Sisterland

March 29, 2004
Set in contemporary England, Newbery's (The Shell House
) complicated novel deals with such big topics as racism, Alzheimer's disease, adultery and the Kindertransports of WWII. Disabled by Alzheimer's disease, Hilly's grandmother Heidigran comes to live with Hilly's family. This change in routine, coupled with the insidious effects of the disease, awakens memories that the older woman has spent most of her life suppressing. Intrigued by Heidigran's references to someone named Rachel, Hilly and her best friend, Reuben, a gay pianist, slowly piece together the truth. Readers following this mystery are almost always several steps ahead of Hilly and Reuben, thanks to flashbacks told from Heidigran's point of view. Meanwhile, Hilly worries about her gorgeous, high-maintenance sister, Zoë, who is dating a "racist yob" whose friends may be responsible for brutally beating Reuben's Palestinian boyfriend, Saeed. As if all that were not enough, Hilly embarks on her first romance, with Saeed's older brother, an accomplished young man who aspires to be a doctor. The sheer abundance of plots and subplots keeps the pages turning, and lessens the sense that many of the novel's events seem to have been created in order to serve its larger themes. Plain-spoken Hilly and her down-to-earth family have enough appeal to cut through much of the didacticism found here. Ages 12-up.