Rise and Shine

I've loved Anna Quindlen's essay writing for a long time, but somehow I'd never read any of her novels.  I picked up Rise and Shine at the last library used-book sale, and read it over the last few days.  And I loved it, absolutely loved it.

It's the story of two sisters in New York city, one a famous morning television journalist in the Katie Couric/Diane Sawyer mode, the other a social worker whose days are spent working with mothers and children in crisis.  Narrated by the social worker sister, the story explores the sisters' relationship, life in NYC, motherhood, celebrity, and the roles we take on in our families.  There isn't a complex plot, more of a series of unfolding events that shows each woman evolving and revealing more of who she is at her core.

From the reviews of this book on Amazon.com I see that a lot of readers thought it was mediocre.  That surprised me because I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  Maybe it was a matter of finding the right book at the right time -- sometimes that confluence can make a book feel perfect and delightful it might not have if read at another time -- and I think it has something to do with the fact that I like Quindlen's smart writing and her sense of strong women.

I give it four stars out of five.