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| Categories | Genre Fiction |
| Author | Kristin Hannah |
| Publisher | Ballantine Books; Reprint edition (July 28, 2009) |
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 480 pages |
| Item Weight | 12 ounces |
| Dimensions |
5.18 x 0.93 x 8.01 inches |
I. Book introduction
Between Sisters is a novel about the disappointments that come with love. As a hotshot divorce attorney, Meghann is particularly entwined with the daily aftermath of a love gone bad. She believes she is protecting her heart by steering clear of love, but is she? Or is she more damaged by her inability to love at all? In one scene, a client finally says to her, “What happened to you?”
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Bestselling author [Kristin] Hannah [brings] snap and a lot of warmth to a familiar lesson: that contentment comes from accepting each other’s flaws.”—People
Years ago, Meghann Dontess made a terrible choice that cost her everything, including the love of her sister, Claire. Now, Meghann is a highly successful attorney who doesn’t believe in intimacy—until she meets the one man who can change her mind. Claire Cavenaugh has fallen in love for the first time in her life. As her wedding day approaches, she prepares to face her strong-willed older sister. Reunited after more than two decades apart, these two women who believe they have nothing in common will try to become what they never were: a family. Tender, funny, bittersweet, and moving, Between Sisters skillfully explores the profound joys and sorrows shared by sisters, the mistakes made in the name of love, and the promise of redemption—all beautifully told by acclaimed author Kristin Hannah.
Editorial Reviews
- “Enormously entertaining . . . Hannah has a nice ear for dialogue and a knack for getting the reader inside the characters’ heads.”—The Seattle Times
- “Hannah writes of love with compassion and conviction.”—Luanne Rice
- “Hannah is superb at delving into her main characters’ psyches and delineating nuances of feeling.” —The Washington Post Book World
- “Bestselling author Hannah writes witty dialogue . . . bringing snap and a lot of warmth to a familiar lesson: that contentment comes from accepting each other’s flaws.” —People
About Kristin Hannah
Kristin Hannah (born September 25, 1960) is an American writer. Her most notable works include Winter Garden, The Nightingale, Firefly Lane, The Great Alone, and The Four Winds. In 2024, St. Martin’s Publishing Group published her novel, The Women, which is set in America in the 1960s.
Kristin Hannah was born in California. After graduating with a degree in communication from the University of Washington, Hannah worked at an advertising agency in Seattle. She graduated from the University of Puget Sound law school and practiced law in Seattle before becoming a full-time writer. Hannah wrote her first novel with her mother, who was dying of cancer at the time, but the book was never published.
Hannah’s best-selling work, The Nightingale, has sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide and has been published in 45 languages.
Hannah lives on Bainbridge Island, Washington, with her husband and their son.
II. Reviewer: Between Sisters by Kristin Hannah
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1. THERESA ALAN reviews for Between Sisters
It will come as no surprise to fans of Kristen Hannah that this is a wonderful book. It’s different than the other novels of hers I read. The Great Alone was one of the best books I’ve read in the last several months, not to mention The Nightingale, which won about a million awards. Both were very different than this novel about two sisters who grew up with a mother who drank too much and cared about herself, not her daughters. This left Meg to care for her sister Claire, who was seven years younger than her.
Misunderstandings led to their estrangement when Meg was 16 and Claire was 9. They kept in contact by phone, but their closeness and friendship disappeared. Meg goes through a challenging time with her successful career in law, and she takes time off and goes to the small town where Claire lives to help with her wedding.
There is more romance than some of Hannah’s other books. I had tears in my eyes for the last thirty pages. This would make a great movie. If not for the Hollywood big screen, it would make a great tear jerker made-for-TV movie.
Recommend.
2. MELISSA reviews for Between Sisters
I woke up with a major book hangover the morning after finishing this one. It was a top-notch read like so many of Kristin Hannah’s others. It’s an emotional story of two sisters finding their way back to one another after being sort of estranged. I laughed, I cried, I felt. Be warned – tears are inevitable.
3. KARINA reviews for Between Sisters
Loved this. I cried like a baby near the end. Kristin Hannah knows how to tell a story well.
As you can probably guess it is a book about sisters… (wink wink). Set in Washington State it alternates between Meghann Dontess and Claire Cavenaugh and what bonded them together as children and then the separation that took place and how it shattered their connection as adults. There is so much pain and hurt in their stories. When Claire decides to get married and Meghann has a mental breakdown at work and has to take vacation their stories start to bind and blend for the sake of their well being and love for one another.
