The Singer Sisters: An escapist family drama full of glamour and secrets

by Sarah Marian Seltzer

It's 1996, and alt-rocker Emma Cantor is on tour, with her sights trained on a record deal. Emma's got no lack of inspiration for her confessional songs, chief among them her mother Judie, a 1960s folk legend who is bitterly disappointed by Emma's choice to skip college.

Emma is baffled by Judie's coldness. Judie herself was only eighteen when she ran away to New York to pursue music, ahead of forming the influential folk duo the Singer Sisters with her sister Sylvia.

But Judie has a long-kept secret about why she abandoned her music career at the peak of her success, which is about to unravel.

This is an epic family saga that follows mother Judie and daughter Emma as they navigate the ups and downs of music stardom - asking what women artists must sacrifice for success.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Music, Audiobook, Historical, Literary Fiction, Adult

273 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 6, 2024

About the author

Writer and reader in NYC. Author of THE SINGER SISTERS, coming in summer 2024 from Flatiron!

Reviews

[Janet | purrfectpages · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Oh Rose knew the power of songs. They reached you in the back pocket beyond your thinking self, the place where colors and feelings and vectors of light leapt around, entered, and left you, changed from the person you were the day before, and at least temporarily stopped the questions that pounded you at night.”

The Singer Sisters is a moving, historical fiction story. Centering on two generations of a musical family, the narration mainly goes back and forth between the 1960s and 1990s. It’s in 1996 when we are first introduced Emma Cantor, daughter of famous musical parents, hoping to make a mark of her own. Knowing how hard that road can be her mother, Judie, tries to deter Emma from this path.

In the 1960s we meet Emma and her sister, Sylvia and watch their quiet rise to fame. The decisions all three women make are what give this story its lyrical quality, and what creates a literary fiction debut with resonance and rhythm.

[akacya ❦ · Rating 4 out of 5]

2024 reads: 221/250

i received an advanced listening copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. this did not affect my rating.

this book follows judie, a 1960s folk legend, and her daughter emma, a 1990s alt-rocker. nobody knows why judie quit music at the height of her career, but as tensions rise between judie and emma, these secrets are soon to be revealed.

i love multigenerational stories, and i love reading about fictional celebrities, so i was very excited to start this one! honestly, i was a lot more interested in judie’s story (but that’s not to say i wasn’t also interested in emma’s!). judie came from a strict family and ended up running away to new york to pursue a career in music. i loved judie’s and emma’s stories, individually and combined.

narration: there were three narrators, barrie kreinik, helen laser, and stephanie németh-parker, to reflect different viewpoints. i’m really glad there were different narrators because it helped keep the viewpoints straight and they did a great job of bringing the story to life!

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a meta-genre of fiction epitomized in different but overlapping ways by Eddie and the Cruisers, Rob Reiner's This Is Spinal Tap, and Daisy Jones and the Six -- the first and the third adapted to the screen from novels -- that helps us understand what those who make music that lights up our nights are doing when they're off-stage and not in the studio. Sarah Seltzer's The Singer Singers, a debut novel to be published this August, not only fits well in that narrative family, but in some ways exceeds it. I'd expect to see it adapted on some kind of screen before too long.

The Singer Sisters actually tells us two stories, deftly interwoven. One is a moving snapshot of the folk-rock music scene, and therein the larger music venue in which folk-rock played, in the last third of the 20th century. The other is a tableau of upper middle class Jewish culture, in New York City, Boston, and beyond, in the same period of time.

See https://paullevinson.blogspot.com/202... for the complete review.

[Stacey (Bookalorian) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really interesting book.

I don't normally bother with books that focus on music after Daisy jones blew them all out of the water but this book really hit its mark.

It has a really gritty edge and the writing is phenomenal. There is a lot of drama in the family and you can see how well the author has carefully crafted a story so real and raw, you won't be sorry you picked it up.

Even with allt he fame, you can see how unhappiness reigns supreme. the characters were colorful and edgy and I was really entertained.

