There are 5 different stories going on in Sisters and Brothers and gradually all the stories connect. The common link is Bill, aged 72, a widower with a bossy daughter Sarah. Sarah misses her mum and is busy being a perfect daughter, mother and wife - but the cracks are showing. Sarah is not happy being the sole carer for her dad - she wished she had a sister to share the load.

Emma is a nurse whose life is also busy but her home life is a happy one with a FIFO husband and 3 teenage kids. Her life is turned upside down when she finds out that her father is not her biological father. She starts to ask questions and tracks down her real father and finds out she has a sister - something she has always wanted.

But wait, there’s more! Cue Adam from stage left! Adam is a florist with a mum who loves him and a man who loves him. Prior to their marriage Adam decides to track down his father - and finds he has two sisters!

Finally we meet Michelle, a cake maker, who is adopted and knows she has a brother who was adopted by another family. She decides to track her birth parents down and locate her brother.

Of course this is only a summary of the events. The story itself has so much more depth. Things do not go smoothly as I may have inferred, and connections are not straightforward - there is seduction, deaths, arguments and lots of hugs until all the secrets are revealed and lives sorted.

All the characters were my favourite, I loved them all, none of them were perfect, they all had battles and they eventually realised that to fight the battles they need each other.

Wow! I had to wait a few minutes after completing this book to get my words together because it left me speechless. If you are like me and enjoy stories with multiple story lines that you eventually discover are interconnected, you will LOVE this book.

I found myself enthralled by all of the characters and continually turning the pages to find out more about them and how each piece of this story fit together.

This was my first book by Fiona Palmer but I have already started to look into her other books and add them to my "To Be Read" list.

Emotional and moving story of family, love and forgiveness.
My first read by this author and I’m a fan.
Well written and poignant story of the complex and messy journey families engage in, and make us love them just the same. There were a lot of characters and a lot happening, but nonetheless the story was intriguing and enjoyable.
3.5 stars!

This book grew on me and the more I read the more I wanted to read.

This is a story with depth which raises some ethical dilemmas. Fiona Palmer writes with empathy for her characters and their lives in a non-judgemental way allowing the reader to find their own answers. She tells us the story without using overly emotive language. This made Sisters and Brothers an enjoyable read for me because the author didn't dictate how I should fee about the characters.

Recommended

Book Blurb…
A poignant novel of heartbreak, adoption and family secrets
Emma, a nurse and busy mother of three, has always dreamed of having a sister.
Michelle, at 46, wonders if it's too late to fall in love and find her birth parents.
Sarah, career woman and perfectionist homemaker, struggles to keep up with the Joneses.
Bill, 72, feels left behind after the death of his adored wife.
Adam can't stop thinking about the father he never had.
These five very different people are all connected but separated by secrets from the past. Sisters and Brothers will both break and warm your heart in a way that only bestselling Australian storyteller Fiona Palmer can.

My thoughts…
This novel sees Fiona Palmer a long way from her rural fiction and it’s a very contemporary story, well told and heartwarming.
Personally, I loved Bill, and felt sorry that his early life/lifestyle meant he ultimately missed out on the most meaningful relationship of all. But it was Michelle I felt for the most. For reasons I cannot disclose, I was left wondering, long after the last page, how different her life may have been.
At the heart of this complex story is a theme that, for personal reasons, I’ve thought about many times over my 60 years …
Just how close have I been without realising.
Well done, Fiona.

Sisters and Brothers is a well written, poignant story that really does encapsulate the modern family with all its complexities and messiness. Families ain’t what they used to be! Therefore, it is not surprising to learn that this is not just one story, but in fact a number of stories. With flashbacks to the past and present day, each member of this extraordinary family is given the opportunity to tell their story, resulting in an emotional tale of love and loss, life and death and hope for the future.

‘I love how parents keep stuff. It doesn’t matter what it looks like. It’s a time capsule of sorts, isn’t it?’

At its heart is the story of Bill - both in 1975 and modern day where he is now in his 70s. One story (out of the many covered in this book) that I particularly enjoyed was that of Bill and Debbie in 1975. That was such a heartwarming tale of true love. There are many others lining up to tell their tale - Sarah, Emma, Adam, Michelle - and although the connections were there I just found it a bit too much to be honest. I get that its modern, a truth for many but for me, all too much for one poor family. I felt really sorry for Sarah and thought her overall attitude and only one meltdown was rather admirable!

