Sisters

by Prue Leith

Growing up in the outback of South Africa, sensible Poppy realized she would always have to look out for her younger sister, the beautiful, wild, and unreliable Carrie. Years later, in London, Poppy, a stage actress with three children and a charming, handsome husband, never imagines that Carrie, now a sexy and passionate caterer, would try to hurt her. But Carrie can't help herself. She's resentful that Poppy has everything she always wanted: a successful, fulfilling career, a gorgeous husband, a loving family, a house in the country, while Carrie has nothing but debts, one-night-stands, and an uncertain future. Carrie discovers the chink in Poppy's armor, her husband Eduardo, and she sets out to exploit it in the way she knows best. She provides Eduardo with danger, excitement, and great sex - all things that have faded in Eduardo and Poppy's marriage. But in destroying her sister's peace of mind, Carrie risks losing all those who love her. Prue Leith has written a poignant and moving story about the real choices siblings have to make once they grow up and start taking stock of their lives. Sisters is a brilliantly crafted portrait of sibling rivalry, love, and the ultimate betrayal.

Genres: Fiction, Family, British Literature

257 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Paige Garner · Rating 1 out of 5]

Eugh

This is not a "poignant and moving story" with "two sisters making choices" cause it's not. It's a bunch of cop outs laid out in a way to make you try to empathize with every poor decision and even poorer resolution. I have never hated a book like this and I have read, liked, and disliked many. If I were to suggest a book about love, betrayal, where my family stands in my life, and forgiveness, I would not choose this.

I really struggled to enjoy this book. At first I was having a good time with it and I enjoyed the writing somewhat. However, not only are the characters unchanging and shallow, but there are not even any good takeaways or lessons in it. Given that it's supposed to be morally/ethically a struggle for the characters or looking inside themselves and even realizing the truth, I was left completely unfulfilled and pretty disgusted with what I was supposed to be okay with.

Consider two sisters. One is successful with a family and the other beautiful and unpredictable. Great. Sister one gets totally walked on throughout the book. First, her husband cheats on her. When sister 2 finds out, after an initial anger, she beginning affair with him. Flash forward an amount of time and sister 1 finds out. Her husband barely does anything to reconcile after sleeping with her sister and we barely even touch base on all the other women. Sister 2 is barely apologetic and instead goes on and on about how Sister 1 needs to just let him go so he can be with Sister 2

Once a former friend who is quirky and kind is back in the picture, sister 2 is apparently in love with him. Note that Sister 2 STILL believes that the husband was "weak for not leaving" and that Sister 1 still needed to let him go. And even though she still feels this strongly, she "sincerely apologizes" (how is that even possible?) For everything. Then she and the better man move to Africa. Sister 1 and husband stay together after a weak apology and some potato digging (you know, to make it up to her and all). She even states to herself that she would never trust her husband again fully, BUT she loved him and he is the father of her kids so that's all good. Flash forward to the funeral of their mother and Sister 2 returns pregnant, apologizes once more, and the two make up. Happy ending.

First off, I hated the characters. They are all weak, static, and unchanging despite the situations, and I couldn't even bring myself to like them. I felt sympathy for Sister 1 I suppose and the Better man who ended up with Sister 2 was all right. It's not the same as not liking an intentionally bad character or even challenging you to accept their flaws, it was like an example for a ton of things you should never want or do with no true resolution. "I forgive these people out of love and they are my family, even though none of them actually worked for it and nobody really changed" is not a great message. Love is powerful, but in this book, it's almost used as an excuse for everything. Even IF I could have been on board with the characters and their lack of any development, after everything, the lessons and big takeaway were cheap, shallow, and overall pathetic.

I would never recommend this book to someone else. I guess someone else could enjoy this book, but I was left frustrated and disappointed.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book a year or two ago and had initially given up reading it after a few pages. I decided to try it again recently and was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed it very much. Perhaps some of my enjoyment stemmed from growing up in South Africa at much the same time as Prue Leith did herself and remembering her illustrious mother, the late Margaret Inglis, who was one of South Africa's greatest actresses of her generation.

Prue Leith had many cookery books published in the earlier part of her life. In the comparatively new genre of novel-writing she is very competent and the book held my interest. Perhaps she might have considered giving the sisters in questions more distinctive names - Carrie and Poppy can easily be mixed up. Carrie is not entirely likeable for most of the book, but (as in the advice given in most writing courses)she changes for the better as the book progresses.

My only criticism is that Prue Leith spent too much time discussing the food the characters were eating - or cooking! I suppose this is understandable as she made a great name for herself as a cook and restaurant owner.

"Sisters" is not great literature but it is a very enjoyable novel. Now that I have read it I look forward to reading more novels by Prue Leith.

[Tshepo Moeletsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book bc it had me frustrated yet I couldn’t put it down.

I won’t be giving a summary but a few things(spoilers included) that stood out to me:

- How easily Poppy forgave Eduardo but couldn’t forgive Carrie, as well as how she went from wanting to know every detail to not getting any and moving on.
- The slight racism from Guilia and then quickly turning into grandma of the year when Lorato drowned.
- Karl’s plot twist was just shocking. Like uhm, how did we get here.

I wish there were a few more details about:
- The repayment of the debt Carrie had or if she just left it unpaid?
- The steps Carrie took to stop drinking and doing drugs or if she just decided it and that was it.
- How Lorato got over her fears and traumas because one minute she was non verbal the next she was speaking more fluently than Tom.
- If Poppy ended up landing a big movie as she was in America when her mother passed
- Whether they ever institutionalized their mother or just left her to have the caretaker visits.

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got 1/3 of the way through this book and had to give up. Prue Leith is multitalented but falls short as a novelist here, relying on telling vs. showing. The plot details were also unappealing-- a woman goes from berating her brother in law for cheating to falling in his arms minutes later? And they're both delighted at this turn of events? Maybe they feel guilt later in the book but I decided to give up and return it to the library early.

[Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

not quite it, but good for the beach?

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book that I found picked up later rather than sooner, I enjoyed it despite not understanding the characters. As one of the two sisters is faced with betrayal, she chooses her husband over her sister with what seems like ease. I would have more enjoyed this book if it have develed deeper into both the sisters' motivations (especially Poppy's), but I still enjoyed this book very much. As a last note, I found the actual story somewhat different from the synopsis on the inside cover, so be prepared for differences if you look at that.

[Mimi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jaksoin oikeasti lukea noin ensimmäiset sata sivua, ja loput 289(!) menivät vähän sivusilmällä muiden juttujen lomassa. Kovin ennalta-arvattava ja siksi tylsä oli tämä. Harmi, koska tykkäsin kovasti kirjoitustyylistä ja osasta hahmojakin.

[Caron · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️