In literature, the many forms of sister relationships have provided a vast ocean for authors to explore. Sisterhood produces both love and admiration, and jealousy and competition—feelings that are intrinsic to familial bonds. There’s an intimacy to sisterhood—when you grow up sharing a room or confessing your deepest secrets, so much common space, mentally and physically, fosters connections deeper than most friendships. Sisterhood follows you home; it’s a more monumental task to step away from a sister than a friend, and that creates an inevitable tension—whether it’s a fight over a borrowed shirt or a question of morals, a sense of duty to the greater family plays a role in maintaining the peace.
The sisters in my debut novel, Running Out of Air, were once an inseparable mountaineering duo. After Evelyn has an affair with Sophie’s husband, a seemingly uncrossable chasm forms between them. It takes a monumental opportunity—an invitation to summit a previously-unclimbed 8000-meter peak—to bring them physically close again. But forgiveness isn’t easy, even between sisters; perhaps pain is even greater when caused by a sibling.
In writing Running Out of Air, I understood that my fascination went beyond the mere portrayal of a troubled sister relationship—I was curious about the limits of forgiveness, how to apologize for causing devastation, and how two people with the same upbringing and passions can live drastically different lives.
Sisterhood toes an intriguing line between familial obligation and built-in friendship—but unlike a friendship, you don’t play an active role in cultivating a sister. These nine books ask their own questions about sisterhood, depict the many kinds of conflict that arise between siblings, and reflect the compassion extended by family, even in extreme circumstances.
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
There is no shortage of sisters in Ann Napolitano’s Hello Beautiful. Four of them, to be exact: Julia, Sylvie, Cecelia, and Emeline. The Padavano sisters welcome William Waters, Julia’s college boyfriend, into their family, providing to him for the first time a sense of stability and familial love. But Julia views William as a project, a canvas upon which to paint the perfect husband, and his eventual struggle with his mental health tears their marriage apart.
Instead, it is Sylvie who forms a relationship with William, a romance that will leave lasting ramifications on the family for generations to come. A homage to Little Women, Hello Beautiful explores themes of honesty, ambition, and grief. Though the focus remains on the complicated dynamics between William, Julia, and Sylvie, each Padavano sister has their own arc.
My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
It doesn’t get much more difficult than the relationship described in the title of My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. Antisocial but efficient Korede works as a nurse and is used to covering for her beautiful, self-absorbed younger sister, Ayoola, who has a habit of murdering her boyfriends. When Ayoola begins courting a doctor at Korede’s hospital, who she herself is in love with, Korede questions how far she can go to protect her sibling. Braithwaite explores the competition and jealousy that arise between sisters—Korede can’t help coming to Ayoola’s rescue, even when she’s fighting deep resentment. Dark, tense, and morbidly funny, this fast-paced thriller set in Nigeria depicts just how far the bonds of sisterhood will stretch.
Bear by Julia Philips
Written like a fairytale but set in our world, Bear by Julia Phillips is the story of two sisters, Sam and Elena, and the titular bear that haunts their Washington island home. Sam and Elena work low-paying jobs to support their dying mother, a life which they both dream of leaving when their mother passes. A bear turning up in their backyard is all the sign Sam needs to leave the island for good. But Elena, usually rational, is enthralled by the bear and divulges her encounters with it to Sam like a girl in love, despite the frequent warnings from a state wildlife official that approaching the bear is dangerous.
The bear’s presence stokes the central conflict between the sisters—Sam’s insistence that it’s time to look for a new home, and Elena’s joy in finding small magic in their mundane, difficult lives—and causes their close relationship to unravel. The novel draws the reader, spellbound, into its shocking conclusion.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet
Desiree and Stella, twin sisters, grow up to live very different lives. Both escape their small southern town of Mallard, but only Stella decides to pass as white and tells no one about her past, not even her husband. Years later, Desiree returns to Mallard with her daughter after leaving her abusive husband. Both sisters’ journeys ask the same question: is it possible to truly leave the past behind?
Desiree never stops searching for Stella, but Stella is desperate to maintain her carefully-constructed front. Spanning several decades, and following both the twins and their children, The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet incorporates themes from racism to motherhood to identity, with the complicated bond between two estranged sisters at its core.
Everything Here is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee
Miranda and Lucia, the Chinese-American sisters at the heart of Everything Here is Beautiful, have strikingly different personalities. Miranda is older and more controlled; Lucia is wild and headstrong, brilliant at her best but affected by chronic mental illness. Miranda longs to help her younger sister, but Lucia resists treatment, insisting that she isn’t sick; this is simply her reality. The question of family loyalty arises when Miranda moves to Switzerland with her husband, and Lucia to Ecuador, putting both physical and emotional distance between them. How much must Miranda sacrifice to protect Lucia?
Covering many years and told through alternating perspectives, including both sisters and Lucia’s partners, Mira T. Lee draws a fully-realized portrait of the sweeping effects of mental illness, both on the afflicted person and their loved ones.
One Two Three by Laurie Frankel
Laurie Frankel’s fourth novel features two of my favorite things: sister stories and environmentalism. One Two Three is set in the town of Bourne, where contaminated water has left an aftermath of health issues and developmental disorders throughout the population. Though the threat of future chemical pollution unites triplet sisters Mab, Monday, and Mirabel, they have different ambitions and ways of navigating the world—not to mention that they’re sixteen, an age rife for disagreements. Told through all three sisters’ points of view, this novel tackles themes from environmental justice to disability representation to first crushes, with the intricate nature of sisterhood at its very center.
Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
In another novel that combines ecology and sisterhood, Charlotte McConaghy’s Once There Were Wolves takes us to Scotland with twin sisters Inti and Aggie. Inti is there to lead a team of biologists in reintroducing gray wolves to the Highlands, and also hopes to help her sister heal from the events that caused them to leave Alaska. Inti must contend with resistance from the locals, especially the farmers, who fear the wolves will decimate their livestock. Violence is a central player in this novel, both from people toward animals and between people themselves. Aggie’s pain, which Inti experiences through her mirror-touch synesthesia, is a constant hum in the background, complicating the sisters’ bond and playing into the story’s climax in unexpected ways.
Getaway by Zoje Stage
Part wilderness thriller, part sibling drama, Getaway by Zoje Stage explores the damaged relationship between sisters Imogen and Beck as they tackle a week-long, no-phones backpacking trip through the Grand Canyon with a friend, Tilda. Past tensions lead to arguments between both the sisters and Tilda, muddying what is supposed to be a healing vacation, a chance to discuss an event that caused a rift in their friendships. More than their relationships are at stake when they discover an unsettling, potentially dangerous man hiding out in the canyon. A suspenseful survivalist drama unfolds, combining a stunning setting with nail-biting tension.
Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach
The relationship between sisters Sally and Kathy is complicated for one major reason: Kathy is dead. Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance follows Sally, the younger sister, after a car accident takes Kathy’s life but leaves Sally and Kathy’s boyfriend, Billy, alive. A coming-of-age story that spans Sally’s teenage years to young adulthood, and tracks both how she is shaped by Kathy’s absence and her growing connection with Billy, the only person who seems to understand her pain. Losing Kathy affects every part of Sally’s life, though she retains her unique sense of humor while navigating her trauma. Alison Espach paints a vivid image of one family’s journey through grief, of love in unexpected places, and the impact of losing a sibling.