5 stars

[Stacy40pages · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Singer Sisters by Sarah Seltzer. Thanks to @flatironpub for the gifted Arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Two generations of musicians. Judie was a folk star in the 1960’s. Now her daughter Emma is breaking out in alt-rock in the 1990’s. As she gets deep into her mother’s music, she uncovers old secrets.

I love books with mother/daughter dynamics. This one was interesting and extra unique because of the music theme and two timelines. The sixties and the nineties are such great decade settings for fiction; add in music of the times and it makes for a great story. I really felt for the characters and got involved in their conflict. The song lyrics and poetry was a bonus.

“Her mom’s music spoke like Bruce Springsteen spoke to her, like Hole spoke to her, like Prince: a desire for freedom and belonging.”

The Singer Sisters comes out 8/6.

[ReadingTilTheBreakOfDawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, thank you to Macmillan audio for my advanced audio copy.

The Singer Sisters is about so much more than sisters. It's about music, talent, family, daughters, women and everything that women tend to go through when choosing a career vs family.

I enjoy a story about mothers and daughters, but this had a great little twist that added to the dynamics of the relationships between the women. Told from multiple POVs in dual timelines, we get to experience two generations of music from the 60's/70's and the 90's.
Judie and her sister Sylvia lived through the rise of folk music in the 60's and Judie became somewhat legendary for her songwriting. But after giving up pieces of herself in various ways, things changed and she had to make decisions that ultimately opened herself up into someone else.

Switching back up to the 90's, Emma, Judie's daughter, now wants to make a name for herself in the music world. She's more gritty than her mother, but learns she loves the stage. When the past comes knocking at her door, we get to see how everything collides and ultimately the choices that women have to make when it comes to family.

The narration of this book was superb. There are such distinct characters and the performances from each narrator really helped capture the growth of each character. I liked that the author included the lyrics and poetry from these artists, but I kind of wish we got actual singing. I think that would've really pushed the audiobook to another level. We get to see such growth in the characters and to see how the mother daughter dynamics change over the course of the story when secrets are unveiled.

Overall, a great debut that will pull in readers that enjoy music and the dramatics of family relationships.

[Alexis Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

the singer sisters by sarah seltzer 🦋 pub day: august 6th! thank you macmillan audio & netgalley for my early copy!

a family of folk-rock musicians fall apart and come together over time to deal with the secrets of the past and events of the present 🎸

I was HERE for the first part of this book but the vibes quickly changed the more I kept reading. I never really felt invested in the story or any of the characters. I was expecting to love it after hearing BIG claims comparing this story to daisy jones and the six but I was easily distracted while reading.

there were elements of the singer sisters I appreciated like the Jewish representation, depression, long lasting effects of adoption, LGBTQ-related issues and the sense of healing family trauma at the end. I just didn’t connect enough to care where it went.

if you're looking for a 2024 release focused within the music industry, I recommend honey by isabel banta! I’m sure there will be a bunch of people who will enjoy this story as it was well written, it just wasn’t the one for me. 2 stars 🎤

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this more than Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. It turns out I gave that 5 stars so this deserves no fewer. It is the story of a musical family - two generations of women who write and sing songs and the men who produce their music, steal their lyrics, love and support them.
It’s about family expectations and what happens when those are out of sync with our own desires; about unexpected family, fame, and loss.
The book moves in time between generations but listening to the audiobook I was never confused about where or when I was in time (unlike some others I’ve listened to recently). Lots of music references (mostly rock and folk), and juggling careers and parenting.
My thanks to the talented author, publisher, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook for review purposes. The book’s publication date is August 6, 2024.

