Three sisters. Two identical. One trying to find her own way.
Clementine Lord has always been one of three—and the one apart. Her sisters, Odette and Olivia, are identical twins; she is their fraternal triplet, close enough to know their rhythms but never quite inside their private bond.
When their father disappears, familiar family roles begin to give way. Secrets, old loyalties, and Clementine’s longing to belong pull against her need for an independent life. How much of yourself can you give to your family before you lose the person you are trying to become?
When my sister Odette called to tell me Dad hadn't shown up for rounds, my first guilty thought was that he'd had a heart attack on the Garden State Parkway, that his Benz had swerved, swiveled and scraped against the railing near exit 142 until it flipped into the opposite lane like a beetle on its back, ready for the picking of crows. He'd fumbled for the aspirin he always kept in the cup holder, in a wood and silver pillbox he couldn't unclasp when it mattered at last. Blood would mat the silvery-red mix of his still-thick hair, his eyes would be open, he'd be dead, and I'd never have a chance to prove him wrong. Of course, my second thought was to feel horrible for my first.
"No, he didn't say anything to me," I said. I almost suggested she call Olivia, but I knew she didn't need to, because Odette and Olivia, my twin sisters, know each other's opinions, their desires and mistakes, without speaking in words. Though sometimes I am party to this peculiar frequency, sometimes I stand feeling like the last chosen for a team, because they are identical twins, and I am their triplet, number three. I don't match physically (they are four inches taller than I and my eyes are hazel green to their clear, cold blue) or hear as clearly in the ether of their silent communication.
We were polyzygots-they were identical, monozygotic, one egg and one sperm met and then split into two zygotes. I was fraternal-another egg, another sperm, but the same timing, which means I was like an ordinary sibling in terms of genetic material, and they were halves of a whole.
I'd been mulling, for about six months, the possibility that my father might have early dementia, or even Alzheimer's. I'd researched the topic when I should have been studying chemistry. Symptom one: memory loss that disrupts daily life. This was a disruption, for sure, though generally his focus on-and memory of-family commitments and plans had always been rigorously limited. Symptom two: challenges in planning or solving problems. No. Yes. Maybe. He had twice had Mom reschedule her plans for an anniversary party because he had forgotten about other commitments. But this wasn't new.
So when Odette called I should have just waited, I should have circumnavigated the mess of other people's early and late, but I was a triplet, and triplets have extra arms, extra eyes, extra marginally obsessive worries. I thought of my father standing by his car, staring at his keys as if they were foreign objects. Last week, I'd been witness behind the carriage house curtain as he stood like that for a moment; was he thinking, or was he lost inside his own head?
Was this the beginning of a crumbled father? The beginning of interventions and wheelchairs?
No. No. Maybe...
“Breathtakingly original. A haunting exploration of love, loyalty, sisters, hope, and the ties that bind us together and make the ground tremble beneath us when they break...I loved, loved, loved this novel.”
Caroline Leavitt, bestselling author of Pictures of You
“The Orphan Sister is engaging and sentence-perfect, wonderful in so many ways, but I love it best for its vibrant, emotionally complex main character Clementine. I felt so entirely with her, as she loves those around her with both devotion and complexity and as she struggles to achieve a delicate balance between belonging to others and being herself.”
Marisa de los Santos, bestselling author of Belong to Me
“With exquisite language and an empathetic ear, Gwendolen Gross paints a gorgeous portrait of life, love, loss and sisterhood, and forces you to ask yourself: how far will you go for your family and what secrets can shatter even that bond? The Orphan Sister will linger long after you've turned the final page.”
Allison Winn Scotch, bestselling author of The One That I Want
“This charming portrait of an impossibly gorgeous and gifted family is something rare: a delightful confection, filled with humor and warmth, that also probes the complex nature of identity, the vagaries of romantic and filial love, and the materialism inherent in contemporary American culture.”
Joanna Smith Rakoff, bestselling author of A Fortunate Age
“Talk about sibling rivalry! Narrator Clementine Lord, one of a set of triplets, is the odd girl out. Odette and Olivia, aka the Os, came from the same egg dividing, but Clementine was the extra egg in the womb. As a child, she never got the same treatment from their father as did her sisters, and Clementine still feels like she doesn't match with her siblings. Her father's eventual return reveals a dark secret that will change Clementine and all the Lords. Readers who enjoy a well-written novel about complex family relationships will want to read Gross' latest.”
