Sisters’ relationships are very complex, beautiful, intense and extraordinary, but complex. Having one of my own, I can tell you that there is much more to our conversations than with anyone else I know. The last two books I read, The Sweetness of Salt, written by Cecilia Galante, and Fixing Delilah, written by Sarah Ockler, both focused on the hidden story of sisters. Surprisingly, the relationships developed subtly initially, but then the big ball dropped and BOTH stories had unbelievable details unfold. Dysfunctional might be a kind, and also cliché these days, word to describe the relationships, but true, nonetheless. However, I really enjoyed both these novels because they were true, real. The conversations were snarky, loving, and brutal all at once – something most people with a sister can identify with – there was no hiding behind niceties!
In The Sweetness of Salt, the main character, Julia, was on her way to a life she thought she wanted, her parents sure did. But her sister, the one lurking in the background (actually there was another, as well, unbeknownst to her), threw it all up in the air and watched it all come tumbling back to the ground. This book held me to the end. I could see the conversations in my head, the anxiety provoking experiences and memories unraveling, and, most importantly, the unconditional love between them.
Fixing Delilah was a different kind of story, initially a dark, sad story on some level, because of the sadness that the main character, Delilah, felt, but also because of the vivid loneliness her mother sparked in her. The relationship was more about the relationship between her mother and her mother’s sister because Delilah was an only-child. The sisters were important because Delilah was raised by a single mother, and she only gained true solace with her aunt. The events turned, lightening the story, but then the there were some moments of clarity for Delilah that can only be described at extraordinary. Yet, the story maintained my interest because I felt that the characters were people I might know, feeling the pain of the characters when secrets were revealed and wicked tongues were unleashed. Sisters are funny. You love them completely, but you can also pinpoint what hurts them most, and sometimes people, as these characters showed, use it when you feel backed in a corner. Much like friends, the characters dismissed what was right in front of them, but then avoiding them (or the memories) didn’t seem to work; family gatherings seem to be always lurking around the corner. So, somehow, sisters work it out.
