Or Three Novellas Show Special Power of Love and Sisterhood

Sister, Sister: Three Novellas
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by Donna Hill, Carmen Green and Janice Sims

ISBN: 0312978928
Format: Mass Market Paperback, 310pp
Pub. Date: September 2001
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Reviewed by Leah Mullen

I can never get upset about my daily subway commute as long as I have something good to read. Most recently, Sister, Sister: Three Novellas, by Donna Hill, Carmen Green and Janice Sims, effectively soothed my commuting torment. As the "A" train snaked its way through the labyrinth of New York City's underground, Sister, Sister transported me to more interesting locations.

While reading Donna Hill's thought provoking "Thicker Than Water," I found myself in Washington D.C. where Angela and her sister, Gayla are reunited due to Gayla's illness. During the story author Hill reveals the fascinating twists and turns of Angela's mind as she tries to reconcile her complicated feelings toward her family.

While the setting for "Thicker than Water" was rainy, cold and somber; the story was absolutely heartwarming. When the estranged sisters decide to confront the past, they discover the true reason behind their family's dysfunction, and allow healing to begin.

Carmen Green's "Loving Lola" was my favorite of the three stories. When the character of Lola was first introduced I didn't like her. She was a jet setter who accidentally became pregnant, and then asked her always-dependable sister, Sandra, to raise her newborn son, Brian. Five years later, after Sandra and Brian have formed a deep and loving bond, Lola shows up announcing that she's ready to take her son back.

While reading "Loving Lola" I thought, "Well, she has some nerve!" But by the end of the story I had totally changed my mind, and I loved Lola, too. The story made me think of the African proverb that says, "It takes a village to raise a child." It is true that Lola wasn't prepared for the birth of her son, but her sister was. What was best for the baby was always their first consideration. The sisters made the decision about Brian's future in the setting of sunny and historic Martha's Vineyard, where Lola and her future husband owned a home.

Next, I ’went’ to Paris when I read Janice Sims', "Better Left Unsaid." The story starts at the Hotel Montalembert on a fine April afternoon when a pregnant supermodel, LuAnne, meets ex football player, Leon, in a broken elevator. A friendship ensues. Meanwhile LuAnne's equally beautiful older sister, Rhonda, is in New York pursuing her career as a photographer while mourning the death of her fianc’, Raj.

Eventually, Leon convinces LuAnne to return home to the states so that she can be around her family for the birth of her baby. For a while, as I read, I couldn't figure out what had kept the sisters apart for so long. There were the issues they faced growing up under the direction of a dictatorial mother who forced them to perform in countless beauty pageants. And there was also the fact that LuAnne felt abandoned by Rhonda when the older sister chose to go away to college instead of New York as the two had planned. But those experiences didn't seem to be enough to cause such a giant rift between the sisters, especially when they reunited so naturally during LuAnne's pregnancy. Then in the last third of the story LuAnne dropped an unexpected bombshell that I was totally unprepared for. The story had been so sweet and funny up until that point.

Still, in the end I appreciated the important themes of change, growth and forgiveness. I particularly adored this memorable scene between Leon and LuAnne:

...Leon pulled her into his arms. "You did the right thing, Lulu."

Her mouth open in shock, she just stared at him a moment. "The right thing?
How can you say that? Nothing will ever be the same again."

"Are you the same person you were back then?"

...LuAnne thought for a long while. Leon imagined the machinery turning in her
mind. Then she smiled as the fully realized epiphany presented itself to her.
"I've grown."

"When you weren't even looking," Leon said in that lazy way he had...

The three award-winning writers of Sister, Sister surpass readers' expectations with their ability to tell an intriguing tale and their insight into the ways of the human heart. The novellas are chock full of revelations and beautifully written passages about change, forgiveness, truth and love. Sister, Sister: Three Novellas is a wonderful celebration of the special bond of sisterhood.