Brooklyn Bookbeat: Three’s a crowd: Brooklynite’s new book illustrates sisterly struggles
Can’t we all just get along? Anyone who has grown up alongside siblings knows that it’s not that simple. Growing up as the middle sister, I would venture to say that sisterly relationships – especially when three are involved – can be among the most intricate of sibling dynamics.
Brooklyn writer Lucinda Rosenfeld seems to agree. In her new novel, “The Pretty One,” to be released Feb. 5, Rosenfeld tells the story of the Hellinger sisters, whose rivalries and alliances are constantly shifting. Olympia (“the pretty one”) is a single mother two coordinates events at a New York City museum, Perri (“the perfect one”) is a mother of three living in Westchester, and Gus (“the political one”) is an activist and lawyer who works for the Legal Aid Society of New York.
Although accomplished adults, the Hellinger sisters remain quick to judge each other and sometimes grapple with jealousy and resentment. Their relationships are tested when their mother winds up in the hospital, but Rosenfeld shows, with humor and charm, that these familial bonds are strong enough to withstand even the most trying circumstances.