The Pretty One: A Novel about Sisters
Complicated yet close relationships between sisters are a familiar trope in literature. In Rosenfeld’s contemporary spin, the Hellinger sisters are wildly different in manner but alike in their propensity for meddling in each other’s lives. Oldest sister Perri, a perfectionist working mom with a successful husband and suburban manse, stuns all when she runs away for the weekend with an old college boyfriend. Meanwhile, back home, Perri’s husband, Mike, makes a pass at her beautiful middle sister, Olympia, a single mom whose dating and professional lives are floundering. Youngest sister Gus, a lesbian social-activist lawyer, is going through an identity crisis of her own when a bad breakup has her considering a fling with Mike’s brother Jeff. Although the novel’s twists and turns are entertaining, it’s the sisters’ realistic swings from jealousy to unity that make it compelling. Once again, the author of I’m So Happy for You (2009) portrays women with insight. --Aleksandra Walker