Jazz and Olivia, two sisters who couldn’t be more different,  wrestle with grief and identity in surprising and complex ways in Therese Walsh’s new novel, THE MOON SISTERS.  Though the bones of the story may not be entirely original, Walsh works wonders with the themes of sibling rivalry and loss by giving each sister a unique perspective, surrounding them with challenging characters and placing them in an interesting setting.

THE MOON SISTERS centers on the death of Beth Moon, Jazz and Olivia’s mother, apparently from suicide. Jazz is the older sister and always had a strained relationship with her mother, who pushed her to succeed in school and move away from their small West Virginia town. She resents her mother’s dreamy insistence on working on a short story that seems to have no ending and her inability to function normally. But Olivia’s synesthesia makes her sympathetic to her mother’s ways --- from her narcolepsy to her depression and her obsession with the short story. When Olivia finds her mother dead at the kitchen table where she spent her time writing, with a sealed letter by her side, she does not assume she killed herself like everyone else does; she instead believes it to be an accident.

"Often heartwrenching and occasionally strange, THE MOON SISTERS is an emotionally compelling and honest novel with just a touch of fairy tale."

As Jazz grows even more distant and finds a job in the funeral home where they recently held services for their mother, Olivia decides to take her mother’s ashes to a glade that factors into the end of the unfinished short story. But Olivia’s plan is complicated by the fact that she recently blinded herself. The girl’s grandmother convinces Jazz to travel with Olivia to protect her, and they uneasily set off together. When their old vehicle breaks down, leaving them stranded, Olivia jumps on a train and Jazz follows her. On board they meet two interesting and frightening figures with whom they will stay in the coming days, hopping off the train to hike and hitchhike to the glades.

Hobbs is a young man about Olivia’s age who is covered with tattoos and full of attitude and detachment. But he also has a compassionate streak that attracts Olivia, and soon they form a bond. Red Grass is an older man who, Jazz discovers, is tracking Hobbs because of some stolen coins. Jazz hopes to make a deal with Red Grass that will get her and Olivia home safely, even if it means splitting up Olivia and Hobbs. As the sisters travel away from home and then back, they reveal to each other their true feelings and secrets they’ve been keeping about their mother.

Ostensibly a tale of sisterhood, THE MOON SISTERS goes much farther in exploring issues of family expectations, dynamics and secrets, as well as how all of that relates to identity formation. Of course, the characters are also mourning the loss of family and security, and in that way, it is also about damaged and hurt people coming together and finding strength and a path to healing in the most unexpected of ways. Often heartwrenching and occasionally strange, THE MOON SISTERS is an emotionally compelling and honest novel with just a touch of fairy tale.