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<\/a><\/p>\nThe experience made me wonder about the other things two siblings might share\u2014habits, hobbies, maybe even vices?\u2014despite having spent a lifetime apart. What came out of these questions, many years later, was Favorite Daughter<\/a>, my novel about two half-sisters who are unknowingly thrown together by their father\u2019s dying wish.<\/p>\n The eldest, Mickey, is a kindergarten teacher and a struggling alcoholic, while Arlo is a leading psychotherapist: professional and seemingly put-together. When their late father\u2019s will unites them as therapist and patient\u2014with neither having any idea that they\u2019re sisters\u2014they start on a collision course that could break, or perhaps save, them both.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s the thing about sisters in particular: they have a way of showing up in each other\u2019s lives (sometimes rather chaotically) no matter what forces have separated them. And even when kept apart, they still manage to shape each other.<\/p>\n Here are seven books that show the many ways a \u201clong-lost\u201d sister can be found.<\/p>\n Interesting Facts About Space<\/a> by Emily Austin<\/p>\n Enid has one very pesky phobia: she\u2019s terrified of bald men. Until now, she\u2019s managed to suppress this fear\u2014and the difficult memories at its root\u2014by listening to true crime podcasts on repeat and talking to her mom about interesting space facts rather than feelings. Then Enid\u2019s absentee father dies, her two estranged half-sisters reappear in her life, and the past comes bubbling up. A darkly funny and tender story about trauma, healing, and the value of human connection.\u00a0<\/p>\n We Should Not Be Afraid of the Sky<\/a> by Emma Hooper<\/p>\n An immersive work of historical fiction, Emma Hooper\u2019s third novel follows five young girls growing up in a small Portuguese fishing village at the edge of the Roman Empire. Though raised in different households, the girls are actually sisters, and as they grow up picking lemons together in the village orchards, sharing gossip and whispering secrets, they develop a fierce bond. When the girls are abducted and brought to the home of the local commander, they must part ways. Will their connection persist despite the separation?<\/p>\n What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez<\/a> by Claire Jimenez<\/p>\n When thirteen-year-old Ruthy Ramirez goes missing one night after track practice, she leaves a hole in her family that never fully closes. Years later, long after the police have stopped looking for her, Ruthy\u2019s sisters Nina and Jessica are just trying to get by, scraping together enough cash to support their families while navigating a fraught relationship with their mother. Then they glimpse a familiar face while watching a reality TV show called Catfight. A woman from the show, Ruby, looks uncannily like their sister\u2014and it turns out she\u2019s only a few hours away.\u00a0<\/p>\n Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance<\/a> by Alison Espach<\/p>\n Most will know Alison Espach from her recent release The Wedding People<\/a>, but this novel from 2022 is every bit as honest and raw. Inspired by the loss of Espach\u2019s own brother, Notes follows teenager Sally before and after the death of her older sister Kathy in a car crash. As the years pass, Sally finds herself strangely (and inconveniently) drawn to Kathy\u2019s heartthrob boyfriend, the only person who seems to understand the void Kathy\u2019s absence has created.<\/p>\n Hello Beautiful<\/a> by Ann Napolitano<\/p>\n The four Padavano sisters\u2014ambitious Julia, starry-eyed Sylvie, passionate Cecilia, and caring Emeline\u2014feel most like themselves when they\u2019re together. They\u2019ve grown up under one (admittedly chaotic) roof with their Catholic Italian parents, sharing even their most closely-guarded secrets with one another. Then Julia marries a college basketball player named William, and the ensuing chain of events causes a decades-long rift the sisters could\u2019ve never previously imagined.<\/p>\n