Wives and Sisters

Wives and Sisters by Natalie R Collins, changed me. I'm not sure how yet, but it has. It made me cry, it made me cheer, it made me say, no, don't go out there, stay where it's safe! It pissed me off, and as one scene in particular unfolded, I didn't want to read on because I knew I would cry. I sucked it up and continued reading. I'm glad I did. As the last few chapters loomed, I didn't want to read on to the last page, not because I was ready to get off the emotional roller coaster ride Ms Collins strapped me into, but because I wasn't ready to say good-bye to the protagonist Allison. Without sounding like every other reviewer regarding this book, I have no recourse but to echo them, it was compelling, it was riveting, it was disturbing. W & S is about love and hate and compassion, it's about loss and redemption. It's about coming to terms with family, God and one's own inner demons. This book is about surviving.

Block out Saturday and half of Sunday, and stock up on your favorite caffinated beverage because Wives and Sisters is a compelling book that you can't put down. And when Wives and Sister closes, 288 pages later, the characters remain in your memory, living in your thoughts, compelling you to read it again. The disappearance of Allison Jenen's best friend and her own confrontation with death age of six colors this story of personal survival. Nine years later, Allison begins questioning the system of her world with the death of her mother. She began bucking that system at the subsequent remarriage of her father, in his effort to populate his Celestial heaven. Through Allison's pain and humiliation of rape, to her triumph over the deceit and bondage of the patriarchal society in which she is trapped Allison Jensen is our antihero. From childhood to adulthood she takes the hard road to truth, pulling, not only herself but, her sisters to the otherside of their personal devastation to survival. Natalie Collins wove a convincingly intricate tale with all the personalities and emotions of life that draws you in and doesn't let you go. Situations many of us could never comprehend in a sane world and yet know they exist daily, even in this new millennium. I could not put this book down, so I read it again, and wanted more. My family gets copies of this book for Christmas.

I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview of this book a year ago before its release. The story is so intense, it has stayed with me over a year later. It is a mystery that does have you on the edge of your seat the whole time. But even more, it is a compelling story of a woman struggling to shed the confines of the cult mentality she grew up with. To find herself and who and what she really is without the dictated guidelines of a religion that controls peoples nearly every thought and action. Growing up in the religion that this story depicts, and being lucky enough to have left it like the character in the book, I felt very connected to the main character in the book. This is a story for anyone who has ever questioned the dogmatism they were taught growing up.

This is one of those books that stays with you long after finishing it. The main character, Alli, will grab your attention from page one and won't let go. There's an important message in the story of Alli's life about the destruction that we often inflict on one another with a sense of righteousness. Don't miss Wives and Sisters! Natalie Collins is going on my automatic buy list.