The Story Sisters

From the author of Practical Magic...

The Story Sisters is the first book of the Magical Realism genre I found at the Dayton Public Library. I was looking by Practical Magic by the same author because it's the only book by her that I've read and feel like I personally know. What I mean by that is that I've read the book, listened to it on tape, watched the movie, compared the novel and the movie, decided I liked both even though the stories are entirely different, and brought them out to remember them separately with a fondness people usually reserve for friends they haven't seen in years.

However, the library didn't have Practical Magic, I couldn't find the audiobook anywhere online, and I know where to look.  I know someone who owns the book, but she lives out of state and just moved to a new apartment. I'm not about to drive two hours to her house, demand a book, and then go off and read. That would be rude, crude, and socially unacceptable. That's why I talked to her yesterday and she will lend me the book when I go visit her at her new place.

Meanwhile, I picked up Story Sisters which was published in 2009 by Shaye Areheart Books in New York. It's a story about three sisters: Elv, Meg, and Claire Story.  The summer after their parents get a divorce, Elv invents a language and a world where they live, essentially cutting themselves off from the rest of the world in a sense. Gradually they rejoin the real world due to tragedies that happen, sometimes at their own hand an sometimes because the world is a cruel place to live and life sucks. You can't hide in a dream forever and sometimes the dream is darker than reality.

I picked it up shortly after I checked it out from the library and I couldn't put it down. Twenty-four hours and 325 pages later and I'm not sure if my heart feels warmer or if I'm going to cry at some moment.

Alice Hoffman really puts together a beautiful story with fleshed-out characters and love and heartbreak and every wonderful thing you can imagine as well as horrible things.

When I first started reading, I thought the fairy world the girls had created was the Magic in this tale of Magical Realism, but I was wrong. The magical world of Arnelle fades as the story progresses.  I will tell you now, this book contains demons and they're not the kind of demons you expect. These demons are the kind you or I could easily believe in.  These demons are the kind that can only be defeated with salt and hard work.

I really liked this book for other reasons too. After reading the story of Elv Story and her life and her behaviors, they actually remind me of people that I've known, people who's behavior I never really understood in the past, people who hurt me deeply. In fact, I find myself now thinking about them and hoping that, like Elv Story, they found their happy ending and moved on with their lives to forget whatever it was that may have happened to them to make them hurt me so.

Sweet Dreams.