Tara and Sky have the same mother, but different fathers. However, through tragedy, they both lost their father's and grew up without one. The seven year age gap between them didn't help much either. As the oldest of three, and all sisters, there is an eight gap between me and the youngest, so I can definitely understand that. When you're growing up, eight years or seven as in this case, can seem like twenty.
Now older, Sky has recently lost her husband and is raising her daughter. Tara is married to a touring Rap star and having her own problems with her marriage. When tragedy strikes, the two sisters, who haven't been close, along with their mother must take a trip together. On this trip, they begin to find that bond between them once again and understand what each other has went through and how to move forward.
A Gift For My Sister starts out as a slow read but eventually picks up the pace as the story unfolds, catching the reader unaware and snaring them in Tara and Sky's world and problems. Told from both sister's perspectives, it gave the 'full' story to the reader, which lended credence and believability to the tale. I haven't read The Christmas Cookie Club, so I can offer no comparison from that to A Gift For My Sister, but on it's own merit, it's an eloquent and moving novel.
*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I could not put this book down once i started!! it will make you feel every sort of emotion: You will laugh, cry, and even get frustrated and angry with the characters! It's about two sisters who are very different and who have made very different choices in their lives-- a lot like me and my sister. They have a love/hate relationship and struggle to figure out how to support each other. I am the same way with my sister, and by the end of the book i figured out how to make better sense of where things stand between the two of us.
ReplyDeleteI also really appreciated how the ann addresses issues of race head-on. She makes a really powerful comment about where we are with race in the united states, even though we are supposedly "post-racial." This book reveals a lot about what it's like to be in an interracial family. and coming from an interracial family myself, i thought she did a good job dealing with very complex and sensitive issues.