Thank you to @netgalley for the chance to review The Sisters of Summit Avenue by Lynn Cullen. Two sisters in the midwest US during the Great Depression reunite after being estranged. Ruth is a mother of four children who is caring for her family after her husband fell ill to the "sleeping sickness". Older sister June is married to a rich doctor and is working for Betty Crocker test kitchens. She is beautiful, and Ruth is jealous of her at times, but June doesn't have any children. After reuniting, the women have to uncover their mother's secrets and see if their relationship can be repaired. I really enjoyed this heartfelt tale.

I enjoyed the historical aspects of this book, especially the parts about Betty Crocker (the “Betty’s”). Overall, the story dragged on quite a bit so it was not one of my favorites.

This book is about two sisters, opposite in many ways, rivals in fact. It's about Ruthie and June's mother, too--and a painful secret she never tells them but one that affects them all the same. I loved the 1930s Midwestern setting. I loved the way the story slipped back and forth to an earlier time of mother Dorothy's traumatic past. I read the final chapters as fast as my eyes could take me. I loved the depth of the sibling rivalry, the man both sisters loved, the characters' voices (especially snarky sister Ruth!), and June who came right out of Betty Crocker's early test kitchens. Some laughs and tears along the way. Historical fiction at its best!

I really enjoyed this book and thought that it was well-thought-out and well-written. My interest was kept throughout the entire novel and I am thankful for the opportunity to read and review The Sisters of Summit Avenue. I look forward to reading more books by Lynn Cullen.

A story of sibling rivalry set in the depression-era 1930s. It's well written. With well-developed characters who go through a complex dynamic of love, resiliency, betrayal, trauma, and resentment. Do family ties really bind us to the ones we love? This book will surprise and delite you. Well worth the read.

I received an ARC of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, this story was great! I really did enjoy it. But there wasn’t a single character I really liked! The author did a good job of making them all human. They each had some serious character flaws. I couldn’t root for any of them. Every time I started to, they did something to make me mad. I thought it ended just how it should, though!

My thanks go to Net Galley and Gallery Books for the review copy, which I received over a year ago. I began reading this story numerous times, but I didn’t find it engaging enough to continue, and so each time I began it, I would end up returning it to my queue in exchange for something I liked. However, I recently began moving through my backlog with assistance from Seattle Bibliocommons, where I was able to get audio versions of those I’d left by the wayside. Ultimately, this is how I was able to follow through, and it’s a good thing, because the last half of this book is far better than the first half.

The story features three women, all of them in the American Midwest, starting in the early 1920s. The sisters are Ruth and June, and their mother is Dorothea. June is the golden one, the prettiest and most successful. Ruth, who is younger, just resents the crap out of June. And she can tell that their mother loves June more. June, on the other hand, is Betty Crocker; one of them, anyway. One of the few career opportunities open to women involves inventing recipes for Betty; answering Betty’s mail; and playing the part of Betty on the radio. Women visit the company expecting to meet Betty, and thy are outraged to learn that no such person actually exists.

Meanwhile, Ruth and her family remain in the family home with Dorothea, and the sisters are estranged. Their mother hates to see them this way, and she schemes to bring them together.

The narrative shifts between the three women, and from the past to the present. When we are taken back to their youths, we learn what has come between them, and what assumptions, grudges, and secrets each holds that has not been said.

The first half of this book feels like it will never end. The sloppy pop-cultural references grate on me, particularly when the shortcuts result in inaccuracy. For example, when the stock market crashes, Cullen has men jumping from skyscrapers left, right, and center, when in fact, this is mostly myth, or at best, hyperbole. At most there was a single jumper in real life. Historical fiction at its best teaches us in an enjoyable way, but when readers are presented with urban legends as reality, it is a letdown.

By the halfway point, I am only still listening to this book because I have to make dinner anyway, and having put in as much time as I have, I figure I may as well finish it up. My review is on its way to being three stars at best, and possibly two. So imagine my surprise when at the 55% mark, the whole thing wakes up! The female character that has been the least interesting up until now is Dorothea, but now we learn the meaty parts that she has kept secret, and there we find the key to everything else. I am so astonished that my jaw drops, and I stop chopping vegetables and gape at my tablet, which is streaming this story. Oh, heck! Seriously? This is why…? Oh, holy crap. Who knew?

From that point forward, it’s an entirely different ballgame. When I head for the kitchen, I’m already thinking about what I heard the day before, and looking forward to the next bit.

Those that enjoy character-based fiction could do a lot worse, as long as you take the historical parts with a grain of salt. Overall, I recommend that if you read this book, you should get it free or cheap; and then prepare to be patient.