‘Sarah’s voice caught in her throat. Funny that more than a year later it still hurt like her funeral was yesterday.’

Overall, however, this is a book about family and what it can mean in today’s society. There will be triumphs and tragedies but it really all comes down to the love shared between each other. The characters are all strong and well developed and there are some noteworthy dynamics between them. I particularly liked Emma - she was the ‘glue’ that tried to bring everything together. Her message was one that can stand true for all of us, namely, enjoy each day with those you love and let tomorrow’s cares unfold as they will. Stay true to what is important in life.

All up this was an enjoyable read as Fiona takes you on a soul searching journey of love, forgiveness, hope, joy and acceptance. If you love the dynamics of families and undiscovered secrets then you will adore, Sisters and Brothers.

‘It was no ordinary family, that was for sure, but it was an extraordinary one.’




This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Sisters and Brothers by Fiona Palmer is afull length, standalone novel and tells the story of a big family with Bill, the patriarch in the center.

Bill is a simple man, he lives his life to the fullest, loves deeply and over time he gains a family, meets new family members, gains children and grandchildren.

Sisters and Brothers isn´t one story, it´s a sum of stories, every family member has his own story to tell.

The story jumps between past and present. Sisters and Brothers is a emotional read, a heartwrenching story about loss, gain, love, life and death.
I liked the writing and the characters and give 4,5 stars.

I absolutely loved this book. Wow! To be Sarah and to deal with all that. That is a lot to handle. Emma is like me. Enjoy today and don't worry about tomorrow. Have fun with the kids and don't worry about the rest. I just wished we could have met Michelle meeting Adam, Sarah, Emma, and Bill.

I can not wait to read more from this author.

☆☆☆☆☆
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.
Recommend this book? Yes! Author? Yes!
Read more from this author? Yes!

Happy Reading!
Melissa

This is a compelling and moving story with emotions and feelings jumping of the pages, as we go from 1975 to present day and we meet Bill who is 72, he has just lost his wife but has a daughter and two grandkids and is an easy going man who still enjoys life, although he needs a hip replacement, but his life and his daughter Sarah’s are going to be turned upside down as this family grows.

Sarah, beautiful Sarah, busy mother to two children wife to hard working Andrew, she needs to keep up with the Jones and is missing her mother very much she needs someone to talk to although she is very close to her father another woman is what she wants, and no matter how many times she wished she never got that sibling she wanted so much.

Then we meet Emma only child and nurse caring loving woman wife to Steve FIFO worker mother to three kids two teenagers and one not far off being a teenager her life is busy but fun and family time comes before anything else, but when she finds out the her father is not her biological father questions are asked and she meets the man who did father her and discovers she has a sister a sister that she always wanted.

Then Adam makes his presence to us he is in his forties was bought up by his loving single Mum, he is a very good florist and has decided that it is time to find his father and his Mum Pauline goes all out to help and Adam meets Bill and discovers he has two sisters, which he is over the moon about.

Then we meet Michelle cake maker extraordinaire now Michelle has always known that she was adopted and she has an adopted brother as well, she is single and has always regretted not meeting someone and having children of her own, and has decided to try and find her biological parents, this brings her to finally find her mother.

I loved getting to know all of the characters in this wonderful story, I felt their pain and their happiness, the joy and shock as each learned about each other and Bill the man who always wanted a big family finally gets that, he may not be able to do the things that he used to but the love for all of them is there. The connections between the siblings all different as they have been bought up with different parents is amazing and the way they coped with each other wonderful, a beautiful story of families and love, yes there were tears from me but there was also a lot of smiling, thank you MS Palmer for another fabulous story, this is one that I highly recommend you really need to read this one it really is absorbing. 4.5 stars

I was intrigued by the synopsis of this story, which is what made me pick it up to read it in the first place and I was definitely not disappointed. A poignant story of family, which made me smile and even have a few tears, from time to time.

The story is an intriguing web of five people all unknowingly interconnected but brought together through their relationship to Bill. The characters were so well written, so different from each other yet in this absorbing story they each gain more than they thought possible from a family. I liked them all for different reasons, they were very real characters, and I connected with them all and became very engrossed in their individual stories.

I highly recommend this tale of sisters and brothers, it is a really good read and you will want to know how it ends, I guarantee it.

Sisters and Brothers by author Fiona Palmer is a full circle story that held captivating characters. Sarah and Emma were entertaining from one chapter to the next. Lots of emotions in the story that is another good read from the author.
Review copy received from Hachette Books Australia via Netgalley