Book Review: Sisters: An Anthology edited by Jan Freeman, Emily Wojcik, and Deborah Bull

The unique bond of sisters takes many forms in Sisters: An Anthology, published by Paris Press. Over forty women contribute brief stories, memoirs, and poems, conveying the depth of our connection. We who are born into a family that provides us a sister can readily see the startling truth in these stories: our relationship with our sisters is special, no matter the age difference or circumstances as life carries us along.

Sisters: An Anthology includes contributions from many classic women writers, such as Margaret Atwood, Delia Ephron, M.F.K. Fisher, Alice Walker and Wendy Wasserstein. Grace Paley’s brief poem “I Need to Talk to My Sister” is not for the fainthearted, for there is no love without loss. Perhaps the most unusual piece is Jane Bowles’s playful pair of quarreling sister puppets.

More than a compilation of essays on a theme, Sisters: An Anthology provides a rare chronology of sisters throughout life. The anthology seems to effortlessly follow us along the age continuum from “I want to reach through the telephone and strangle my sister” to the Delaney sisters, over 100 years old, who do yoga by the television every day, although “sometimes Bessie cheats and she’s just lying there.” The Delaney sisters are an example of the complexity of the entire sister relationship, where one wakes up each day and says “Thank you, Lord, for another day,” and the other wakes up and says “Oh, Lord, another day?"

Compiling any anthology seems daunting. Where do you start and how do you ever stop? Here, the editors pulled together a nice mix of stories and essays by contemporary and modern women writers who have verbalized their connection to a sister. The book’s arrangement results in a highly readable format, mirroring our lives and our role within families. The pieces span decades, and are nicely organized in sections matching our development through life: “Don’t Tell Mother,” “Sister – Sister” and “Having Our Say.”

Article Author: Helen Gallagher

Helen Gallagher reviews non-fiction books and shares insights when attending author and publishing events on Chicago's North Shore. She is a national speaker on technology, writing and publishing. She's a member of American Society of Journalists & …

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