A story of 2 sisters, their lives, relationships and an unbreakable bond. How can 2 daughters growing up in the same house be so different? Jealousy, the root of evil, runs rampant here. Ruth, her husband and 4 children live on a farm. Ruth’s husband, John, is very ill. June has it all- beauty, wealth, career. And their mother has her own drama. In the end, the unbreakable bond of sisterly love wins.

Sister stories are always welcome. Though sister relationships can be fraught with drama, they are threads that bind women together like no other. The Sisters of Summit Avenue showed spunk, insight and overall heart even in the worst of times.

This was a great story about 2 sisters who were completely opposite in personality. Ruth was poor and married her sisters boyfriend, Ellen was rich when she married the doctor. Ruth's husband had sleeping sickness and was that way for 8 years as th story began. I was fascinated by the relationship between the sisters. Thanks to #netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

Thank you the Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.. This book is perfect for lovers of family dramas.

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Ruth has been single-handedly raising four young daughters and running her family’s Indiana farm for eight long years, ever since her husband, John, fell into a comatose state, infected by the infamous “sleeping sickness” devastating families across the country. If only she could trade places with her older sister, June, who is the envy of everyone she meets: blonde and beautiful, married to a wealthy doctor, living in a mansion in St. Paul. And June has a coveted job, too, as one of “the Bettys,” the perky recipe developers who populate General Mills’ famous Betty Crocker test kitchens. But these gilded trappings hide sorrows: she has borne no children. And the man she used to love more than anything belongs to Ruth.

When the two sisters reluctantly reunite after a long estrangement, June’s bitterness about her sister’s betrayal sets into motion a confrontation that’s been years in the making. And their mother, Dorothy, who’s brought the two of them together, has her own dark secrets, which might blow up the fragile peace she hopes to restore between her daughters.

An emotional journey of redemption, inner strength, and the ties that bind families together, for better or worse, The Sisters of Summit Avenue is a heartfelt love letter to mothers, daughters, and sisters everywhere.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. It was a good read, but it dragged a long a bit for me. I enjoyed the characters and their relationships. I loved the Betty Crocker references and information. Overall, it was a satisfactory book.

Two sisters who grew up in poverty have paths that diverge. Ruth marries a farmer and has four kids; her husband is struck with the sleeping sickness (that's a real thing!). Her sister, June, marries well and is unable to have any kids. Instead she is the face of Betty Crocker. They are jealous of each other and things come to a head with a visit June makes to Ruth's house.

Great sense of time and place. I liked this pretty well.

This is a middle of the road book for me. Overall the story line is interesting, characters are solid, and there are some surprise tidbits on Betty Crocker and sleeping sickness. But this book just didn't grab me. I feel like it took forever for me to finish it, but I'm not sure I can pinpoint any flaws that made this so. Likely, this just wasn't the best book for me personally, but I'm not upset I invested time to it. Thank you NetGalley and publishers for providing an digital ARC for review.

This is a beautifully written depression-era story - at the heart of it are sisters Ruth and June and their mother Dorothy. The story is about sisterhood, jealousy, struggles and happiness. Appreciate what you have before it's too late - or as Dorothy said about taking the bull by the horns "You're not dead yet!"
Thanks to Lynn Cullen, Gallery Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

I was a bit disappointed there wasn't more of the mystique of the BC kitchens here. The lore would be able to keep this book moving. The sisters relationship wasn't very dynamic, but I enjoyed the realities of the time period.

Lots of drama, turmoil, love, and forgiveness. But of course since it's about two sisters and their mother. Very well written. Kept me enthralled. Very much recommend. Thanks Netgalley for this arc.

The Sisters of Summit Avenue was a beautiful novel about family. I enjoyed how the relationships were portrayed and how the story unraveled to reveal what happened in the past. The story is about two sisters and their husbands. And it is about their childhood and their mother. The oldest sister June is married to a doctor and lives a comfortable life. The younger sister Ruth is married with children but her husband is ill. But there are so many other layers to the story. Both of these women have things they are struggling with now and from the past. And their mother has her own secrets from the past. The sisters have had a complicated relationship ever since they were children.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for the early copy.

I tried out this historical fiction novel but did not connect with the writing style. I decided to put it down.

Enjoyable read but didn’t knock my socks off.

June and Ruth had a difficult sisterly relationship, fortunately love, time and an event prevails and these two find the sisterhood bond unbreakable. As a younger sister I could relate to the love, envy and loathing these two struggled with. As with all relationships, there are challenges, however, sisterhood can be exceptionally slippery with a gray area nonexistent. I liked the friction and the reconciliation June and Ruth conquered.

I enjoyed the women being vulnerable and strong and each finding their way and place in the end. Love is often tangible and elusive as Cullen describes.

A love story with entanglements and a somewhat rewarding ending.