The Sisters

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2025 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION SELECTED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES'It's been a while since we were stunned by an ambitious family saga, . . . a real winner'The Times, Best Books of the Year So Far'Epic . . . an apt way to kick of 2026'Elle'A triumph'Irish Times'One of the best novels I've ever read about the complexities of mixed heritage'New Yorker'One gawps at its breadth and ambition. It's a transnational tour de force'New York Times'Superb . . . one of those books you live inside and miss when it's over'Isabella Hammad, author of Enter Ghost'A moving appraisal of family, language, and the spiritual developments that accrue over a life'Raven Leilani, author of Luster'If you welcome this novel into your mind, it will warm and transform you'Tess Gunty, author of the Rabbit Hutch'[His] masterpiece . . . life overflows its pages'Madeleine Thien, author of Do Not Say We Have NothingMeet the Mikkola sisters: Ina, Evelyn, and Anastasia. Their mother is a Tunisian saleswoman, their father a mysterious Swede who left them when they were young. Ina is tall, serious, a compulsive organizer. Evelyn is dreamy, magnetic, a smooth talker. And Anastasia is moody, chaotic, a shape-shifting presence, quick to anger.Ina meets her future husband when she's dragged to a New Year's party by her sisters, only to suffer the ultimate betrayal. Evelyn drifts through life before embarking on a wild career as an actress. And Anastasia runs off to Tunisia, where she falls in love with a woman who, years later, will transform her life.Following the sisters from afar is Jonas, the son of a Swedish mother and a Tunisian father. Over the course of three decades, his life intersects with the sisters, from a chance encounter in Tunis to the scene of a fighter jet crash in Stockholm. When Evelyn disappears on a trip to New York, Jonas manages to track her down - and helps her to break the curse that has been looming over the Mikkolas for decades. In the process, a shocking revelation changes everything about who they think they are.Narrated in six parts, each spanning a period ranging from a year to a day to a single minute, The Sisters is a big, vivid family saga of the highest order - an addictively entertaining tour de force.