From the Publisher
From the New York Times Bestselling
Author of The Third Angel
Alice Hoffman's previous novel, The Third Angel, was
hailed as "an unforgettable portrait of the depth of true love"
(USA Today), "stunning" (Jodi Picoult), and "spellbinding"
(Miami Herald). Her new novel, The Story Sisters,
charts the lives of three sisters-Elv, Claire, and Meg. Each has a
fate she must meet alone: one on a country road, one in the streets
of Paris, and one in the corridors of her own imagination.
Inhabiting their world are a charismatic man who cannot tell the
truth, a neighbor who is not who he appears to be, a clumsy boy in
Paris who falls in love and stays there, a detective who finds his
heart's desire, and a demon who will not let go.
What does a mother do when one of her children goes astray? How
does she save one daughter without sacrificing the others? How deep
can love go, and how far can it take you? These are the questions
this luminous novel asks.
At once a coming-of-age tale, a family saga, and a love story of
erotic longing, The Story Sisters sifts through the
miraculous and the mundane as the girls become women and their
choices haunt them, change them and, finally, redeem them. It
confirms Alice Hoffman's reputation as "a writer whose keen ear for
the measure struck by the beat of the human heart is unparalleled"
(The Chicago Tribune).
From the Jacket
"Hoffman's characters are always moving back and forth, challenging
our perceptions, daring us to judge them. Her sentences tremble
with allegory. . . . In the end, THE STORY SISTERS, for
all its magic realism, is about a family navigating through
motherhood, sisterhood, daughterhood. It's Little Women on
mushrooms. (Bookish sisters beware)."
- New York Times Book Review
"Hoffman is celebrated for her ability to conjure plausible
alternative realities, to sprinkle her landscapes with witches and
other mythical creatures, while keeping her stories closely
tethered to familiar terrain. There's a mysticism that swirls about
her works but, like a late-morning fog, it eventually burns off to
reveal a physical and emotional topography that most all of us can
recognize."
- Chicago Tribune
"This bewitching novel explores the bonds of sisterhood like a
haunting modern fairy tale."
- Glamour
"Any new book by Hoffman is an occasion to rejoice, as is the
case with THE STORY SISTERS."
- Sacramento Bee
"The sisters'struggle to grow and thrive in the real world will
keep you riveted to the pages of this heartbreaking novel about the
powers and limits of love."
- Redbook
"When it comes to blending magic and the mundane routines of life,
there's no finer writer than Alice Hoffman -- but even she has
outdone herself with her latest novel. THE STORY SISTERS
hearkens back to the classic fairy tale, where one must suffer fear
and loss before stumbling upon a happy ending. Hoffman
reminds us with every sentence that words have the power to
transport us to alternate worlds, to heal a broken heart, and to
tie us irrevocably to the people we love."
- Jodi Picoult, author of Handle With Care
"The always dazzling Hoffman has outdone herself in this bewitching
weave of psychologically astute fantasy and shattering
realism….this is an
entrancing and romantic drama shot through with radiant beauty and
belief in human resilience and transformation."
- Booklist (starred review)
"Painfully moving….there are beautiful moments throughout."
- Kirkus Reviews
"Keeps readers heartbroken yet spellbound, turning the
pages."
- Library Journal
About the Author
ALICE HOFFMAN is the bestselling author of twenty-five acclaimed
novels, including The Third Angel, The Ice Queen, Practical
Magic, and Here on Earth, an Oprah Book Club selection. She
has also written two books of short stories, and eight books for
children and young adults. Her work has been translated into more
than twenty languages and published in more than one hundred
foreign editions. She divides her time between Boston and New York
City.
About the Book
A family is shattered when one of three sisters dies tragically in an automobile accident. How the family survives--separates, reconfigures, and reconciles--is at the heart of this exquisite exploration of the ties that bind.