Sweet read.
4. NICOLE LEIGH READS reviews for Between Sisters
We love a good, solid ending!
Between Sisters is one of Kristin Hannah’s earlier works. There’s no doubt her later works of historical fiction such as The Nightingale, The Great Alone, and The Four Winds are some of her stronger books, as well as some of my very favorites. But Between Sisters was well worth the read, despite being a little dated. (The views of women and their roles is definitely very 2003.)
Some of Hannah’s signature prose can be found on the pages of this touching novel that is ultimately about family and forgiveness. I love how she can absolutely drop me into any scenery with gorgeous writing. One of these days I’ll visit Washington state and it’ll be because of Kristin Hannah’s books.
The characters in Between Sisters make up a strong bunch of family and friends. Meghann, the older sister, was probably the best developed of them all. And Ali, Claire’s daughter, was full of life and everything a five-year-old should be. Those two were probably my favorites, but many others stole my heart along the way.
I really enjoyed this one, and I’m thankful for the ending. (Again, love a good ending!)
5. K.CALDWELL reviews for Between Sisters
Not my favorite Kristin Hannah but comes very close. . .
I had the hard covered copy of Between Sisters on my bookshelf since it had first been published. Knowing I couldn’t carry a book of that weight back and forth on the train every day, I recently ordered a paperback in hopes that it would entice me to finally read this book. After all, I hadn’t read a Kristin Hannah novel in a long time and I had once considered her to be one of my absolute favorite authors.
Apparently it was about time! Immediately I felt swept up into the world of the Pacific Northwest, as so often happens when I read Hannah’s novels. The cabins and camp ground, despite the fact that I practically hate the outdoors, seemed so inviting, and the way in which Hannah describes the setting, you can almost imagine wanting to visit. The setting, which takes on such a prominent role in the beginning of the book, fades as other characters and more serious issues come to be in the story. But what always drew me to Hannah’s novels, and this one is no different, is the element of reality. The settings are so simple and inviting, the characters are flawed in such ways that make them feel real to the reader. The characters have flaws, but the flaws are created in a way that makes you feel sympathy for or appreciation of the character, not in a way that would make you hate the character for being so incredibly obnoxious. Trust me; I’ve seen so many authors try to do this and they end up stepping over the line and the character suffers. Hannah though, yet again, creates characters that are likable, and even more so, respectable.
I also love how Hannah’s novels flow. I’ve done my fair share of heavy reading in my life, but while the hardcover of Between Sisters seemed so daunting, I breezed through the paperback in just over a week. And as I read, I remembered how much I appreciated her use of language and her simplicity. It is much appreciated in a time when the plots of so many other books seem incredibly over-dramatized and their characters fake and uninspired.
Between Sisters, while definitely a very worthwhile read, is not my favorite book by Kristen Hannah, for I still love and remember On Mystic Lake like no other. I have also read Angel Falls, which I loved, and Summer Island, Distant Shores and Comfort and Joy, which were good, but not nearly as great as the others. Between Sisters, however, has definitely gotten me excited to read what novels of hers that I’ve missed over the years.
6. JOSEPH J.TRUNCALE reviews for Between Sisters
Fans of Kristin Hannah will love this novel (Between Sisters).
As someone who loves to read all kinds of books, this type of book (Between Sisters by Kristin Hannah) usually does not really appeal to me; however, I sometimes enjoy a little diversion and decided to read this book.
This is a tale of two sisters who were very close when they were young and drifted apart when they were older because of a conflict of interest. This is a book about love, family, marriage, and how the bonds of these sisters bring them back together.
Kristin Hannah is a prolific writer, and I am sure fans of this writer will love this book. I thought it was a good read even though in my opinion, it is clearly a book what women will love more so than men. I do, however, understand the conflicts brothers can have just as sisters do in families.
Rating: 4 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Zen poetry moments: Haiku and Senryu for special occasions).
7. DONNA C reviews for Between Sisters
GET YOUR TISSUES OUT!
I’m a Lucinda Reilly fan but read all of her book so I needed a new author to follow. I happened
To stumble upon Hannah and this was the first book I read under her name.
Well, I’m so happy I did. My emotions were all over the place reading this book. Laughing and crying, like sobbing crying!! I couldn’t put the book down and was so sad when I was done.
I won’t give anything away but would definitely suggest you read it.
I’m now on my third book under this author and was so excited To see she has written many books.
