I recently read The Moon Sisters by Therese Walsh, author of The Last Will of Moira Leahy (which I also read and was fantastic, by the way.)
The Moon Sisters is the beautiful interweaving of the themes of family, grief, life mysteries, our personal journeys and how they change us.
The Moon Sisters are grieving the loss of their mother, who dies under mysterious circumstances; was it an accident? Was it a suicide? A writer that was cut out of her beloved father's life, their mother was often depressed and distant, by turns working on a novel and on letters to her father, which she sealed. Jazz, her eldest daughter, finds it hard to connect with her writer-mother in life while the younger, Olivia, feels she understands their mother the best. For reasons on opposite poles, the girls are both completely derailed by their mother's death: one because she felt she never really knew her and one because she felt she should have been able to help her. Jazz, determined to move on, gets a job. Olivia decides to take a trip her mother always talked about but never took. Jazz, much to her dismay, is found escorting and later chasing Olivia on this journey, afraid to let her reckless, nearly blind sister, do anything alone. Along the way, the girls sort out their feelings about each other, about their mother, about love and about why they might be doing the things they're doing.
I know this all sounds very vague, but there are several little mysteries going on and to say anything else would ruin it for the reader. Trust me on this: you're going to want to read it!
The best compliment I can pay Ms. Walsh is to say her stories remind me of Alice Hoffman's, with their blend of family struggles, personal journeys and a touch of magic, all wrapped tightly around a mystery that is a pleasure to unwind. When I read family-centered fiction, this is the kind a fantasy-loving geek likes to read.
A highly recommended book.
The Moon Sisters is the beautiful interweaving of the themes of family, grief, life mysteries, our personal journeys and how they change us.
The Moon Sisters are grieving the loss of their mother, who dies under mysterious circumstances; was it an accident? Was it a suicide? A writer that was cut out of her beloved father's life, their mother was often depressed and distant, by turns working on a novel and on letters to her father, which she sealed. Jazz, her eldest daughter, finds it hard to connect with her writer-mother in life while the younger, Olivia, feels she understands their mother the best. For reasons on opposite poles, the girls are both completely derailed by their mother's death: one because she felt she never really knew her and one because she felt she should have been able to help her. Jazz, determined to move on, gets a job. Olivia decides to take a trip her mother always talked about but never took. Jazz, much to her dismay, is found escorting and later chasing Olivia on this journey, afraid to let her reckless, nearly blind sister, do anything alone. Along the way, the girls sort out their feelings about each other, about their mother, about love and about why they might be doing the things they're doing.
I know this all sounds very vague, but there are several little mysteries going on and to say anything else would ruin it for the reader. Trust me on this: you're going to want to read it!
The best compliment I can pay Ms. Walsh is to say her stories remind me of Alice Hoffman's, with their blend of family struggles, personal journeys and a touch of magic, all wrapped tightly around a mystery that is a pleasure to unwind. When I read family-centered fiction, this is the kind a fantasy-loving geek likes to read.
A highly recommended book.
ABOUT THERESE: "Therese Walsh’s second novel, The Moon Sisters, will be published in hard cover on March 4th, 2014 by Crown (Random House). Her debut, The Last Will of Moira Leahy, was named one of January Magazine’s Best Books of 2009, was nominated for a RITA award for Best First Book, and was a TARGET Breakout Book.
Therese is the co-founder of Writer Unboxed, a site that’s visited daily by thousands of writers interested in the craft and business of fiction.
Before turning to fiction, she was a researcher and writer for Prevention magazine, and then a freelance writer. She’s had hundreds of articles on nutrition and fitness published in consumer magazines and online.
She has a master’s degree in psychology.
Aside from writing, Therese’s favorite things include music, art, crab legs, Whose Line is it Anyway?, dark chocolate, photography, unique movies and novels, people watching, strong Irish tea, and spending time with her husband, two kids and their Jack Russell.
She’s working on her third novel."
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Find Therese Walsh here.
Writer Unboxed is here.
Therese is the co-founder of Writer Unboxed, a site that’s visited daily by thousands of writers interested in the craft and business of fiction.
Before turning to fiction, she was a researcher and writer for Prevention magazine, and then a freelance writer. She’s had hundreds of articles on nutrition and fitness published in consumer magazines and online.
She has a master’s degree in psychology.
Aside from writing, Therese’s favorite things include music, art, crab legs, Whose Line is it Anyway?, dark chocolate, photography, unique movies and novels, people watching, strong Irish tea, and spending time with her husband, two kids and their Jack Russell.
She’s working on her third novel."
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Find Therese Walsh here.
Writer Unboxed is here.
You can purchase the book by clicking on the caption of the photo at the very top of the page, or anyplace the title of the book is clickable/underlined in this blog post.
Disclosure: I met Therese through the group Writer Unboxed on Facebook (associated with writerunboxed.com, which Therese co-founded) and I used to be part of her Twitter team. So, you know, no favoritism or anything.