Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Diving into a 550-page novel � as opposed to, say, a 300-page novel � is the difference between a dalliance and a full-blown commitment. You have to really like these characters to spend time in their lives and inside their heads for days at a time. It may not be the most fun you’ve ever had, but it has to be darn close.

So let’s start here: I liked the Sorenson family. I liked its messiness, quirkiness, heartaches and triumphs. And I didn’t regret one single hour that I was immersed in their world.

Marilyn and David are the fortunate couple who quickly intuit that they’re right for each other and present a portraiture of stability and passion throughout the years. Their four daughters must continually strive to replicate that kind of love in their own lives and each of them has her own challenges to overcome. The oldest, Wendy, leaps out from the pages with her oversized personality and wry comments. Her “Irish twin� Violet is far more traditional and yoked to pursuing perfection in all she does. Then there’s Liza, a psychologist married to a depressed and tattoo sleeved software developer, and the youngest, Grace, who finds herself being left out of the sisterhood due to her “last child� standing.

The relationship among the four sisters pulses with authenticity. Claire Lombardo writes, “The only portrait you could ever get really of one sister from another, tinged inevitably with jealousy and double standards and affection as deep and intractable as marrow.� When Jonah, the love child of one of the sisters is suddenly thrust into their lives, some of the fault lines are widened. All the tumultuous elements that come part and parcel of being a family are here � the secrets, the illnesses, the childrearing, the unexpected happenings that knock down carefully planned lives.

I did have a few quibbles. The characters sometimes talk in staccato to a fault. (Example: “Hey honey, is Ryan_Has he…� or But they really—You’d be surprised how they grow on you.�) It’s authentic, yes, but also overdone. There were some parts that were a stretch (why would daughter Liza choose a chronically depressed partner who gave her little emotionally?) But these are, indeed, quibbles. Claire Lombardo has the writing chops and her book is page-turning. 4.5 stars.