Kudos Hannah!! Keep writing!!
8. NANCY reviews for Between Sisters
Another Outstanding Hannah Novel
While I am a huge fan of Hannah’s historical fiction, I am also a big fan of her more modern tales. In less than a year I have read seven of her novels and look forward to reading even more from this talented writer who always excels in writing about relationships. Regarding Between Sisters, some may find the coming together of certain characters unbelievable, I found it reflects what can actually occur in life. The story shows the restorative nature of love, if only you are willing to take the chance and that no relationship need be set in stone.
9. KYLIE H reviews for Between Sisters
This is an early book of Kristin Hannah’s in which Meghann, a well known divorce attorney is forced to question everything she believes about love and happy endings. Meghann sees a therapist but avoids discussion about her childhood and her younger sister Claire. Meghann now feels very much alone, Claire has her own life with her father Sam and daughter Alison. Meghann’s mother is too busy being a media star and now Meghann is wondering how she can stand her ‘aloneness’ any longer.
When Meghann is forced to take a break from work and gets a call from her sister, Meghann finds herself a new mission.
Have a few tissues handy, this one is a real tear-jerker!
10. LAUREN reviews for Between Sisters
First time I read a Kristin Hannah book and was thoroughly impressed by her writing. I couldn’t seem to put the book down because I was always wanting to know what was going to happen next. I was a little disappointed in how she wrote about the characters though in the sense I felt like we got to know who Joe was at the end of the book instead of at the beginning of the book. Meghann was a strong character playing a lawyer and a loving sister. I didn’t have faith in Claire and Bobby’s relationship at the beginning but as the story unfolded Bobby turned out a loving husband.
Definitely would read another Hannah book again!!
III. Between Sisters Quotes by Kristin Hannah
The best book quotes from Between Sisters by Kristin Hannah
“One thing motherhood had taught her—love required boldness. And fear simply came with the package.”
“Sometimes love means trusting people to make their own decisions. In other words, shutting up.”
“Sooner or later, Meg, it’s always about family. The past has an irritating way of becoming the present.”
“We can’t live other people’s lives for them. Even if we love them.”
“If love is the answer, could you please rephrase the question?” —LILY TOMLIN”
“Meg is planning your wedding? Honey, that’s like asking the pope to plan a bar mitzvah.”
“Now, darlin’, you know that social etiquette is bred into us Southern girls.” “Oh, please. You’re as Southern as Tony Soprano.” Mama sniffed. “I swear, I should have left you by the side of the road in Wheeling, West Virginia.” “You did leave me there.”
“We do not see things as they are,
we see them as we are.” —ANAÏS NIN”“It’s too bad we don’t live life backward. I think it was Kierkegaard who said that.”
“hope felt like a borrowed sweater that didn’t quite fit.”
“The most amazing part of this science-fiction moment was that her mother actually believed what she just said.”
“it’s always about family. The past has an irritating way of becoming the present.”
“We can’t live other people’s lives for them. Even if we love them.”
“In the market, tourists were still crowded around the fish stand. White-aproned vendors threw thirty-pound king salmons through the air to one another: at every toss, tourists snapped photographs.”
“It was a gray, not-quite-rainy day, the kind where the sky was so low it seemed to bump you in the forehead when you dared to venture outside.”
“After that, they got hot dogs at a frankfurter stand and walked down the wharf. At Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe they saw shrunken heads and Egyptian mummies and cheap souvenirs. (Meg didn’t point out the eight-foot-long petrified whale penis that hung suspended from the ceiling; she could just imagine what Ali would tell her friends.)”
“They were always doing that to each other, misinterpreting, imagining the worst. No wonder every conversation bruised one or the other.”
“Claire knew she loved her daughter too much; it was dangerous to need another human being so desperately, but Claire had never known any other way to love.”
“Talking about Meghann’s painful choice and the lonely years that had followed it wouldn’t help. Her past wasn’t a collection of memories to be worked through; it was like an oversize Samsonite with a bum wheel.”
“Some people had trouble accepting certain”
“Do you remember how love feels?”
“I’m going to assume you gave this guy a blow job, but a phone call is too personal?”
“handled a glass bubble as if it were made of steel.”
“This is like open-heart surgery without anesthesia.” She looked”
“The leader of the pack never makes a good follower. But it would mean”
“He didn’t have to move toward his old life; he simply had to stop running from it.”
“hardcore drinkers, the folks who found their bar stools at 10:00 A.M. and climbed aboard.”
