The Sisters A Novel [Paperback]

Family secrets reverberate for generations in one of the Best Novels of 2011 (Kirkus Reviews)

Growing up without a mother in hardscrabble Kentucky in the 1920s, Bertie Fischer and her older sister, Mabel, have only each otherwith perhaps a sweetheart for Bertie waiting in the wings. But on the day that Bertie graduates from eighth grade, good intentions go terribly wrong, setting off a chain of misunderstandings that will change the lives of the next three generations.

What happens when nothing turns out as you planned? From the Depression through the second world war and Vietnam, and smaller events both tragic and joyful, Bertie and Mabel forge unexpected identities that are shaped by a past that no one ever talks about. Gorgeously written, with extraordinary insight and emotional truth, Nancy Jensen's brilliant first novel,The Sisters,illuminates the far-reaching power of family and family secrets.

NANCY JENSEN is an award-winning graduate of the MFA in Writing Program at Vermont College whose short stories and essays have been published in such literary journals asNorthwest Review, Other Voices,andThe Louisville Review.She teaches English at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, KY. A national bestseller and a #1 Indie Next Pick in hardcover,The Sistersis her debut novel.

You'll be drawn into the arms ofThe Sistersas if these women were your own family. You'll want to hold them, warn them, betray their secrets. But this is a novel, one that is fresh and vibrant and complex. You cannot live the sisters' lives, but only share in their joy and heartbreak and ultimate triumph. A remarkably powerful book. Sandra Dallas, author of Prayers for Sale

Nancy Jensen has the natural storyteller's ability to command attention, but with sophisticated psychological understanding and beautifully crafted writing.The Sistersis aneedednovel that will become a very popular classilÝ