The Sisters We Were: A Novel

by Wendy Willis Baldwin

Overview

"Readers will be eager for more." —Booklist

"An insightful and empathetic view into the daily struggles of living with obesity. A solid entry for titles with plus-sized heroines." —Library Journal

Pearl and Ruby's choices drove them apart.

Finding their way back to each other might be the only way forward.

The weight of their family secrets could not have shaped Pearl and Ruby Crenshaw any differently. Ruby's a runner, living in Dallas and only reluctantly talking to their mother, Birdie, when she calls from prison. Pearl is still living in her mother's fixer-upper and finds herself facing a line in the sand: her weight is threatening to kill her. She's hundreds of pounds beyond the point where she can celebrate her curves or benefit from the body positivity movement, and unless she takes drastic action, the future looks dire.

But when Ruby's buried rage explodes in a hilariously viral way, the mistake has life-altering consequences. Now the sisters are back living under the same roof and forced to put the pieces of their separate lives together again. Funny, cinematic, and bursting with heart, this is a story of hope and redemption that celebrates the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood.

"A moving story of sisters and their unbreakable bond that spans a lifetime. Both hilarious and heartfelt, Baldwin brings to life characters that not only amuse us but stay with us long after the story is told. With this delightful and meaningful debut, Wendy Willis Baldwin is definitely an author to watch." —Angela Pisel, author of With Love from the Inside

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781728258201
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	01/17/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	359,192
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

The Sisters We Were is Wendy Willis Baldwin's debut novel. Together, she and her sister host the Life After Fat Pants Podcast. A native of Texas, Baldwin now lives on a farm in New Hampshire with her husband, her dogs, and thousands of honeybees.

Editorial Reviews

"Readers will be eager for more." — Booklist

"An insightful and empathetic view into the daily struggles of living with obesity. A solid entry for titles with plus-sized heroines." — Library Journal

"A moving story of sisters and their unbreakable bond that spans a lifetime. Both hilarious and heartfelt, Baldwin brings to life characters that not only amuse us but stay with us long after the story is told. With this delightful and meaningful debut, Wendy Willis Baldwin is definitely an author to watch." — Angela Pisel, author of With Love from the Inside

From the Publisher

12/01/2022

DEBUT Long-held childhood secrets send one sister into a life of angry denial and the other sister finding her salvation in food. Twenty-nine-year-old Pearl Crenshaw is told by a bariatric surgeon that she may not live to see her 40th birthday if she does not take drastic measures to reduce her weight. At 531 pounds, everything from moving to sleeping has become a struggle for her. Willing to endure the quick temper and sharp criticisms from her estranged older sister Ruby, Pearl turns to her only family member who's available for help. With the impending surgery and recovery, the two sisters are given a chance to reconnect and salvage their once close relationship. Life After Fat Pants podcaster Baldwin based her fiction debut on her relationship with her younger sister. The story is slightly off-balance with the protagonist Pearl much more developed than Ruby and the other supporting characters. VERDICT While technical descriptions detract from emotional build-ups, Baldwin's debut still offers an insightful and empathetic view into the daily struggles of living with obesity. A solid entry for titles with plus-sized heroines.—Joy Gunn

Library Journal