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Summary
Summary
As girls growing up in Clare Valley, Australia, Anna, Bett, and Carrie Quinlan were childhood singing stars known as The Alphabet Sisters. The unbridled enthusiasm of their flamboyant grandmother Lola was the glue that held them together. As adults, though, the women haven't spoken in years--ever since Bett's fianc#65533; deserted her to marry the younger Carrie. Now Lola is turning eighty and she is determined to reunite the girls for a blowout bash. And no one ever says no to Lola.
Bett, who fled to London after the scandal of losing her fianc#65533;, is hesitant to face her sisters and her hometown--especially since she has yet to find another man. Sophisticated Anna, the eldest sister, isn't too keen on the prospect either, though she's secretly grateful for any excuse to leave her crumbling marriage behind in Sydney. And Carrie, who remained in Clare Valley, is perhaps the most apprehensive. Her marriage--the nominal cause of the sisters' estrangement--is also on the rocks. Was she wrong to have followed her heart and run off with Bett's fianc#65533;?
When Lola shares her special request, that the girls stage a musical she has written, their short visit becomes a much longer commitment. As they are forced to spend more time together, the sisters must confront the pain that lingers between them. Preconceptions and misunderstandings are slowly put aside and the three find themselves gradually, irresistibly enveloping one another once again--until an unexpected turn of events changes everything in ways none of them could have ever imagined. . . .
Layering the lighthearted antics of small-town life with a heartbreaking story of loyalty lost and found, The Alphabet Sisters is an unforgettable story of two generations of women who learn that being true to themselves means being true to one another.
Author Notes
Monica McInerney is the Australian-born author of Hello from the Gillespies, The House of Memories, Lola's Secret, At Home with the Templetons, Family Baggage, The Alphabet Sisters, Spin the Bottle, Upside Down Inside Out, and A Taste for It. She also wrote the novella Odd One Out and a short story collection entitled All Together Now. Those Faraday Girls won the General Fiction Book of the Year in the 2008 Australian Book Industry Awards.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
McInerney's buoyant new novel chronicles the three Quinlan sisters' efforts to reconcile their combative past and reconnect when their grandmother, Lola, summons them home to South Australia for her 80th birthday party. Under the guardianship of Lola ("etiquette teacher, boot-camp mistress, and musical director"), Anna, Bett and Carrie had celebrated their youth on stage as the pop singing group the Alphabet Sisters. As adults, they stop speaking to each other when Carrie runs off with Bett's fiance, Matthew. But after three years of silence, they heed Lola's call and resolve to make their peace. Anna, a voiceover actress and the eldest of the three, arrives from Sydney with her seven-year-old daughter, Ellen, who is scarred by a horrific accident, but without her absentee husband. Bett, the middle sister, flies in from London, where she does PR for a record company, while the youngest, Carrie, lives close to Lola, running a motel and suffering in her foundering marriage to Matthew. When Lola announces she's written a musical starring the Alphabet Sisters to benefit the local hospital, Anna, Bett and Carrie put aside their differences, rebuild their relationships and grow closer than ever before. In this heartening if predictable novel, three struggling women relearn how the bonds of sisterhood can steady them against life's ebb and flow. Agent, Christy Fletcher. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Sibling rivalry and sisterly devotion mix it up in South Australia--in McInerney's American debut. When they were children dressed in matching costumes, Anna, Bett and Carrie sang together as the Alphabet Sisters. But three years ago, after Carrie and Matt, Bett's fiancÉ, announced they'd fallen in love, long-simmering resentments erupted into a major feud among all three sisters. The oldest, Anna, retreated to her husband, her daughter and a career doing voice-over commercials in Sydney. After marrying Matt, a vet in training, Carrie, the youngest, continued to work at the family motel. Bett ran away to London, where she's been writing promos for a music company. Now the girls' grandmother Lola, who watched over them growing up while their parents worked, is about to celebrate her 80th birthday and they're invited to the party back home in the Clare Valley, South Australia. They each arrive, defensive of their secret hurts: Anna, whose husband is having an affair, has been overly protective of her seven-year-old daughter since a dog attack scarred the little girl's face; Carrie and Matt have drifted into an unhappy separation; Bett, miserably alone in England, can't admit that she never really loved Matt. Soon, Lola is manipulating the three women into togetherness, getting them to produce a musical she has written commemorating General MacArthur's visit during WWII. Laughter and tears, revelations and explanations, bring the sisters back to their old closeness. But then comes the tear-jerking twist: Anna, who has found a new love, is diagnosed with advanced cancer. Can the whole family, including both Anna's lover and her estranged husband, unite to make Anna's last days as pleasant as possible? In the tradition of Binchy and McMurtry, Australian author McInerny manipulates plot- and heart-strings unapologetically. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Australian novelist McInerney's American debut centers on three estranged sisters who come home to Clare Valley, Australia, for their grandmother's eightieth birthday. Anna, Bett, and Carrie Quinlan haven't spoken in three years, since Bett's fiance jilted her for Carrie and Anna's attempts to mediate failed miserably. Their grandmother Lola still has fond memories of when the girls sang together in their youth as the Alphabet Sisters, so she devises a plot to get the girls to stay: she's written a musical she wants them to produce with the help of the denizens of Clare Valley. Though outwardly reluctant, each sister has a reason for wanting to stay. Anna's marriage to Glenn is failing, and her young daughter, Ellen, is recovering from a dog attack, from which she still bears the scars. Bett has quit her job in London and is considering a new start in Clare Valley. And Carrie's marriage to Michael might be in trouble. This warm, involving novel about the depth of the bond between sisters will likely be popular with book groups. --Kristine Huntley Copyright 2005 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Australian siblings Anna, Bett, and Carrie Quinlan were known as the singing group the Alphabet Sisters throughout their childhood. Now adults, they are not on speaking terms, estranged three years earlier when Carrie stole Bett's fianc?. Then their grandmother Lola schemes to reunite them by throwing herself an 80th birthday bash. When the girls meet again, there are many tense moments, but forgiveness ultimately prevails. Making her U.S. debut with her fourth novel, Australian-born McInerney tells the story of each sister with compassion and humor, never losing the narrative thread; events are well paced throughout and speed up in the final third, when several surprises are revealed. However, these surprises do not threaten the overall believability of the story or call the integrity of the characters into question. Highly recommended for popular fiction collections.-Anastasia Diamond, Cleveland P.L. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.