The Sisters Sweet

A Novel

By: Elizabeth Weiss

Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik

Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

A young woman in a vaudeville sister act must learn to forge her own path after her twin runs away to Hollywood in this “elegant, immersive...exploration of sisterhood, identity, ambition and betrayal” (The New York Times).

“A beautifully told coming-of-age story that embraces life with a galloping energy and irresistible curiosity.” (Maggie Shipstead, best-selling author of Great Circle)

Leaving was my sister’s choice. I would have to make my own.

All Harriet Szász has ever known is life onstage with her sister, Josie. As “The Sisters Sweet,” they pose as conjoined twins in a vaudeville act conceived of by their ambitious parents, who were once themselves theatrical stars. But after Josie exposes the family’s fraud and runs away to Hollywood, Harriet must learn to live out of the spotlight — and her sister’s shadow. As Josie’s star rises in California, the Szászes fall on hard times. Striving to keep her struggling family afloat, Harriet molds herself into the perfect daughter. She also tentatively forms her first relationships outside her family and begins to imagine a life for herself beyond the role of dutiful daughter that she has played for so long. Finally, Harriet must decide whether to honor her mother, her father, or the self she’s only beginning to get to know.

Full of long-simmering tensions, buried secrets, questionable saviors, and broken promises, this is a story about how much we are beholden to others and what we owe ourselves. Layered and intimate, The Sisters Sweet heralds the arrival of an accomplished new voice in fiction.

©2021 Elizabeth Weiss (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“The Sisters Sweet will charm you into another world. Weiss has conjured a lost America with wit, sorrow, and beauty—a book like a favorite old movie.”—Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Less

“The Sisters Sweet is both cinematic and humane, an expansive and gorgeously written tale of a family that’s at once spectacularly offbeat and fundamentally human.”—Claire Lombardo, author of The Most Fun We Ever Had

“At once intimate and epic, The Sisters Sweet is an ambitious, intricately constructed, and immensely satisfying story about a family of performers—both onstage and off. This is a deeply immersive novel about the lives—and aspirations—of women. I loved it.”—Karen Thompson Walker, author of The Dreamers

Over stayed it’s welcome

The story started with great energy, but it dragged on much too long and left many plot threads hanging. Great narrator, but ultimately a disappointing book.

The Sisters Sweet

BRAVA! What a completely enjoyable experience! I love this story. It is heartwarming and heart wrenching. It moves along at a good pace. The characters are well developed as are the relationships between them. It is a history in show business, too, which is really interesting. The author does an excellent job interweaving the personal lives and stories of the characters with early 20th century history and showbiz history. The narration is a perfect performance. I cannot recommend this novel enough.