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    The Story Sisters: A Novel
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    The Story Sisters: A Novel
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    The Story Sisters: A Novel
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Story Sisters: A Novel

    Written by Alice Hoffman

    Narrated by Nancy Travis

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    From the New York Times Bestselling Author of The Third Angel

    Alice Hoffman's previous novel, The Third Angel, was hailed as "an unforgettable portrait of the depth of true love" (USA Today), "stunning" (Jodi Picoult), and "spellbinding" (Miami Herald). Her new novel, The Story Sisters, charts the lives of three sisters–Elv, Claire, and Meg. Each has a fate she must meet alone: one on a country road, one in the streets of Paris, and one in the corridors of her own imagination. Inhabiting their world are a charismatic man who cannot tell the truth, a neighbor who is not who he appears to be, a clumsy boy in Paris who falls in love and stays there, a detective who finds his heart's desire, and a demon who will not let go.

    What does a mother do when one of her children goes astray? How does she save one daughter without sacrificing the others? How deep can love go, and how far can it take you? These are the questions this luminous novel asks.

    At once a coming-of-age tale, a family saga, and a love story of erotic longing, The Story Sisters sifts through the miraculous and the mundane as the girls become women and their choices haunt them, change them and, finally, redeem them. It confirms Alice Hoffman's reputation as "a writer whose keen ear for the measure struck by the beat of the human heart is unparalleled" (The Chicago Tribune).

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJun 2, 2009
    ISBN9780739383551
    Unavailable
    The Story Sisters: A Novel
    Author

    Alice Hoffman

    Alice Hoffman is the author of more than thirty works of fiction, including The Book of Magic, Magic Lessons, The World That We Knew, Practical Magic, The Rules of Magic (a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick), the Oprah’s Book Club Selection Here on Earth, The Red Garden, The Dovekeepers, The Museum of Extraordinary Things, The Marriage of Opposites, and Faithful. She lives near Boston.

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    Reviews for The Story Sisters

    4/5

    356 ratings42 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Beautiful

      This is a beautiful book that had me in tears several times. It was difficult to read after it made me sad but at the same time I just had to finish reading it.
    • 3/5
      I really hate to say this, but after awhile all of Alice Hoffman's books feel the same. This is OK because she is a grand-master of a certain ethereal ambiance of daily life and emotions. I'll still read her when I need that.
    • 5/5
      Ev, the eldest of the three Story sisters, saves her youngest sister from a childhood trauma and suffers the consequence of that act of charity. She spirals down into an adolescent life of drugs and mental illness. Much of the remainder of the book is the story of her climb back into sanity. The other two sisters have their crosses to bear, especially the youngest who is trying to hold the family together. As typical with Hoffman's books, the pages are dusted with a smattering of magical realism. If you are a fan of Jodi Piccoult, you will love this book.
    • 4/5
      “The Story Sisters” is a grim tale. This family of three very close sisters, their divorced mother, and their maternal grandmother, can’t catch a break. One bad thing happens after another; child rape, illness, accidents, deaths, self harm, alcoholism, drugs, self isolation and an almost total lack of communication shatters the family. And yet there are traces of magic, both good and bad. Demons attach themselves to young girls. Cakes make one tell only the truth. Some of the characters find happiness, although it’s usually short lived. The novel has the feel of a fairy tale to it: the hero who accepts someone else’s bad fate; the character who finds their teacher and calling almost magically; the wise old woman who sets people up for true love. Remember, the original fairy tales were very dark things, not the Disneyfied versions we have today. Hoffman’s prose has its usual enchanting rhythm and flow, and the imagery is as exquisite as ever. But the pace is slower than most of her books, and I found it hard to feel for the characters. Despite their strong emotions the characters seemed rather flat- perhaps, though, this was deliberate as they do, after all, spend a lot of time withdrawing from the world and each other. Still, I stayed riveted to the book.
    • 5/5
      Love Alice Hoffman
    • 4/5
      When I checked this book out of the library, the librarian said to me, "This is an author that you either love or hate." I wondered at this comment, reflecting on my prior readings of Alice Hoffman. You know, she is probably not quite as polarizing as the librarian thought, but she was definitely on the right track.

