Letters from My Sister: A Novel

by Valerie Fraser Luesse

Overview

Two Sisters. One Single Event. A Family Changed Forever.

At the turn of the twentieth century, sisters Emmy and Callie Bullock are living a privileged life as the only daughters of a wealthy Alabama cotton farmer when their well-ordered household gets turned upside down by the arrival of Lily McGee. Arrestingly beautiful, Lily quickly--and innocently--draws the wrong kind of attention. Meanwhile, Callie meets a man who offers her the freedom to abandon social constraints and discover her truest self.

After Lily has a baby, Callie witnesses something she was never meant to see--or did she? Her memory is a haze, just an image in her mind of Emmy standing on a darkened riverbank and cradling Lily's missing baby girl. Only when the sisters are separated does the truth slowly come to light through their letters--including a revelation that will shape the rest of Callie's life.

Bestselling author Valerie Fraser Luesse weaves a complex and suspenseful tale dripping with intrigue, romance, and Southern charm.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493439744
Publisher:	Baker Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/15/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	576,348
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

Valerie Fraser Luesse is the bestselling author of Missing Isaac, Almost Home, The Key to Everything, and Under the Bayou Moon. She is an award-winning magazine writer best known for her feature stories and essays in Southern Living, where she recently retired as senior travel editor. Specializing in stories about unique pockets of Southern culture, Luesse received the 2009 Writer of the Year award from the Southeast Tourism Society for her editorial section on Hurricane Katrina recovery in Mississippi and Louisiana. A graduate of Auburn University and Baylor University, she lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with her husband, Dave.

Editorial Reviews

07/01/2023

At the turn of the 20th century, the Bullock family cotton farm is thriving, even as the devastating effects of slavery and oppression still ripple through rural Alabama. Through an unlikely friendship with Tirzah, a nonagenarian Black midwife, Callie begins to realize that even though the Bullocks treat their servants well, no one ever asks them about their deepest hopes. When Tirzah's Yankee granddaughter runs into trouble with a lecherous neighbor, Callie and her sister Emmy must decide how to take a stand. But after Callie wakes up under a tree, missing a shoe and her memories, she is sent to a remote health facility to piece together her life. As Callie spends time far from Emmy, who is enduring trials of her own, letters between the sisters reveal an unbreakable, if complicated family bond. Luesse (Under the Bayou Moon) portrays the strength and complexity of family relationships under the pressure of tragic events. VERDICT A nuanced and heartwarming tale of sisterly love and community, based partly on the author's family history, from a master of Southern fiction similar to Lisa Wingate or Lauren K. Denton.

Library Journal