ever written where I rated the author’s performance above their writing! I also admire the way she took a story that turned out to be not as interesting as expected and made something of it. The story of the Morris sisters would have been more interesting if: 1. They were actually as flamboyantly famous as the family lore claimed that they were, or 2. The sisters and their family covered up the real story due to an intriguing or nefarious plot.

Still, as other reviewers have mentioned, the author uses a touch of humor, often self-depreciating, which kept me reading until the end.

True Family Fiction at its best

I loved the stories within the story and the way the truths unfolded along the journey.

Insomnia? Try this

The story drags, and drags, and drags… I doubt this is even interesting to the family it is about

Don't waste you time

Unless you're from New York City and/or Jewish and/or related to this author and/or really interested in genealogical research, this story is probably not for you. It's really not very interesting and could probably be told in much less time.

Not much about Morris sisters

The author describes in excruciating detail her mostly fruitless efforts to corroborate a family story about her relatives, the Morris sisters.