As Close as Sisters

November 15, 2014

Since they were 12 years old, McKenzie, Lilly, Janine, and Aurora have spent a summer month together at Janine's beach house in Albany Beach, DE. The friends relish their annual get-togethers--but this year will be different. McKenzie has been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer and the friends know this will be their last summer together at the waterfront retreat. The four characters act as alternating narrators, each telling a story of the vacation and of the previous years, particularly the life-changing day that took place decades before. While they navigate the twists and turns of their lives, the month at the beach becomes a time to grapple with the past and the future. Through disasters and triumphs, the women find solace in the bonds of friendship. VERDICT Readers of women's fiction and in women's book groups will be drawn to romance writer Faulkner's (Just Like Other Daughters) new novel. Pour a glass of pinot grigio, grab a box of tissues, and savor the ride. A discussion guide is included.--Emily Hamstra, Univ. of Michigan Libs., Ann Arbor

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2014
Faulkner (Just Like Other Daughters, 2013) introduces us to McKenzie, Aurora, Janine, and Lilly, four women whose bond runs much deeper than friendship. Friends since they were teenagers, they have lived through everything togethermarriage, divorce, babies, boyfriends, and girlfriends. Each summer, the four spend a month on the Delaware seaside in Janine's childhood home, which is haunted with painful memories but also filled with the joyous ones they have shared over the years. But this summer it's differentit is the last they will spend together because McKenzie is dying. Her terminal cancer diagnosis hangs like a black cloud over the group as they try and work through their individual demons while coming to terms with McKenzie's illness and a future without her. Told from each woman's perspective, As Close as Sisters shares the emotions of four very different women and their personal journeys through heartbreak, hope, and joy. Faulkner addresses serious topics that will evoke both tears and laughter while leaving readers contemplating the unbreakable bonds of friendship.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)