The Story Sisters

The Story Sisters: A Novel is a tale of family, secrets, betrayals, and forgiveness. Coincidentally, it also reveals the world of sisters whose surname is "Story." Elizabeth (Elv), Meg, and Claire--they all suffer in different ways when their family falls apart. Their father Alan leaves their mother Annie, and sometimes it seems as though he has left THEM. Adrift, abandoned, and alone in their own unique world--a world that Elv has created for them, the world of Arnelle, involving faeries, magic, and a language all its own, they discover a special connection. But then everything changes. One day, something secret and frightening happens, and Elv and Claire are the only ones privy to the event. The details are hidden for many years. But a chasm develops between the sisters--Claire and Elv on one side and Meg on the other. The effects are so life-changing that Elv becomes a different person. Disappearing into the night, cutting herself, drug abuse, and trysts with strange boys...all add up to a deeper rift between the sisters. Until finally, even Claire has to choose to detach herself from Elv. And then Annie, the mother, plagued by doubts and fears, makes a choice that will widen the gap between them all. What will happen to the Story sisters when one of them is cast aside? Will they ever find their way back to each other? And what event on one cataclysmic day will forever alter their destinies? This tale totally captured my attention, drawing me in, until finally I reached the satisfying conclusion. Five stars for this story!

A remarkable slap in the heart. Elv does the "no take me instead" to save her sis from a rapist and never recovers. The petals fall after addiction, car crash, deaths of boss and parent. Alice deserves the Pulitzer but like Cary Grant, she makes it appear effortless so no prize. I love this author and this book and the bloom is never off this rose of a talent.She is a beloved storyteller.

Wow I thought this book was fantastic. I did not find it predictable as some have mentioned. I blew thru it in a day. I just love the way she writes. Its so earthy and real. A must read for all Hoffman fans.

Alice Hoffman is an author known for her novels filled with magical touches. Her latest, The Story Sisters, continues that, when a magical world created by three sisters collides with the reality of the world in which we all exist. Elizabeth, called Elv, Meg and Claire Story live with their mother in a small town on Long Island. Their parents are in the middle of a bad divorce, and it has affected the girls deeply. When they were young children, Elv (whose nickname connotes the fairy-like elves) created a fairy tale world, Arnelle, which had its own language. It slightly concerned their mother Annie when they would continue to speak this language, even as they grew out of childhood. Annie's mother Natalia warns her that this behavior could isolate the girls from the real world. This fantasy world contrasts with the physical world in which they live. Annie has a large garden, and grows heirloom tomatoes. The girls are knowledgeable in all areas tomato. They love animals: Elv likes dogs, Claire rides horses. Elv is artistic, attracted to painting and color. Meg is a voracious reader, and a very good student. They sleep in the same bedroom, and are each other's best friends. The horrors of the real world intrude on the girls of Arnelle when a bad man hurts Elv, who saves the younger Claire from his clutches. They never tell anyone about "the day the bad thing happened", not even Meg. This bad thing, and her reluctance to tell her mother, causes Elv to act out. Annie is struggling too, "she felt as if everything she did was in halves: half a mother, half a teacher, half a woman". In that one sentence, Hoffman articulates the feelings of so many women. Elv begins to believe "that evil repelled evil, while good collected it", and she is determined to become evil in order to expel it from her life. She uses drugs, becomes promiscuous, steals- everything a young woman with low self esteem does to dull her pain. Meg is angered by her sister's behavior, but Claire vows to remain loyal to Elv. Elv's behavior breaks the bonds of sisterhood she so tenderly nurtured. Hoffman uses imagery and metaphors so beautifully. When Elv saves a kitten thrown into a river, she tells Claire that she is haunted because she couldn't save a second kitten thrown in. Claire reminds her that it is important that she saved one, but Elv can't get over that she couldn't save the other, echoing the fact that she saved Claire once, but was unable to save herself. The author's writing hits home with the reader, as when following a death, Annie's cousin says, "Call me the minute you need something," she told Annie and Claire, but neither of them could think of a single thing they might need that anyone could possibly give them. Everyone who has lost someone knows that exact feeling. This is a moving, haunting novel that will make you cry. There is so much sadness, so many tragic things that happen, and we all know people about whom we say, "haven't they suffered enough?" About a

I've been anxiously awaiting the release of this novel, and I was not disappointed. Ms Hoffman has such a magical way of telling a tale and making things that many might take for granted or consider rather ordinary, fiercely compelling. The secrets that sisters share; terrible and wonderful, petty differences, steel-enforced alliances, and the heartbreaking moments that might have unfolded differently if only... I was up until after midnight, unable to stop reading, not wanting the spell to be broken. The best gift of all? I know I'll be re-reading this novel again, and will still love every moment. That's the wonderful thing about Ms Hoffman's novels, in my opinion.