Ronni Sunshine left London for Hollywood to become a beautiful, charismatic star of the silver screen. But at home, she was a narcissistic, disinterested mother who alienated her three daughters.
As soon as possible, tomboy Nell fled her mother's overbearing presence to work on a farm and find her own way in the world as a single mother. The target of her mother s criticism, Meredith never felt good enough, thin enough, pretty enough. Her life took her to London and into the arms of a man whom she may not even love. And Lizzy, the youngest, more like Ronni than any of them, seemed to have it easy, using her drive and ambition to build a culinary career to rival her mother's fame, while her marriage crumbled around her.
But now the Sunshine Girls are together again, called home by Ronni, who has learned that she has a serious disease and needs her daughters to fulfill her final wishes. And though Nell, Meredith, and Lizzy are all going through crises of their own, their mother's illness draws them together to confront old jealousies and secret fears and they discover that blood might be thicker than water after all.
My thoughts...
I always enjoy reading Jane Green books, so I was excited to start my summer reading off with her newest novel The Sunshine Sisters. An easy read to sit back and just enjoy reading on the beach or in your backyard watching the kids play on the swing set. The book has a nice quick flow to it, which is always great for a summer read.
You get to know Ronni and her three daughters with individual chapters off and on through their life before they all come together again. I wasn't a fan of Ronni, but she was portrayed how I would view many Hollywood type moms.Her character felt true. I never felt bad for her even though she was suffering with a serious disease. I did however feel bad for her daughters.
With the chapters written from the past to present for each daughter you see what drove their different personalities. I would say I was a bit disappointed in the relationship between Nell and Meredith. It felt like they might have been closer since most of their childhood was them vs Ronni. I have a sister and we are pretty close in age and we are very different, yet remain close. It seemed a little odd that they weren't even a little close as adults.
I enjoyed the chapters of getting caught up with the girls as adults the most. I could easily see where and how they got where they did. I was rooting for all of them to find happiness and to deal with the hurts of the mother. I would say I most related to Nell. We are both oldest children and her feelings about her mother felt similar to some of the thoughts and feelings I went through when I lost my dad a few years back.
I can't say I loved The Sunshine Girls, but I enjoyed it well enough and it was a pretty quick read. There was a certain amount of predictability to the story, so I would say I had a little higher hopes.
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