First published 2007
Frances and Cynthia have built their adult lives around distance. The sisters stay devoted by staying apart, one on each coast. Their elderly father vanished from their lives long ago. When he suddenly reappears, the sisters find themselves thrown together for a week leading up to Thanksgiving. Snow falls outside while old wounds thaw inside. Frances and Cynthia clash over memories that shaped them both but in completely different ways. Each sister carries her own version of what happened in their childhood. As Thanksgiving dinner approaches, these competing histories collide. The week becomes a battle over who gets to define the past. Berne explores why families cling together even when separation might serve them better. The sisters discover that some ghosts refuse to stay buried.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, relationships, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: estranged-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: United States
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
Library Binding · Center Point Pub