Sisters at Heart

In 1965 Winnipeg, a distraught Ryan Barry buries his beloved spouse and makes a decision about his and his two daughters' future. He feels that he cannot raise both girls and pursue a music career. He decides to take one of his girls, Deborah, with him, but leave the other, Anne, behind to be raised by his sister-in-law. For the next three decades, Ryan never looks back at the little girl he left behind. By 1997, Ryan has made millions with his folk singing career. Though angry at his desertion, a widowed Anne decides to contact her estranged father for the sake of her teenage daughter, Sandy, who has been admitted to Juilliard, but cannot afford the tuition. Sandy convinces Anne to travel to England to visit her father and her sister. Together for the first time in thirty-two years, can Ryan and his two daughters regain what was lost at a grave site in Canada so long ago? SISTERS AT HEART is one of the year's best relationship dramas due to the brilliant, angst-laden story line that pulls readers' hearts and the tiny details of authenticity that turn the novel into a living experience. The protagonists are flawed humans struggling with their fears and desires, and the support cast accentuates the story line. Readers will regret missing this contemporary novel that demonstrates how much talent Susan Bowden possesses. Harriet Klausne