“know things exist that I never see. Love has to be one of them. I’m trying to believe in it for you.”
“speechless. The most amazing part of this science-fiction moment was that”
“It had sneaked up on her. She’d opened a door called anonymous sex and found herself standing in a room filled with unexpected possibilities.”
“What he grieved for was the idea of her. For those few moments—unexpected and sweet—he’d dared to step onto old roads. He’d let”
“It had never occurred to either one of them that they wouldn’t be together forever. That one of them would have to go on alone.”
Excerpted from Between Sisters by Kristin Hannah
Between Sisters – Chapter One
Dr. Bloom waited patiently for an answer.
Meghann Dontess leaned back in her seat and studied her fingernails. It was time for a manicure. Past time. “I try not to feel too much, Harriet. You know that. I find it impedes my enjoyment of life.”
“Is that why you’ve seen me every week for four years? Because you enjoy your life so much?”
“I wouldn’t point that out if I were you. It doesn’t say much for your psychiatric skills. It’s entirely possible, you know, that I was perfectly normal when I met you and you’re actually making me crazy.”
“You’re using humor as a shield again.”
“You’re giving me too much credit. That wasn’t funny.”
Harriet didn’t smile. “I rarely think you’re funny.”
“There goes my dream of doing stand-up.”
“Let’s talk about the day you and Claire were separated.”
Meghann shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Just when she needed a smart-ass response, her mind went blank. She knew what Harriet was poking around for, and Harriet knew she knew. If Meghann didn’t answer, the question would simply be asked again. “Separated. A nice, clean word. Detached. I like it, but that subject is closed.”
“It’s interesting that you maintain a relationship with your mother while distancing yourself from your sister.”
Meghann shrugged. “Mama’s an actress. I’m a lawyer. We’re comfortable with make-believe.”
“Meaning?”
“Have you ever read one of her interviews?”
“No.”
“She tells everyone that we lived this poor, pathetic-but-loving existence. We pretend it’s the truth.”
“You were living in Bakersfield when the pathetic-but-loving pretense ended, right?”
Meghann remained silent. Harriet had maneuvered her back to the painful subject like a rat through a maze.
Harriet went on, “Claire was nine years old. She was missing several teeth, if I remember correctly, and she was having difficulties with math.”
“Don’t,” Meghann curled her fingers around the chair’s sleek wooden arms.
Harriet stared at her. Beneath the unruly black ledge of her eyebrows, her gaze was steady. Small round glasses magnified her eyes. “Don’t back away, Meg. We’re making progress.”
“Any more progress and I’ll need an aid car. We should talk about my practice. That’s why I come to you, you know. It’s a pressure cooker down in Family Court these days. Yesterday, I had a deadbeat dad drive up in a Ferrari and then swear he was flat broke. The shithead. Didn’t want to pay for his daughter’s tuition. Too bad for him I videotaped his arrival.”
“Why do you keep paying me if you don’t want to discuss the root of your problems?”
“I have issues, not problems. And there’s no point in poking around in the past. I was sixteen when all that happened. Now, I’m a whopping forty-two. It’s time to move on. I did the right thing. It doesn’t matter anymore.”
“Then why do you still have the nightmare?”
She fiddled with the silver David Yurman bracelet on her wrist. “I have nightmares about spiders who wear Oakley sunglasses, too. But you never ask about that. Oh, and last week, I dreamed I was trapped in a glass room that had a floor made of bacon. I could hear people crying, but I couldn’t find the key. You want to talk about that one?”
“A feeling of isolation. An awareness that people are upset by your actions, or missing you. Okay, let’s talk about that dream. Who is crying?”
“Shit.” Meghann should have seen that. After all, she had an undergraduate degree in psychology. Not to mention the fact that she’d once been called a child prodigy.
She glanced down at her platinum and gold watch. “Too bad, Harriet. Time’s up. I guess we’ll have to solve my pesky neuroses next week.” She stood up, smoothed the pant legs of her navy Armani suit. Not that there was a wrinkle to be found.
Harriet slowly removed her glasses.
Meghann crossed her arms in an instinctive gesture of self-protection. “This should be good.”
“Do you like your life, Meghann?”
That wasn’t what she’d expected. “What’s not to like? I’m the best divorce attorney in the state. I live–”
“–alone–”
“–in a kick-ass condo above the Public Market and drive a brand-new Porsche.”
“Friends?”
“I talk to Elizabeth every Thursday night.”
“Family?”
