Skye and Summer are twins. Long ago, no one could tell the two sisters apart. However, Skye and Summer are now grown women in their forties, and their two worlds could not be more different. Skye lives in Tallahassee, Florida, and is married to a prominent attorney, and they have children together. Skye has devoted herself to being a stay-at-home mom, and now, in her forties, she is feeling unappreciated. She has also put on weight, which bothers her, although she does not make much effort to do anything about it. Her husband is always busy at work, and Skye worries about what will happen to their marriage when they have an empty nest.
Summer lives in New York City and works as a model. She is forty years old, which is extremely old for a model, but Summer stays slim and in shape and she has steady work through a fashion designer. Summer is divorced from Nick and she does not have any children, although Nick remarried and has a son. Summer cannot fathom motherhood, unlike her sister Skye.
When the sisters find out that their eccentric mother, Ginny, is in the hospital in a coma, they both arrive at the hospital and plan to stay in town for a few days. When their mother comes out of the coma, she convinces Skye and Summer to take her across the U.S. to visit eighteen-year-old Jane, Ginny’s late-in-life daughter. Jane has a history of mental illness and has led a transient lifestyle for years. However, Ginny knows where Jane is , and she coaxes Skye and Summer to embark on the cross-country trip.
The trio sets off for the trip. Skye and Summer are not exactly thrilled with Ginny’s idea, but they have agreed to appease their mother. The sisters had a rough upbringing, often abused and neglected by Ginny, and she wants to make amends on this journey. The bulk of the novel is trip itself, not the destination – and the three women learn more about themselves and each other than they thought possible.
Sisters is a novel about family, love, secrets and forgiveness, shown by the relationship between Skye and Summer as well as their relationship with their mother and what unfolds among the trio. I enjoyed this book, although I found its flow a bit uneven. The bulk of the novel concerns the trip, which is fine, but the ending wraps up too quickly. That said, fans of women’s fiction will probably enjoy Sisters.