Shred Sisters
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4.2 • 92 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE
No one will love you more or hurt you more than a sister.
“I love this book. It moves like a souped-up pickup truck." — Patti Smith, author of Just Kids and M Train
From Betsy Lerner, celebrated author of The Bridge Ladies, comes a wry and riveting debut novel about family, mental illness, and a hard-won path between two sisters
It is said that when one person in a family is unstable, the whole family is destabilized. Meet the Shreds. Olivia is the sister in the spotlight until her stunning confidence becomes erratic and unpredictable, a hurricane leaving people wrecked in her wake. Younger sister Amy, cautious and studious to the core, believes in facts, proof, and the empirical world. None of that explains what’s happening to Ollie, whose physical beauty and charisma mask the mental illness that will shatter Amy’s carefully constructed life.
As Amy comes of age and seeks to find her place—first in academics, then New York publishing, and through a series of troubled relationships—every step brings collisions with Ollie, who slips in and out of the Shred family without warning. Yet for all that threatens their sibling bond, Amy and Ollie cannot escape or deny the inextricable sister knot that binds them.
Spanning two decades, Shred Sisters is an intimate and bittersweet story exploring the fierce complexities of sisterhood, mental health, loss and love. If anything is true it’s what Amy learns on her road to self-acceptance: No one will love you more or hurt you more than a sister.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Familial bonds are twisted and tested in this poignant drama about two sisters. Olivia and Amy Shred have a tense albeit loving relationship; Ollie has an undiagnosed case of bipolar disorder, and her violent mood swings have led her to spend a lot of time institutionalized. Amy is quiet, organized, and swears by facts and data. As their lives converge and separate through the years, Amy must face the fact that her life has been affected more than she wants to admit by being Ollie’s sister, from relationships to career choices. Shred Sisters is Betsy Lerner’s first novel, and we were captivated by the richness and layers of her descriptive prose as she navigates the tricky emotional waters between the sisters. Along with the hard truths both sisters face, Lerner brings a hopeful quality to Ollie and Amy’s story that had us rooting for them throughout. You may want to bring a few tissues for this poignant read.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Literary agent Lerner (Food and Loathing, a memoir) traces the impact of mental illness on a pair of sisters in her moving debut novel. Amy, the narrator, describes herself as studious and highly motivated compared to her wild and beautiful older sister, Olivia, who frequently engages in risky or outright illegal behavior, from shoplifting to disappearing for days a time. As the sisters grow up, Ollie's misbehavior poses greater dangers, not only for herself, but also for their parents and for Amy's friendships, romantic relationships, and even her career. Ollie's condition isn't named until late in the novel; part of Lerner's skilled approach to narrative lies in subtly depicting the destigmatizing of mental illness and the evolution of treatment during the period from the sisters' childhood in the 1970s through the 1990s. Lerner's portrayal of Amy's five-year course of therapy is particularly rewarding, as Amy explores the limits and strengths of her bond with Olivia. The result is a quietly lovely and ultimately hopeful chronicle of a complicated family.
Customer Reviews
Finally a book that reads like a book . . .
After having read far too many “literary” novels recently that seem to have been written in alien languages by writers from unknown universes, it was nice to read a novel I could relate to. I’m so tired of trying to read unreadable, experimental novels that make no sense to me. Remarkably honest regarding the surreality of living with and knowing someone with mental health problems, though not all of them wrap-up so tidally, this book was a pleasure. Thank you Betsy Lerner. I truly enjoyed your book.
Such an amazing portrait of mental illness
I read this in one sitting I couldn’t put it down it was such an authentic portrayal of what the entire family and loved ones experience with their loved one suffering from mental health crisis and how terribly difficult it is to get the right diagnosis and treatment that gives them a quality of life that is stable and safe. The roller coaster of emotions and chaos that comes along with the whole disease is one that everyone close is overwhelmingly debilitating and can consume their entire lives as well. A true and very real inside perspective from both the one who is suffering from mental health issues and those who love them and stand by them.
I wanted to love this
But I’ll settle for liking it. Portions read like a news article almost. Very cut and dry. I’d expected more flowery writing from a poet. I hoped for a sister heavy story, but we are given mere glimpses into the sister dynamic while following the “normal” sister through her life. Maybe I just don’t mesh with this author.