      This book caught me quite by surprise. The themes and situations of the book were agonizing and heart wrenching. Sister against sister, rebellion against loving parents, lost loves, suicide, drug use, child rape. This book had it all. On the other hand, it also had love, compassion, honestly, loyalty, love found late in life, redemption, nurturing. There was, at the end, far more good than bad.

      After all, isn't this what like itself is? You have much bad and you have much good. In the end, you just want the good to outweigh the bad. In this case, I was quite taken with the book. It was real life with no whitewash. The novel was honest, brutal, straightforward and beautiful.

      I recommend this one.
    • 5/5
      Have I ever read an Alice Hoffman book that I didn't love? Nope. Hoffman does an excellent job of creating distinct voices for each of the sisters.
    • 4/5
      The three Story sisters are almost magically connected at the start of the book, with their own private language that results in their mother feeling excluded from their lives. As time goes on, though, the oldest sister Elv increasingly alienates herself and turns to drugs and acting out which we understand stems from a tragic event in her life that she never shared with an adult. Elv's mother is at a lose about how to handle these problems, and seems likely to suffer from depression herself. It's a sad tale of just how much can go wrong when people attempt to cope alone with emotional traumas. It was an unsettling read and I didn't like any of the characters much, unlike The Dovekeepers which I thought had more depth of the characters. Hoffman writes well, and I did expect something a bit more from this book.
    • 3/5
      I really hate to say this, but after awhile all of Alice Hoffman's books feel the same. This is OK because she is a grand-master of a certain ethereal ambiance of daily life and emotions. I'll still read her when I need that.
    • 2/5
      I made it 38 pages in, but I just couldn't keep going. I just wasn't interested in the lives of these sisters. They seemed a little too stuck-up...which sounds terrible since something tragic happened...however, I don't know what the mystery tragedy was, I only know the tragedy caused by the oldest sister's ramblings about starved horses (and that's enough for me).
    • 5/5
      This novel is dark. It evokes gut wrenching sadness that stays with you long after you put the book down. It's brilliant.
    • 4/5
      The wonderfully deep characters I've come to love reading by Hoffman. While I hated that the treatment for Elv was so inadequate and so late, I completely understand the mother being too overwhelmed to notice what was going on earlier. The book did seem to peter out half way thru...events just chronicled rather than having her characters live them. There were memorable quotes that made me decide to keep the book anyway.
    • 5/5
      This enchanting yet bizarre tale is about three sisters, Elv, Claire, and Meg. All are unique, all are different. Their lives are part ho-hum, part excitement. Hoffman once again creates strong irresistible female characters, ones that don't quite seem human. The story revolves around Elv, the eldest and tells how a single event affects the entire family. The tale is not so much told as it is hinted about and leads the reader deep into the story. Beautifully written and evocative.
    • 5/5
      I am an Alice Hoffman fan in general, but some of her novels seem to linger with me more than others. The Story Sisters falls into that category.Hoffman is unparalleled in her ability to write such strong, interesting female characters. I found myself emotionally invested in each of the three sisters, but particularly with the struggles of the oldest and most troubled: Elv. Elv's struggles are the center of the book - she is the sun that everyone rotates around. When she gets knocked off course, those around her are also launched into turmoil.Never one to leave things black and white, Hoffman writes in shades of grey. Nothing is ever quite as it seems, and Hoffman's worlds are often filled with a magic and dreaminess. I'm hooked.If you're considering giving this author a try, I'd recommend this or Pratical Magic to start. You will not be disappointed.
    • 4/5
      Dark, tragic, and well written.
    • 4/5
      “The Story Sisters” is a grim tale. This family of three very close sisters, their divorced mother, and their maternal grandmother, can’t catch a break. One bad thing happens after another; child rape, illness, accidents, deaths, self harm, alcoholism, drugs, self isolation and an almost total lack of communication shatters the family. And yet there are traces of magic, both good and bad. Demons attach themselves to young girls. Cakes make one tell only the truth. Some of the characters find happiness, although it’s usually short lived. The novel has the feel of a fairy tale to it: the hero who accepts someone else’s bad fate; the character who finds their teacher and calling almost magically; the wise old woman who sets people up for true love. Remember, the original fairy tales were very dark things, not the Disneyfied versions we have today. Hoffman’s prose has its usual enchanting rhythm and flow, and the imagery is as exquisite as ever. But the pace is slower than most of her books, and I found it hard to feel for the characters. Despite their strong emotions the characters seemed rather flat- perhaps, though, this was deliberate as they do, after all, spend a lot of time withdrawing from the world and each other. Still, I stayed riveted to the book.
