Mother and daughters tale tugs on the heartstrings

Best-selling author Jane Green returns to form with the life-affirming The Sunshine Sisters. Set very much in the now, but starting 30 years previously, The Sunshine Sisters is the story of beautiful and charismatic B-movie actress Ronni's three daughters. Not the best mother in the world, self-absorbed and disinterested, Ronnie wasn't the mother she wanted to be. Nell, Meredith and Lizzy have been left to their own devices, estranged from their Ronni - and each other - until in adulthood they are all summoned home. Ronni is ill. Not her usual 'headache', but she has motor neurone disease and is at the end of her life. Can this fractured family forgive their past and heal? Can the sisters get past the hurt and misunderstanding and find their feet in a new future when everything seems to be against them? This novel pulls on the heartstrings, but also feels like coming home. A perfect summer read.

8/10

(Review by Rachel Howdle)