Brew a pitcher of sweet tea and settle in with Georgia author Joshilyn Jackson's eighth novel (following The Opposite of Everyone), another Southern story about a feisty heroine with a complex family. The Almost Sisters are Leia Birch, comics artist and self-described dork, and Rachel, the "Super Pretty" one, blonde with the perfect life; their sisterhood resulted from their parents' marriage when they were toddlers.
Despite her publishing fame, Leia feels like an outsider in her family, but trips from Norfolk, Va., to the Birchville, Ala., Victorian home of her beloved Grannie Birch ground Leia in staunch Southern roots. After a celebratory FanCon appearance--where she "had myself some tequila. And some Batman."--Leia discovers she's pregnant. She hides the news at first, but is eventually set to spring the surprise on Rachel and their parents, when Rachel's marriage implodes. That's also when Birchie displays full-blown dementia at a First Baptist fish fry.
In a story with plot twists like kudzu vines, Leia (with Rachel's precocious 13-year-old, Lavender, as sidekick) rushes to Birchie, where her health problems overshadow Leia's pregnancy. Rachel joins them soon after, and Birchie's endearing longtime friend Wattie (with secrets of her own) gently supports the women. All seems manageable, until out tumbles the skeleton in the attic--literally.
Sharp-tongued townsfolk eager to see a Birch get her comeuppance represent a nasty side of small-town life, including racism, petty gossip and political aspirations, but like Leia's comic book character Violet, strong women prevail, and love and loyalty triumph. Jackson's sardonic wit and Southern dialect balance the crises with levity. And Batman? He makes more than a cameo. --Cheryl Krocker McKeon, manager, Book Passage, San Francisco