Blood Sisters — Valerie Miner

"Blood Sisters" is a gripping story created with themes of real substance and wide appeal. While this sizzling novel is considered a classic of 1970s feminist literary fiction, the story is all too timely today as we face violent debate about national and ethnic autonomy in Ireland and elsewhere. Journalists witness ground wars and terrorist responses in detailed news reports, but Valerie Miner has divined a passionate full-blooded story about the individuals and families behind those headlines. At the heart of "Blood Sisters "are two cousins, one Irish, one American, who grew up steeped in their mothers ideals of the 1916 Uprising. The two young women try to understand each other s views, to cross the blurry lines between private and political life, but are divided by their separate histories and often despair at the possibility of comprehension, let alone reconciliation. "Blood Sisters" intricately combines important issues within the tense format of a thriller. Miner subtly explores the relationships among women of different generations, unexpected and unacceptable romance, the daily dramas of immigrant life, and the struggle of Irish people to discover and create their own identity and autonomy. "Blood Sisters" with its suspenseful story, its crucial questions, its vibrant humor and its evocative descriptions is a tour de force by one of the most important writers of her generation."