Maybe it was time to get a new therapist. Harriet had ferreted out all of Meghann’s weak points. “My mom stayed with me for a week last year. If I’m lucky, she’ll come back for another visit just in time to watch the colonization of Mars on MTV.”
“And Claire?”
“My sister and I have problems, I’ll admit it. But nothing major. We’re just too busy to get together.” When Harriet didn’t speak, Meghann rushed in to fill the silence. “Okay, she makes me crazy, the way she’s throwing her life away. She’s smart enough to do anything, but she stays tied to that loser campground they call a resort.”
“With her father.”
“I don’t want to discuss my sister. And I definitely don’t want to discuss her father.”
Harriet tapped her pen on the table. “Okay, how about this: When was the last time you slept with the same man twice?”
“You’re the only one who thinks that’s a bad thing. I like variety.”
“The way you like younger men, right? Men who have no desire to settle down. You get rid of them before they can get rid of you.”
“Again, sleeping with younger, sexy men who don’t want to settle down is not a bad thing. I don’t want a house with a picket fence in suburbia. I’m not interested in family life, but I like sex.”
“And the loneliness, do you like that?”
“I’m not lonely,” she said stubbornly. “I’m independent. Men don’t like a strong woman.”
“Strong men do.”
“Then I better start hanging out in gyms instead of bars.”
“And strong women face their fears. They talk about the painful choices they’ve made in their lives.”
Meghann actually flinched. “Sorry, Harriet, I need to scoot. See you next week.”
She left the office.
Outside, it was a gloriously bright June day. Early in the so-called summer. Everywhere else in the country, people were swimming and barbecuing and organizing poolside picnics. Here, in good ole Seattle, people were methodically checking their calendars and muttering that it was June, damn it.
Only a few tourists were around this morning; out-of-towners recognizable by the umbrellas tucked under their arms.
Meghann finally released her breath as she crossed the busy street and stepped up onto the grassy lawn of the waterfront park. A towering totem pole greeted her. Behind it, a dozen seagulls dived for bits of discarded food.
She walked past a park bench where a man lay huddled beneath a blanket of yellowed newspapers. In front of her, the deep blue Sound stretched along the pale horizon. She wished she could take comfort from that view; often, she could. But today, her mind was caught in the net of another time and place.
If she closed her eyes–which she definitely dared not do–she’d remember it all: the dialing of the telephone number, the stilted, desperate conversation with a man she didn’t know, the long, silent drive to that shit-ass little town up north. And worst of all, the tears she’d wiped from her little sister’s flushed cheeks when she said, I’m leaving you, Claire.
Her fingers tightened around the railing. Dr. Bloom was wrong. Talking about Meghann’s painful choice and the lonely years that had followed it wouldn’t help.
Her past wasn’t a collection of memories to be worked through; it was like an oversize Samsonite with a bum wheel. Meghann had learned that a long time ago. All she could do was drag it along behind her.
Each November, the mighty Skykomish River strained against its muddy banks. The threat of flooding was a yearly event; in a dance as old as time itself, the people who lived in the tiny towns along the river watched and waited, sandbags at the ready. Their memory went back for generations. Everyone had a story to tell about the time the water rose to the second floor of so-and-so’s house . . . to the top of the doorways at the grange hall . . . to the corner of Spring and Azalea Streets. People who lived in flatter, safer places watched the nightly news and shook their heads, clucking about the ridiculousness of farmers who lived on the flood plain.
When the river finally began to lower, a collective sigh of relief ran through town. It usually started with Emmett Mulvaney, the pharmacist who religiously watched The Weather Channel on Hayden’s only big-screen television. He would notice some tiny tidbit of information, something even those hotshot meteorologists in Seattle had missed. He’d pass his assessment on to Sheriff Dick Parks, who told his secretary, Martha. In less time than it took to drive from one end of town to the other, the word spread: This year is going to be okay. The danger has passed. Sure enough, twenty-four hours after Emmett’s prediction, the meteorologists agreed.
This year had been no exception, but now, on this beautiful early summer’s day, it was easy to forget those dangerous months in which rainfall made everyone crazy.
Claire Cavenaugh stood on the banks on the river, her work boots almost ankle-deep in the soft brown mud. Beside her, an out-of-gas Weed Eater lay on its side.
She smiled, wiped a gloved hand across her sweaty brow. The amount of manual labor it took to get the resort ready for summer was unbelievable.
Resort.
That was what her dad called these sixteen …
….
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