A very small town in Wisconsin, Catholic, is where this sad, disturbing story takes place. Told in retrospect by the sister, Abigail Schiller about her family and what led up to the disappearance of her only brother, Sam at seventeen. The two of them, somewhat isolated on a farm were very close as young children, but as they grew, and the mother chose to work part time, the balance of the family was disturbed. The father, Gordon, uses physical abuse and shaming to make a man of his only son under the guise of "bonding," while scaring his young adolesent daugher with stories of rape and murder and making her feel uncomfortable with her blossoming body.
As Abagail is sent to her grandmothers to recover from the resulting depression, her brothers life spins out of control. When he just doesn't come home one day in 1984, the family is shattered. With beauty and sadness, grace and honesty, Abigail at age 30 retraces the events that led to the disappearance in an emotional journey. What was her brothers fate? I am a new fan of Ansay. I now have several of her other books on my wish list. Her prose alone is worth the read! (read less)

A very small town in Wisconsin, Catholic, is where this sad, disturbing story takes place. Told in retrospect by the sister, Abigail Schiller about her family and what led up to the disappearance of her only brother, Sam at seventeen. The two of them, somewhat isolated on a farm were very close as young children, but as they grew, and the mother chose to work part time, the balance of (read more)

I like A. Manette Ansay. I haven’t read her newest book (Good Things I Wish You), but I have read Midnight Champagne, Blue Water, Vinegar Hill, and her excellent memoir, Limbo. What happens in Sister? Not much. The Schiller family struggles with the problems that life hands out. None of their problems is unique. Some are ones that you and I have faced. And, as you and I do, the family members endure, grow, and change. So in some ways Sister is a story of survival. Most of all, though, this is a story about faith -- but not in the sense of religious beliefs. Mrs. Schiller says, “’I don’t mean the Catholic Church, or even God, I mean,’ she pauses, searching for the right words, ‘faith. The ability to believe. The ability to see beyond the place where you are.’” This book reminded me that we all need to believe in something. (read less)

I like A. Manette Ansay. I haven’t read her newest book (Good Things I Wish You), but I have read Midnight Champagne, Blue Water, Vinegar Hill, and her excellent memoir, Limbo. What happens in Sister? Not much. The Schiller family struggles with the problems that life hands out. None of their problems is unique. Some are ones that you and I have faced. And, as you and I do, the family (read more)