Kristen Stewart, Library Journal
“An exquisite book about first love, loss, family, and acceptance.”
Stephanie Elliot, SheKnows — Real Moms Guide
“I'm so happy to have discovered [Gwendolen Gross] and am immensely enjoying her latest novel, The Orphan Sister. Gwendolen's familial themes and lyrical prose have me hooked.”
Amy Miller Gross
“Gross provides us with an insightful, witty, and tender portrait of individuals who come to realize that they may not know each other as well as they thought they did, but ultimately, who choose to come together as family.”
Suzanne Samuels
“Gwendolen Gross goes to the heart of sisterhood in her new novel -- The Orphan Sister. She also maximizes her deft touch in capturing the fullness of passionate love, for a person, for a place, for a time in life.”
Eileen Granfors
“It's such a treat to find a great book. We usually can tell there's something special about them on the first page-like love at first site! That's how we feel about Gwendolen Gross and The Orphan Sister - she had us at page one! We think The Orphan Sister should be on your short list to read this summer - it's a fun read that also has some weight to it-a perfect balance!”
Liz, Chick Lit is not Dead!
“Even though I'm very different than Clementine I could really relate to her desire to feel safe and accepted. Her relationship with her father (though different) made me reflect on my own relationship with mine. I'd love to go on and on discussing the end of the book, but I do not want to spoil the story for any of you. I absolutely recommend The Orphan Sister and if you are in a book club this is a must read!”
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Writer Interviews -- Interview with Gwendolen Gross
Anyone who has sisters knows you share many things: frame of reference, in-jokes, adolescent contempt for parents, deep and sometimes jealous love of those same parents. Sisters give you a model, a mold, for many of life's relationships. Shared experience and competition, both. I think of my sisters daily, but viscerally, rather than intellectually.
Writing The Orphan Sister was easy, in some ways -- the truths of sisterhood run like arteries through life, whether you have one sister, three sisters, no sisters. In fact, I have two sisters from one family, and another who is technically my half-sister, and a step-brother, though he may not be ushered to the fore at the flock of girls, but we used to run down mountains holding hands, so he's very much a part of my fictional narrative, and personal history, too.
Gwendolen Gross — RT Book Reviews
from Bone Scattering, (c) 1998
from Bone Scattering, (c) 1998
from Bone Scattering, (c) 1998
"Anyone who has sisters knows you share many things: frame of reference, in-jokes, adolescent contempt for parents, deep and sometimes jealous love of those same parents. Sisters give you a model, a mold, for many of life's relationships."
"Sometimes I dreamed I was in the womb with my sisters. Of course, I'm sure I invented all the details rather than relying on any sort of memory. But when I woke, I missed the jousting of elbows, the beating of two other hearts. I was forever a puppy on my first night away from the litter, howling for that collective warmth. When we were born, we were slow to warm on our own, slow, but it was not impossible that we'd find our distinct internal suns."
"Sisters! Well, first of all, I have three, one of whom has a different mother and who is 20 years younger than I. She was the first baby for whom I fell in love, completely; people asked if she was my first (thinking she was my baby), and I said, "No, I have two other sisters!""
"I felt independent and contemptuous in my separations, all of them: division from my mother, who seemed to fade as we set about cleaving from her, my sisters from myself, a pair in harmony and me, an entirely different melody..."
"A sister is both your mirror - and your opposite."
"Is solace anywhere more comforting than that in the arms of a sister?"
"For there is no friend like a sister, in calm or stormy weather, to cheer one on the tedious way, to fetch one if one goes astray, to lift one if one totters down, to strengthen whilst one stands."
"Sister is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship."
"A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost."
"A sister is one who reaches for your hand and touches your heart."
"We are sisters. We will always be sisters. Our differences may never go away, but neither, for me, will our song."
"It is true that I was born in Iowa, but I can't speak for my twin sister."
"If your sister is in a tearing hurry to go out and cannot catch your eye, she's wearing your best sweater."
Articles and resources to extend the conversation.
Gwendolen on writing about sisters — Read her reflections on shared experience, competition, and family stories.
