AS CLOSE AS SISTERS is the story of four women who have
been friends
almost their whole lives. Every summer, they vacation at
the beach house
one of them owns. This year things are a bit different.
One of the women is
in the later stages of cancer. One is expecting a baby
after many
unsuccessful tries. The other two each have secrets of
their own. It is
heartbreaking to read how Mackenzie wonders if her
daughters will see her
and feel her after she was gone. At times, the daughters
seem emotionally
disconnected from their mom, so much so that I wanted to
reach through
the pages and smack them both.
AS CLOSE AS SISTERS revolves around each woman's actions
and
reactions during their stay at the beach house. It is a
wonderful tale of love,
trust, and honesty. They all hate and love the beach house
since the night of
the awful tragedy they experienced at such a young age.
Yet every year,
they come back to this place that for better or for worse
is their place to
unwind and enjoy each other. This year emotions are
running high as
Mackenzie's illness is surely going to be the end of the
four of them
vacationing together. Secrets will be shared and twists
that you can't
believe will have you turning the pages late into the
night. The underlying
forces between the women change but no matter what,
nothing will affect
the truth that they are as close as sisters.
AS CLOSE AS SISTERS is a very heart warming and emotional
story. I fell
in love with each one of these women even though I didn't
always like what
they did or said. I was emotionally invested in their
stories and had to see
the story through to see how it ended. Mackenzie doesn't
want her
daughters to stop living their lives just because she is
dying. She tells them
she couldn't handle that. But she can't help but feel a
bit jealous at the
relationships they share with her girlfriends. My heart
just broke for her. It
was not the ending I was expecting and that made me love
this book even
more. I have never read anything by Colleen Faulkner
before and now I
can't wait to read more.
Since the age of twelve, McKenzie Arnold has spent every
summer at Albany Beach, Delaware, with her best friends
Aurora, Janine, and Lilly. The seaside house teems with
thirty years of memories--some wonderful, others
painful--and secrets never divulged beyond its walls. This
summer may be the last they spend together, as Janine
contemplates selling her family cottage.
For now, all four enjoy morning beach walks and lazy
evenings on the porch, celebrating Lilly's longed-for
pregnancy and offering support during McKenzie's greatest
crisis. It's a time for laughter and recriminations, a
time
to forge a new understanding of a long-ago night when
Aurora
sealed their bond with one devastating act. And as the
days
gradually shorten, events will unfold in ways that none of
them could have predicted, to make this the most momentous
summer of all.
In a deeply moving novel filled with heartbreak and
warmth,
Colleen Faulkner explores the complex ties between four
very
different women as they move through life together, and
apart.