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alisonlaw's review against another edition
5.0
On April 4, 2018, [a:Jessica Handler|2887309|Jessica Handler|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1382370055p2/2887309.jpg] and I discussed [b:Invisible Sisters: A Memoir|11432735|Invisible Sisters A Memoir|Jessica Handler|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328806834s/11432735.jpg|4989022] in front of a live audience at The Wren's Nest. She writes beautifully about what it was like to grow up in Atlanta during the Civil Rights Movement. There's a moving passage in the book about an eight-year-old Jessica and her father attending the funeral for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Listen to a recording of the interview in Episode 37 of the Literary Atlanta podcast.
jisimpson's review against another edition
5.0
Smart, wildly funny in parts and mostly heartbreaking, Jessica Handler's gritty story of love, loss and grief is beautifully written and ultimately joyous. Hers is a deeply touching and compelling memoir.
sheila_p's review against another edition
3.0
A sometimes funny, often sad, look at how one family deals with illness. I don't think anyone can ever predict how they will handle tragedy. I feel blessed to have a sister and for each and every day that we have.
evelyn_roy_writes's review against another edition
5.0
This would be a great book club choice --so much to discuss about this tragic and charismatic family packed into a quick read.
I was worried that this memoir might be too depressing, but Handler brings humor, insight, and fascinating situations for the reader to 'come up for air' in between the heartbreak. This book is at the same time very specific (e.g. the unique medical situation with the sisters' illnesses, the complex ways one family tried to live with two impending deaths, the 20th century American middle class cultural response to death,) while also being relatably universal (e.g. family love and dysfunction, a young woman's coming of age).
I was worried that this memoir might be too depressing, but Handler brings humor, insight, and fascinating situations for the reader to 'come up for air' in between the heartbreak. This book is at the same time very specific (e.g. the unique medical situation with the sisters' illnesses, the complex ways one family tried to live with two impending deaths, the 20th century American middle class cultural response to death,) while also being relatably universal (e.g. family love and dysfunction, a young woman's coming of age).
olevia's review
2.0
What the loss of a woman's two sisters does to her family and to her own childhood. Wish I could put my finger on what is missing here, but something I wish this book had is more from or about the mother and the other sister who made it to adulthood before dying.
singinglight's review
4.0
Elizabeth Wein recommended this in a recent blog post and we happened to have it in so I picked it up. It’s a rather haunted book, the memoir of a woman who lost her two sisters to medically opposite diseases. I thought it was beautifully written, thoughtful without being self-indulgent and honest about the way the family broke apart under the strain.
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