Susan Mallery’s newest novel, “Three Sisters”, is the second in her newest series, Blackberry Island. It follows the first in the series “Barefoot Season”. This is about 3 women and their families who live in the 3 Queen Anne Victorian houses on the island. Andi buys the 3rd house, to turn the bottom part into a pediatric office, and she will live upstairs.
Next door is Deanna, a wife and mother of 5 daughters. She accuses her husband of having an affair, and he assures her that he is not cheating on her. She is obsessive-compulsive, she washes her hands so much, that she is embarrassed to shake Andi’s hand when she talks to her for the second time, and she hides it in her sleeve. The first time she meets Andi, she is rude. She feels that her daughters do not appreciate her, she always sees the daughters yelling that “Daddy is home”, but she never gets the same treatment. I did not like Deanna at the beginning of the book, but luckily she matures and changes throughout the novel. We learn about why Deanna acts the way she does, and why she washes her hands so much.
Finally, we have Boston, who married her high school sweetheart, but they do not have any children. Unfortunately, they had a son, who passed away at only 6 months old. Boston spends her days painting, and drawing pictures of her son, eating, sleeping, anything her beautiful baby did, or did not get to do, due to his short life. Boston’s husband spends his time away from home, trying to drown his sorrows in a bottle. At the end of the book, Susan gives us a lovely meeting between Boston and her husband where they talk about what happened, and eventually they help each other get through their grief.
Andi meets Wade, who will be her contractor. Wade is the Brother-in-Law of Boston. He will tear apart the first floor of her house, and turn it into a beautiful pediatric office. Andi also commissions Boston to paint a mural to make the kids feel more excited than scared to be at the doctor. Susan describes an amazing jungle scene, which I for one, really wanted to see in paint, besides what I painted in my head.
Andi also spends some time with a few of Deanna’s daughters. She invites them over for lemonade and cookies, and one day Boston visits, and spends that afternoon drawing the children, and their cat.
Deanna talks to Andi about her OCD, and Andi gives her the name of a psychiatrist, and convinces her to go for an appointment. Deanna does go for the appointment, and by the end of the book, she is a lot nicer than she was at the beginning. She also talks more to her daughters, and instead of yelling at them like she did in the beginning of the book, she listens to them and talks in a calm manner.
We also get to see Michelle and Carly from the first book, when Deanna goes to apply for a job at their bed-and-breakfast. We do not get to catch up with them; we are mainly with Deanna when she meets them for her interview.
This is just another amazing Susan Mallery novel, She writes amazing characters with sad, happy, and sometimes tragic back stories, but at the end of each novel, she gives them hope, love, and great friends. I for one cannot wait for the next Blackberry Island novel.
On the plus side, on susanmallery.com, she has a calendar on the left side of the page, which gives us some save-the-dates for some of her upcoming novels. Also visit blackberryisland.susanmallery.com, for a Blackberry Island map, and a visitor’s guide, and also recipes.
Also see foolsgold.ca.susanmallery.com, for her Fools Gold series, which at the end of July of this year, will have released 12 full length novels, and some e-novellas.
