Book Review: A Gift for my Sister by Ann Pearlman
Ann Pearlman- A Gift for my SisterFormat- PaperbackSource- Review copyPublisher- Simon & SchusterSynopsis: Tara and Sky are as different as two sisters can be.Sky, obedient and cautious, has worked hard to build her dream life: In her ideal job as a lawyer and married to handsome Troy, they live with their beautiful three-year-old daughter, Rachel, in a house on the beach.Rebellious and impetuous, her younger sister,Tara, devotes herself to her music, falls in love with the unsuitable but irresistible Aaron, becomes pregnant, and embarks on a rollercoaster of a life as a musician.But when tragedy besets Sky her life is turned upside down. Meanwhile, to Tara's astonishment, instead of facing a future destined to be foolhardy and risky, Tara suddenly finds herself on the brink of. With this reversal of fortune, everything changes between the two sisters.Sky is at a loss until Tara offers her to help her start over and move home. And so begins a road trip where tensions between the two sisters erupt, loyalties are tested and long hidden secrets revealed.Review: A Gift for my Sister is a tale of grief, loss, love and forgiveness in the lives of two half-sisters, Tara and Sky. Sky’s father died when she was just seven years old and her mother re-married and birthed to Tara. The age-gap and circumstances of the family has not lent to itself to closeness between the sisters who were abandoned by another father due to his unfaithful ways.Now, as adults Tara is married to a rap-star and pursuing her musical dreams with her ‘crew’ alongside her young son. Tara is tries to figure out the meaning of relationships as she is plagued by insecurities that stem from her cheating father.Sky is recovering from a stream of tragedies that have left her a widow and re-creating a generational pattern of fatherless daughters.Much of the story from Sky’s perspective is written in a grief-stricken style that highlights Sky’s experience during that time. I think the purpose of the story was to create acceptance and non-judgement between the sisters through a tragedy that has brought them together. However the story was dominated by introspective accounts from the characters and a relationship-based plot-line which made it slow going at times. I can see what the author was trying to do, but I just didn’t get the emotional connection with Sky and Tara that I had hoped.A Gift for my Sister provides an interesting perspective to the intricacies of a sister-to-sister relationship and how family tragedy can create possibilities for estranged family members.
2.5/5 rating
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