This was my first book by UK author Nina Bell (find her on Twitter @ninabellbooks) but it won’t be my last.
Sisters-in-Law is the kind of mature, substantial women’s fiction that you can really burrow into and absorb. It took me longer to finish it than it should have, but the key was that I kept going back, wanting to read more, wanting resolution for the characters and their storylines. For me, this is the true mark of successful fiction.
This novel is not light and funny, it is intense. It doesn’t include the detailed descriptive passages of place and person common in contemporary women’s fiction. Instead, it focuses on dialogue and reflection. This strategy succeeds in presenting a dramatic but believable story.
As you might expect from the title, the main characters are three sisters-in-law: Kate, Heather, and Olivia. Bell introduces them quickly and thoroughly, and one of the novel’s main accomplishments is the carefully delineated characters. They are all distinct and distinctive. Kate is a part-time freelance journalist and mother, not married to Jonny, her long-term partner and the father of her two sons. Olivia is the posh, urbane, successful lawyer married to Kate’s older brother, Si. And Heather is the devoted, traditional stay-at-home mom and wife to Kate’s younger brother, Jack. The novel’s main plots revolve around the marriages (or not) of the three women, as well as their relationships with each other.
Bell creates a worthy foil to these women and their relationships: the fourth main character, Sasha, is a well-drawn villainess. From the moment she enters the story, you know she is going to spell trouble for one — or all — of the sisters-in-law.
Bell’s plotting is consistently compelling: predictable plot moments evolve into twists and turns, and she keeps her readers engaged and guessing to the end. I appreciate that Bell’s heroines are strong but flawed, and she provides intense and detailed psychological underpinnings for all of them: these are not cookie cutter “successful women” but women who have struggled through life in very realistic ways. Bell’s detailed explication makes them seem more real — as well as more sympathetic. It is also refreshing to read about the darker side of human relationships and the lingering effects of psychological trauma presented without either melancholy or melodrama.
If you’re looking for a serious, engaging novel about the complications of being a modern woman balancing love and career with the demands and difficulties of family life, you’ll enjoy Sisters-in-Law by Nina Bell.
