Letters from My Sister by Valerie Fraser Luesse

313 pages Revell publisher August 15, 2023 publish date

Synopsis

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.

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My Thoughts

Some books while you may enjoy them a lot while you are reading them and forget about them soon after, this one is not like that. It will be a keeper on my shelf and in my mind.
Set in Alabama at the turn of the twentieth century, this is the story of strong sisterly love. Sisters Callie and Emmy are the privileged daughters of a wealthy cotton farmer. Their bond will show no breaks. Things run beautifully on their plantation home front until an unexpected guest shows up.

Lily is a beautiful young girl who is the granddaughter of their housekeeper and has been brought to live with them due to unforeseen circumstances. Lily attracts the wrong kind of attention including Ryder’s. Ryder, a married man with a roving eye is not trustworthy and a character I didn’t like.

A poignant story, I could imagine myself there in each of the scenes the author has portrayed. A book such as this is so vividly imagined in my mind that it plays out like a movie.

Though there is much happiness in the book there is also sadness.
The author writes a book you will become invested in, with her authentic feeling characters and realistic events. There is a mystery in the book that will keep you reading as it’s revealed later in the book.

When the siblings are separated their bond continues on as they write letters to each other. I must say I wished the book was longer as it was just that good. Those who enjoy southern women’s fiction with deep characters will enjoy this.

Published August 15, 2023
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

The Author

Valerie Fraser Luesse is the author of four novels set in the South: Christy Award winner Missing Isaac (2018), Almost Home (2019), The Key to Everything (2020), and the upcoming Under the Bayou Moon (August 2021), all published by Revell Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group. An award-winning magazine writer, Luesse is perhaps best known for her feature stories and essays in Southern Living, where she wrote major pieces on the Mississippi Delta, Acadian Louisiana, and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Her editorial section on the recovering Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, photographed by Mark Sandlin, won the 2009 Travel Writer of the Year award from the Southeast Tourism Society. Luesse earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from Auburn University and Baylor University, respectively. She is a native of Harpersville, Alabama, and lives in Birmingham, where she is the senior travel editor for Southern Living. Find her online at valeriefraserluesse.com; facebook.com/valeriefraserluessebooks; bakerpublishinggroup.com; bookbub.com/authors/valerie-fraser-luesse; and goodreads.com.

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