[Sarah Jaffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not fair to feel like I'm this much the target audience for something but I mean, a book about two generations of Jewish folk-rock singers dealing with feminism, family, and complicated relationships with ambition? Loaded with Easter egg references to USAS, Irish hunger strikers, legal/illegal abortion, Lilith Fair ...I loved it.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you like family drama and music drama? This book is for you. It’s tender at times, but I love the texture best— the moments with a new character or running into one you’ve not seen for a few chapters like an old pal at a party. Will read the whole Seltzer-verse when it arrives! Give me the Bitsy Calhoun novel, please!

[Rebecca RebeccasFamAndMore · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggle with this review. First, thank you NetGalley

I wanted so desperately to enjoy this one… I was a huge fan of Daisy Jones, and quite a few other musical novels. The reason for the two stars wasn’t because of the writing… I appreciated the lyrical prose when it came to the songs, representation of all walks of life spanning from the 60s to the 90s… it hit hard topics for sure. However, at no point did I ever connect to the characters… quite a few times I wanted to DNF it but just kept going thinking something would just grab me… sadly it didn’t.

One or two reviews in here say they liked it better than Daisy Jones —in the end, I have to go with the fact that I am not going to remember 95% of this in a month. 🥺

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok. It is about a multigenerational family of musicians. It has a dual timeline going back and forth throughout. There are two sisters who sing together. One sister is more the lead and the other sister is the songwriter. They are performing in the 60’s as a folk group. The songwriter sister has a daughter that becomes an angry alternative rocker in the 90’s. Lots of family dysfunction and strife.

[Kristen Perrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this, it's the perfect summer read! It expertly blends two pivotal periods in the US music scene - the 60s and the 90s, weaving together narratives from a family of musicians that are wonderfully flawed, relatable, interesting, and creative characters. It has all the things I love in a book - family secrets, complicated love stories, drama, and heartfelt connections. Plus the covers for both the US and UK are also SO gorgeous!

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came because I love the sixties and the folk era - I stayed for the beautifully complicated family dynamics that had me in tears for the last five pages.

[Bookish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a solid debut novel perfect for fans of family dramas and historical fiction set within the music industry, along the lines of the recent debut novel Honey, as well as the classic Daisy Jones & The Six. I received audiobook and e-book copies and enjoyed the multiple narrators in the audiobook version.

The plot vacillates between dual timelines: Judie and Sylvia in the 1960s, a pair of Jewish sisters who rise to fame as "The Singer Sisters," and Emma in the 1990s, who is Judie's daughter. Emma is on the quest for fame, while her mother disapproves. There are lots of other family dynamics at play, including themes of adoption/accidental pregnancy, LGBTQ representation, divorce, etc. We see the sister rivalry between Judie and Sylvia, as Judie sidelines her career to raise her family, while her husband still gets to tour as a musician, and Sylvia refuses to marry to focus on her career instead. Overall, I much preferred the Judie/Sylvia narrative, as I found the Emma character to be rather immature and annoying, with limited character development, while the latter two are very well written with lots of depth and nuance!

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emma is on the cusp of "making it big" and wants to pour all of her energy into becoming a music (meaning giving up her college acceptance, etc.). However, her previously famous mother could not be more against the idea. The book flips from the 60s life of her mother to the "current" 90s culture that Emma is navigating.

Overall, the book was enjoying and interesting, but I feel like there was a little something missing to really push it over the edge. That being said, I would recommend to anyone that enjoyed "daisy Jones and the Six" although different, there are certainly some similar trends and themes that I found to be enjoyable.

The audio quality was good, and production fun to listen.

[Barbara Monaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

With a background of folk and rock,The Singer Sisters is much more of a family story, a story about secrets, and most of all, a story about mothers and daughters. The dual timeline was great, it was fun to dive into the folk scene of the 60's and the Indie rock scene of the 90's. All of the characters, especially the female characters, are well-developed and realistic. This would be a great book club book, so much to discuss..

[Nan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judie and Sylvia Zingerman, The Singer Sisters, were a folk rock duo who made an impact in the mid-60s to mid-70s. Emma, Judie’s daughter, is an aspiring alt-rocker in the 90s. Their stories are woven into a well-plotted saga of mothers, daughters, mistakes, secrets, regrets, and new beginnings set in the fickle and difficult world of women and music. Enjoyable debut novel.

