Four young women find themselves drawn together as they rediscover a dark magical connection in Menna van Praag's ethereal fantasy novel The Sisters Grimm.
Each Grimm girl, a daughter of the devil Wilhelm Grimm, is born with powers over the elements of earth, water, fire or air, and the ability to test their skills in Everwhere, their father's magical domain. Seventeen-year-old Grimm sisters Goldie, Liyana, Scarlet and Bea spent childhood exploring their magic together. But now they struggle to survive the hardships in each of their lives--caring for a little brother alone, an unwanted arranged marriage, a failing family business and the ever-increasing fear of insanity--and have forgotten each other and Everwhere completely. They have no idea that in 33 days, on their shared 18th birthday, they will reunite to test their abilities and make the ultimate choice: Will they stand with their father, devoted to evil, or fight him and sacrifice themselves in the name of good?
In a narrative that moves among characters, timelines, the real world and Everwhere, van Praag (The House at the End of Hope Street; The Witches of Cambridge) carefully develops each sister into a complex character: from pale Goldie, "a crouched hare ever ready to dart to its burrow," to harshly contrary Bea, who would "leap into [death's] jaws with a warrior's cry," all four sisters evolve from children of loss into young women discovering their own strengths. Lush descriptions of Everwhere--"a nocturnal place, a place crafted from thoughts and dreams, hope and desire"--and vivid depictions of the girls' modern, everyday travails create a captivating canvas for the ever-increasing suspense in this evocative and winding story. --Jennifer Oleinik, freelance writer and editor