    • 4/5
      I haven't read a book by Alice Hoffman yet that failed to enchant me, and The Story Sisters was no exception. It was beautifully written, with an underlying deeper message about love within a family, about youthful secrets than can affect an entire life, about growing beyond the pain and building a better life.Annie, the mother, grew past the pain of her divorce and even in the face of death was graced with a deeper love. Elv, the oldest of the Story sisters grew past the pain of a childhood trauma to discover the unconditional love that comes with being a parent.I also enjoyed the book because it delt with the fact that you can't always judge someone by their actions. What they do is a result of the way they feel inside. Very poetically written, I think this may be my favorite book by Alice Hoffman, and that is high praise indeed.
    • 4/5
      This is a family saga, detailing the lives of the three story sisters. The eldest girl, Elv, endures a nasty attack when they are all young; this secret not only blights Elv’s life but also alters the relationships between the three girls and affects all their lives.This book is beautifully written in typical Alice Hoffman style – where things are hinted at rather than directly told, and have all the more emotional power because of it. I was glad it had a happy ending – it would have been too much to bear otherwise!
    • 5/5
      This book was memorizing and flowed very nicely. I generally abhor fiction but I could not put this lengthy one down. It's a coming-of-age story of three sisters dealing with trauma in each of their own ways. A mother's frustration and sadness, a child's stress and fear of horrid events and the challenges of sisterhood. In the end, they all find peace and Paris.
    • 5/5
      I chose to read this because I had enjoyed another of Alice Hoffman's books, The Probable Future. The Story Sisters was even better. It's the tale of the three Story sisters and the world they weave for themselves as they grow up and deal with life changing events. The story is haunting and cobwebbed with fantasy that feels completely real. The characters are all well developed and I was completely entranced from start to finish. While the main focus is on the girls' emotional development, the plot is strong and often surprising.
    • 5/5
      From childhood I loved fairy tales. There was something so beautiful about the ideals of chivalry, bravery, and love. The Story Sisters is a re-imagining of the classic ideas of a fairy tale, with one small change. The ending is not always happy, but instead a new beginning.The story is about three beautiful sisters, all quite different. One of the sisters saves another from a brutal attack, irrevocably altering the paths of all of their lives. Secrets are closely guarded and anger festers until it breaks the family apart.I like how Ms. Hoffman dealt with the oldest sister's guilt and pain through her drug addiction, as well as how the younger sisters interacted with her larger-than-life antics. All of the families interactions (in particular the re-working of familial hierarchy as one sister would fall as another rises) felt very real, despite the fantasy haze to the scenes.Ms. Hoffman writes so lyrically that I would probably read her shopping lists and be happy. This is the best novel of her's that I've read so far though, and I highly recommend it.
    • 3/5
      I think this could be the most depressing book I've ever read.
    • 4/5
      The Story Sisters is an incredible tale of love, loss, tragedy and betrayal. It follows the lives of the Story Sisters: Elv, Meg & Claire and how each of their lives is impacted by a single tragedy which places each of them on the path to her destiny. Alice Hoffman's telling leads us into a dark world of sadness, depression, drug abuse and death. It is written so honestly and thoughtfully that the reader is drawn into the world of these sisters and feels their pain right along with them. This is an amazing work.I absolutely love Alice Hoffman & tend to devour her books rather quickly. This one, however, took me over a week to read. When I started it, the material was a little dark & disturbing, so I put it down, walked away & actually read another book before I came back to it. But, I did come back to it. I really wanted to know what happened to these girls and I cried several times while reading it. But, it was worth working through all the tragedy and heartbreak these girls face in order to see where they end up. As usual, I can't wait for the next Alice Hoffman to show up on my shelf.
    • 4/5
