Review: Sisters of Heart and Snow by Margaret Dilloway

Sisters of Heart and Snow

by Margaret Dilloway

Publisher: GP Putnam's Sons

Pages: 400

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Rachel and Drew Snow may be sisters, but  their lives have followed completely different paths.

Married to a wonderful man and a mother to two strong-minded teens, Rachel hasn’t returned to her childhood home since being kicked out by her strict father after an act of careless teenage rebellion. Drew, her younger sister, followed her passion for music but takes side jobs to make ends meet and longs for the stability that has always eluded her. Both sisters recall how close they were, but the distance between them seems more than they can bridge. When their deferential Japanese mother, Hikari, is diagnosed with dementia and gives Rachel power of attorney, Rachel’s domineering father, Killian becomes enraged.

In a rare moment of lucidity, Hikari asks Rachel for a book in her sewing room, and Rachel enlists her sister’s help in the search. The book—which tells the tale of real-life female samurai Tomoe Gozen, an epic saga of love, loss, and conflict during twelfth-century Japan—reveals truths about Drew and Rachel’s relationship that resonate across the centuries, connecting them in ways that turn their differences into assets.

Kritters Thoughts:  Two stories that blend together, sort of, in the end.  One storyline is an ancient story or folklore from Japan about a unique female samurai warrior who has two brothers that she has to keep up with.  The other storyline centers around two sisters who had quite the dramatic upbringing and reacted in very different ways and now have to come back together to deal with an ailing mother and a difficult father.  

I love a good family drama.  I live for a good family drama.  I haven't read one that focuses on a Japanese family and as most folks have heard rumors about how their culture is tough on their children and set high expectations, so I was excited to read this one and enjoyed mixing the family drama with a folklore and trying to figure out how and when they would cross.  

I liked how both stories intersected.  There were a few ways that they intertwined and I liked that it didn't take a long time for the reader to find out where they crossed.  Although, I absolutely preferred the current storyline with the sisters I was still glad that the other one was included.  I appreciated that this one didn't overwhelm the current storyline.

This is actually my first Margaret Dilloway read and I can't wait to pick up her others both in the past and future and read them!

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Penguin Random House.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.