Take two sisters undone by trauma, send them off to a horrible foster home, and see how they fend in the world. Sounds like something the Brontes might have dreamed up, right?
Yes--and no. Despite the haunting cover and the murderous events that set the trauma for sisters Louise (Lulu) and Meredith (Merry) in motion, is less the subject of the story than the paths these two take, and the impact of one on the other.
First, after Daddy is hauled away to prison, I have to condemn Aunt Cilla, that despicable bitch, who refused to shelter her nieces for what their father had done. And her son, Arnie, turns out to be gay, and lives with her, and she hasn't a clue! Hah! This one seems patterned after Ruth and David Greenglass, those two who refused to house their nephews, because they were the children of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg! Well, The Greenglasses are surely burning in hell, right now, and so will Aunt Cilla! They will very likely hang out with each other.
Lulu dismisses her father from her life, marries, has children, and takes up the help profession of being a physician. She does all the so-called right things, but still does not feel right.
Merry, the prettier one, discovers sex and drugs, but chooses to keep her father in her life. She also goes into a help profession--Victim Advocacy.
A climactic reversal, a change of heart, a strengthening of the sisters' bond, closes out this rather understated book. With the exception of an explosive climax, there are no sweeping moments; just a careful dissection of the sisters' relationships.
I discovered the author comes from a similar profession background as Merry, and has written other books, very much in the vein of this, her first. They are hard to find; I never heard of this book, or the author--it first appeared in only 2009--and wondered if she had written anything else. She has, and, on the basis of this novel, I would say she is worth exploring.
Yes, it is wrenching, but hopeful for trauma sufferers!!!!!!!!
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