      Elv, Claire and Meg Story are sisters. They’re extremely close, inventing a language all of their own – Arnish – even their mother is excluded from their fantasy world, and the younger two are always rapt with Elv’s storytelling about the fairy land of Arnelle. Theirs is a world full of women, their parents having divorced some time ago, and they also revered their French grandmother Natalia, who lives in Paris which has a strong attraction for the girls. Then one day, Elv rescues Claire from a nasty encounter with a man and that event, despite remaining a secret, will change everything. When she reaches sixteen, Elv begins to go off the rails, taking drugs, partying and other reckless behaviour …"She found the tattoo shop. Patrons were supposed to be eighteen, but Elv looked old enough, as if she knew what she wanted, so no one asked for ID. She had two black stars tattooed above each shoulder, in the place where her wings would be. She found the pain soothing in a strange way, a gateway out of her body, into Arnelle. There was an army gathering there: the Queen had posted them at the doorway. Anyone residing in the human world was suspect, including Elv. Prove yourself, one of the guards said to her. She was wearing a black dress. Black ballet shoes. She could smell jasmine. The tattoo artist was a bit leery now that her shirt was off. He said, ‘This might hurt.’ As if she cared about that. He covered the tattoos with white bandages. ‘There might be some blood seeping through,’ he told her. As if that mattered."Soon her behaviour is so bad, her parents come together again momentarily to take her to reform school where she meets and falls totally in love with Lorry, the junkie and petty criminal brother of another inmate. Poor damaged Elv is intent on exploring the dark side of life as she grows into a woman, but although she totally dominates the book, the other sisters and their mother will have their brush with fate too. You can’t help but hope for some kind of happy ending.Hoffman is brilliant at weaving a hint of the supernatural into a drama and turning it into something special. I found The Story Sisters a much darker novel than the last one of hers that I read, The Ice Queen. Both are about love, but The Story Sisters with its exploration of sisterhood, entwined with the secrets and twists of fate was also an affecting read.
    • 4/5
      I loved this book. Honestly, at first I didn't think I would, but it was so well written. What I especially liked was the way Hoffman weaves fantasy together with reality. It's a great read. I recommend it.
    • 4/5
      A book whose theme is redemption and forgiveness, it is a portrait of three sisters, Elisabeth (or Elv), the oldest, who after saving middle sister Claire from a tragedy during their youth, and then having to go through the tragedy herself as she through herself into harms way. Her life turned in a rather dark and difficult way as she lived under the weight of the secret from that day.Claire went through her own pain and guilt living with that secret and keeping the peace between Elv and middle sister Meg, who was not privy to the knowledge of the tragedy and was made to feel like and outsider from then on.Elv is an amazing story teller – she needs the rich fantasy world in which to escape because of all of the pain she buries. The girls live with their single mother who does the best she can to raise them while their father is mostly absent, living with his younger wife.It was a beautifully told and fast read. But as a divorced mother to a dark and imaginative daughter myself, I think I need to steer clear of books about broken families for a while. They are causing me too much worry and pain.
    • 4/5
      Alice Hoffman is one of my favourite writers and this story about the close relationship between three sisters, which is destroyed by a horrific act, is utterly compelling and believable.
    • 5/5
      The New York Times says it's Little Women on mushrooms and that tickled me. I love Alice Hoffman anyway, her novels and short stories, and The Story Sisters is good Hoffman, part magical real, part the awful greyness of the real world we live in. The Story sisters is a great read. If you love Hoffman you'll be reading it anyway.
    • 4/5
      Elv and her sisters made a world of their own in which they are safe from all harm. Elv tries to protect her sisters from the pain that she knows exsists in the world. While trying to protect her sisters and mother she pushes them away from her. Elv finds redemption and peace at the end of the book. Dark and beautiful. I feel that this is one of Hoffman's strongest stories.
    • 5/5
      I spent the whole of today reading this book, and could not put it down. It was not an easy read. Other reviewers comment on the number of deaths which, did, by early afternoon, begin to get me down. The colours which pervade this book are wonderful. I feel like I want to paint a review, rather than write one. Colours, and textures as well! And how can one novel encompass so may heirlooms varieties of tomato. I have had great delight googling them all, and will add some, Black Krim especially, to my repertoire. As darkness seemed to intensify in the novel, the final luminous ending was such a delight.... and I wish Claire’s charms and amulets were real. I want one—the tomato plant, preferably!