When We Were Sisters

When We Were Sisters often felt like a diary rather than a novel.

This was lyrical and evocative, but I kept looking for the big narrative turn that tied everything together, and it never happened.

Some individual moments stood out, and I enjoyed the take on the orphan story.

I checked this out because it was on the 2022 National Book Award for Fiction long list. It’s a coming-of-age story of 3 girls from an immigrant family who become orphans. While the author’s prose style is lovely, the story is very depressing, while also not being particularly interesting. On the plus side, it’s short.