The New York Times bestselling author of Falling presents a warm, wise, and wonderfully vivid novel about a mother who asks her three estranged daughters to come home to help her end her life.
Ronni Sunshine left London for Hollywood to become a beautiful, charismatic star of the silver screen. But at home, she was a narcissistic, disinterested mother who alienated her three daughters.
As soon as possible, tomboy Nell fled her mother’s overbearing presence to work on a farm and find her own way in the world as a single mother. The target of her mother’s criticism, Meredith never felt good enough, thin enough, pretty enough. Her life took her to London—and into the arms of a man whom she may not even love. And Lizzy, the youngest, more like Ronni than any of them, seemed to have it easy, using her drive and ambition to build a culinary career to rival her mother’s fame, while her marriage crumbled around her.
But now the Sunshine sisters are together again, called home by Ronni, who has learned that she has a serious disease and needs her daughters to fulfill her final wishes. And though Nell, Meredith, and Lizzy have never been close, their mother’s illness draws them together to confront the old jealousies and secret fears that have threatened to tear these sisters apart. As they face the loss of their mother, they will discover if blood might be thicker than water after all…
A plum of a novel: juicy, ripe and bursting with sticky situations. I savored every page.
An absolutely fabulous read…A superbly entertaining story about sisters that will make you laugh and cry, of course, but also ponder a dead-serious issue of what to do about mom. It’s perfect for book clubs. I adored it!
The Sunshine Sisters glitters…Intuitive and wise, this is Jane Green at her masterful best. You will love this story and share with your sister or your best friend, or both. I know I did.
Shocking and dramatic, but always heartfelt and genuine in its multilayered portrayal of betrayal, redemption, and healing. Jane Green’s writing is impossible to resist.
Ronni Sunshine is a narcissistic self-absorbed actress who has managed to estrange her entire family. Her husband has divorced her, married and moved on. Her daughters have little contact with her and even less with each other.
Growing up, her girls had learned to read her moods and each had a different way of dealing with the need to run for cover and each left home as soon as they possibly could. Nell the oldest, lives closest, but only in terms of distance. She makes a new family for herself and her son and has been running a local farm since high school. Meredith, always not quite good enough in her mother’s eyes, has settled for a life in which she spends her time trying to convince everyone else that she is happy. The youngest, Lizzy, who is most like her mother, has become a successful celebrity chef. She selfishly balances her work life with her family life leaving both her husband and young son coming up on the short end of things quite often. When Ronni calls her girls home, they expect her usual drama and vitriol. What they find is that this time their mother actually is quite ill.
I found the story an enjoyable read. I admit that I was expecting a different kind of story based on the cover, which near as I can tell has very little to do with the story, except for showing the distance between the sisters. The characters are compelling and well fleshed out. After reading about the girls’ childhood, even I had a bit of PTSD. Though in the end, I came to respect Ronni Sunshine, I was angry with her for most of the book for pushing her daughters into the unhappy lives they ended up in. While the ending was bittersweet, and when dealing with a terminal illness it can be no other way, I did find it to be a satisfying one. I can add Jane Green to my list of go-to authors.
A friend gave me a copy of this book months ago despite me saying it wasn’t my thing. It sat in a drawer until a week ago when I decided to take a look. It does start as a slow burner but I ended up loving the read. For me, it didn’t get really interesting until the three daughters are summoned to return to their hometown by their actress mother. From then on I couldn’t put the book down.
A lovely story about family, mistakes, consequences, forgiveness, love and acceptance.
“It doesn’t matter how many years go by, how grown-up we think we are, how much we presume we have changed or evolved, when we are back in our childhood homes, we become exactly who we have always been… we will all just slip back into the roles we have always played, whether we were ever comfortable with them or not.”
The Sunshine Sisters is an exploration of sisterhood, family, and women in general. The sisters consist of three daughters of a famous movie star who have barely spoken to one another for years. In the midst of individual crises of their own, their self-absorbed and usually absent mother calls them all home. Falling back into roles as easily as muscle memory, they all must find a way to get to know each other again, grant each other (and their selves) permission to change, and pull together for a new crisis at hand…their mother.
This women’s fiction novel seems to be receiving mixed reviews from the start. I for one loved it. The ending is unexpected, but if you think about it, it is completely expected. The characters act in accordance with how the author carefully developed them to – even if it deters from how you thought it might end. The Sunshine Sisters is much more about each individual character than it is about any particular storyline. Remember this and you’ll be fine.
My favorite quote:
“I don’t have to be the same, she thinks. I can do it differently. Whatever I may have done in the last few years, I can do things differently from today.”
Three sisters and their eccentric mother. She has alienated them from herself and from each other, and then discovers that she is dying. Her goal is now to bring all of them back together and make them realize that they need each other. How is she going to do that? You will be surprised when you find out her secret! This is a great book, and I enjoyed every page!
No one understands complicated families like Jane Green. In The Sunshine Sisters, she uses her trademark warmth and wit to bring us a deeply engaging story of parents, siblings, and lovers alike. She is the undisputed queen of the beach read.
I loved the characters! A great summer read….
Three sisters are reunited by their mother, who is dying as a result of an als diagnosis. Two of the sisters left their Connecticut home to escape their past. Returning home they deal with their estranged mother’s impending demise. Their mother who knows she has not been a stellar mom, wants her three girls to reconnect and find joy in one another. While a little sad, the reader sees how the dysfunctional life’s of these sisters can lead to the three forging more than one special bond. I love all the Jane Green books I have read.
I enjoy characters who the author builds and expands. Easy read,
The Sunshine Sisters is such a nice story about love and family. And how feelings can change and be everlasting for people who you love. I loved these sisters and each of their stories.
Took some time to get into, but worth the read!
It was not a happy book, very disfunctional family, but it was well written and worth reading.
If I’ll read a book more more than once and still enjoy it then it is a good book. I’ve read this twice and then bought it when it came up on book bub so I’d say it’s good. Not one of my all time favorites bit still very worthwhile read
I had a difficult time getting into The Sunshine Sisters but stuck with it and I’m so glad I did. It was one of the best books I read that year.
As the mother of daughters, I was so touched by this book. It made me look at my daughters in a different way. The characters were full and human, would love to follow them further.
Easy read.
builds slowly, drew me in to liking the complex characters