The Tumbling Turner Sisters: A Novel by Juliette FayMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
If you like historical fiction that is more fiction than history, illustrates a slice of cultural history, and touches on big issues, this book is for you. Its also a great book club read and fits the bill for strong female characters. I think everyone in my book club loved it; I know I did! This book follows a family of three sisters and one enterprising mom, who take their show on the road--to vaudeville. Along the way, they experience love, look racism in the face, and face further tragedy (the book starts with one huge setback that launches them into this courageous enterprise), but also along the way they find out what each of them individually, and their sisterhood, is made of--love, commitment, and sacrifice. I highly recommend this book. It is not all serious because the characters are so likeable. I was rooting for the Turners every step of the way. It is written from two perspectives, but it was not jarring to flip between the two voices. The device works well for this story as its actually a story about 4 to 7 people (depending on how you look at it), and the two perspectives adds a lot to telling the story authentically. I am not much of a fan of the flip-flop device (between characters or place and time), but some writers do it well. Fay does it wonderfully in this very "good" read. It is now one of my favorite books. I passed it around all summer, and I think four or five women in my family read it before the end of August. My copy is quite dog-eared. It would make a great gift for a women reader in your life as well! It would also make a fabulous movie or short-run tv series perhaps. If you read The Last All-Girls Filling Station by Fannie Flagg, this book has the same flavor.
Read and reviewed 2017.
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