[Kira · Rating 2 out of 5]

this woman needs to be stopped before she writes again

[Paige Wills · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this. Captivating story and love letter to music with meaningful family drama and a tender depiction of the sacrifices and complexities of motherhood and womanhood. so grateful for my ARC <3

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Singer Sisters chronicles multiple musicians from two generations as they navigate complex familial relationships while chasing fame, but at what cost? This is a story about growing up and parenting, love and family, and of course the music that binds everyone together.

I had high expectations for this book because usually I love the trope of "following singers through their career", particularly during "vintage" times. I quite enjoyed Daisy Jones and the Six and The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, and was thrilled that this story was just as good. Set in the 60s/70s (my favourite "vintage" music decades) and the 90s/00s, we follow mothers, daughters, sisters, and the various love interests of each, as their relationships intertwine throughout the decades. The thread that connects the characters and the timelines is the music, and we see behind the scenes of the music industry, the onstage and backstage antics, flashbacks about growing up and coming of age, and the strains and consequences of this life.

Since we're jumping around on the timeline of different characters' lives, the characters were at times lacking depth as we skip over parts of their lives from their point of view to shift to another character's pov from another time. There was adequate character development though: we find out enough about each to feel like our glimpses of their lives are real, and I believed their motivations and actions. It was nice to see some queer representation and an attempt at including diverse characters. The various storylines come together at the end, with a moving on stage moment for the entire family that left me feeling like I really wanted to actually be part of that audience.

The writing is accessible and easy to follow. I thought the audiobook narrator did a good job giving different voices to the different characters. There is no actual singing as part of the audio, but lyrics are included throughout - and the lyrics are moving so perhaps someone will record an album or we'll see this on the screen before too long!

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Kim McGee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do the sins of the parents follow the children? Two generations of great musicians try for that unreachable star and realize the cost of that fame. A complicated mother/daughter family relationship with the jealousy of the life not lived, the path not taken and a devastating secret. This is a moving story that digs down deep into the stories behind song lyrics that hold the power to finally unite or drive a wedge that can never be closed. Fans of the tv show "This is Us" specifically the mom/daughter musical link will appreciate this as will readers of books centered around the children of famous parents. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Read it if you love music history, and also if you're a woman struggling to understand your identity in your career, relationships, parenthood, etc.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

We follow two narrators, mother Judie in the 60s, from the age of 17 and her daughter Emma in the 90s.
While both narrators are a similar age, Emma has a really grating habit of whining. The line between confidence and narcissism is very thin.
She seems a lot less grown up than Judie at her age, though growing up a nepo baby must be a very weird experience.
She does have nice character development throughout the book.
Both characters are very well written and fleshed out.
Later in the book we also get Sylvia and another narrator.
Judie and her sister Sylvia form a folk duo band “the Singer Sisters” who make it big. She is married to another artist, and for a while they are the “it” couple in folk circles.
In the book we get into the nitty gritty of growing up, families, expectations etc. While it took a while to pick up the pace, the story goes very deep and is very nuanced.
Judie, Emma and Sylvia have very distinct voices in their narration. The other one slightly less so.
It is lovely to read an uplifting Jewish story with Jewish characters that is centered around joy and music.
The book also has a nice amount of queer rep.
If you like reading about the music scene in the 60s/70s, or the 90s, this book is for you. If you like complicated families, this might also be your jam.
I really hope artists can make an album out of the lyrics in the book. I read the 60s ones as a mix of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Carole King.
I highly recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

[The One Where Aimee Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, just WOW. The Singer Sisters by Sarah Seltzer blew me away. 

It's a moving and emotional family drama. It is about creating art, your life, your legacy. You follow two generations of a family of singer-songwriters and the sacrifices they make to chase their dreams, for success, for love. The characters get it wrong as often as they get it right. They ride the highs of fame and pick up the pieces when everything falls apart. I loved the way Seltzer highlighted the challenges of motherhood and womanhood: the female characters struggle to assert their agency and chart their own course in a man's world. She shows how life is a journey and there is freedom and power that come from making your own decisions and living by your own mistakes.

Seltzer's writing had me captivated. I felt like I knew this family, these characters. The book even has beautiful and poetic snippets of lyrics from songs, because sometimes the best way to tell a story is through music. Oh, and the book has fantastic Jewish representation. 

Originally rated 4.5 Stars, but bumped up to 5 because the story has stuck with me in a way few books do.

If you love books about the music industry and family dramas, this one is for you!

Thank you to Flatiron Books and the author for the ARC.
The Singer Sisters will be out 8/6.

[Sally Coady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this one.
Although I would have preferred more in depth around Emma.

[M.B. G · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very moving and entertaining multigenerational story that takes the power and promise of music seriously.

Emma, a possibly college bound young adult is the daughter of two iconic folk stars from the 60’s and 70’s looking to establish her own star in the family celebrity constellation. But she is haunted by questions, about things in her past and present that she doesn’t understand. Perhaps the family music holds an answer? Perhaps rock ‘n’ roll is a redemptive force?

And is there a reason her mother objects so strenuously to her following in her footsteps??

Seltzer compassionately catalogues the tread and the wear the profession takes, and for one character, the transformation away from a freedom and magic seeking (and enormously talented) young artist, into a security seeking, nurturer of their children, and the challenges and tolls that accrue with those decisions. Most parents, former rock stars or not, might hum along with this familiar refrain.

Particularly noteworthy is seltzers execution situating portions the novel in the crucible years of the late 1960s, especially representing the possibilities it represented for women. Also, her descriptions of the creative process, dynamics and relationships between bandmates and collaborators really strike the right chords.

[Lana | Libraryofabibliotaph · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story filled with music, anger, grief and trauma. At the end of the tunnel, there is finally light to be found in the shape of acceptance and finding the courage to move on.

However, neither the story, nor the characters, captivated/moved/intrigued me. I found this book rather boring, even though I had really high expectations (one of the reasons it being recommended to the fanbase of Daisy Jones and the Six, one of my favourite books of last year). The writing style, although I can see why it fits the story, was also too chaotic for me. All the switches in POV, plus the non linear timeline, made it too hard to keep track of everything. Sometimes you also had to read deeply between the lines, I think, which wasn’t what I was looking for in this book. Not being able to connect with the characters, not even in the smallest way, is also something that makes it way harder for me to like and enjoy a book. Nevertheless I have to say that the story was thought through, and some of the pieces fitted together nicely throughout the progression of this story.

[Michelle Hein · Rating 5 out of 5]

This debut is a triumph (!), especially its characters and pacing. The shifts in time deepened my understanding of the relationships between the characters, and the author brought out each point of view in a way that respected the fullness of each individual. So often, especially in modern upmarket fiction, there's this bleed of authorial judgment, which suggests, in subtext, that one character ought to have done something differently, or that another character is deserving of punishment, etc. This book, though, really laid bare the complexities of being a woman and a daughter and a mother at all stages of life, and it was done without unnecessary commentary or judgmental subtext, which is the only way to respect the complexity of it all. Highly recommend this read, and looking forward to more from this author!

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A moving debut about a complicated Jewish family, mother-daughter relationships and the changing music scene of the 60s and 90s. This was AMAZING on audio narrated by three of my favs, Barrie Kreinik, Helen Laser and Stephanie Nemeth-Parker.

I really liked the way the story jumps from the past to the present as we follow the music careers of two women and witness their struggles with unexpected motherhood, first love, messy affairs and the politics of their time.

If you enjoyed books like Daisy Jones and the Six or Songs in ursa major, this dual timeline, multiple POV, historical fiction book is one not to miss! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

CW: discussions of abortion