What is it about siblings that simply begets good stories? It’s the push and pull, I think — the love and the rivalry, the forced cohabitation, the bonding. There are siblings who stick together through trying times. There are siblings who seem to think the world can’t possibly be big enough for them to coexist.
Whatever the case may be, sibling dynamics make for beautifully nuanced, often gripping narratives, which is why I was inspired to ground my newest novel in this type of bond. Our Last Resort features Frida and Gabriel, two chosen siblings who, in their adult years, try to have a family reunion at a luxurious hotel in the Utah desert. Their plans are upended when a guest is found dead, evidently murdered. When Gabriel becomes the prime suspect in the investigation — and it’s not the first time — they’re forced to revisit their past, namely their upbringing in a cloistered cult.
If this has you craving more of this familial tie, here are nine books that each offer different entry points into the world of siblings. The stakes are high; the love runs deep. Read on.
Sisters by Daisy Johnson
June and September, the teen sisters at the center of this magnificently creepy novel by Daisy Johnson, are each other’s ride-or-dies. Which is just as well, since they’re moving with their mother, Sheela, to an isolated family home after a mysterious incident at school.
There, their life takes on an eerie, disquieting form. The sisters’ bond is stretched and tested, and their co-dependency revealed. “I will always think that September’s body makes more sense than my own,” deplores an upset July after discovering that her sister has dared to take a bath without her.
Not everything is right in July and September’s world. Johnson’s prose is pure and lyrical; it has the feel — as everything else in this novel — of a tensed-up rope ready to snap. When the truth is revealed about the sisters’ situation, so is the magnitude of Johnson’s tour-de-force in these pages.
On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel
Arcade and Daffodil are the kinds of characters that could only sprout from Tiffany McDaniel’s pen: They’re twin sisters, born one minute apart. Thanks to their imaginations, they’ve made a wondrous world out of their small Ohio town.
But as a woman is found drowned in the local river and more go missing, the sisters’ sense of safety is unbearably threatened. Inspired by the real-life unsolved case of the Chillicothe Six (which saw six women die or go missing from the small Ohio town between 2014 and 2015), this is a lyrical, poignantly human novel.
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Ayoola is arresting, head-turning, spoiled — and she can’t seem to stop killing her boyfriends. Korede, her dependable and pragmatic, chronically overlooked sister, is always there to help her out, utilizing her good sense and cleaning knowledge. (She’s a nurse, so she knows, for example, that bleach masks the smell of blood, but doesn’t clean its residue.)
But when the man she has a crush on asks her for her sister’s number, Ayoola’s loyalties are dangerously tested. She can stay loyal to her sister, or she can try to save this perfectly lovely man — but she can’t do both. Braithwaite does an amazing job unpacking the sisters’ complicated relationship and the bond that came out of their abusive childhood. This is a high-concept novel explored to the utmost satisfaction.
The House of My Mother by Shari Franke
Shari Franke published this memoir a year and three months after her mother, Ruby Franke, was arrested and charged with child abuse. In it, Shari chronicles the years spent growing up in front of her mother’s camera, as Ruby ran the YouTube channel “8 Passengers.” Shari’s story is one of psychological and emotional abuse. Her account of her and her siblings’ story is searing.
However, while the book is primarily about Shari’s parents, the care she takes in discussing her siblings’ story stands out, as well as her poignant determination to continue protecting them. Her love and sense of responsibility bring yet another dimension to the book.
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
Brought to you by the author of Dear Edward, this deeply moving family saga sees the lonesome William Waters enter the lives of the Padavano sisters — Julia, Sylvie, Cecelia, and Emeline — four willful, smart, loving women with big hearts and even bigger personalities.
The novel spans years and is a meaningful exploration of family, commitment, and love. Loyalties are challenged; hearts are broken. That the book also works as an homage to Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women is truly the icing on the cake. Go ahead, read this book and try not to fall in love with the Padavano siblings — I dare you.
The Turnout by Megan Abbott
Dara and Marie Durant, the two sisters who take center stage in Megan Abbott’s sublime novel, were shaped by ballet. “They were dancers,” goes the opening line of the novel. “Their whole lives, nearly. They were dancers who taught dance and who taught it well, as their mother had.”
Together, the Durant sisters run their late mother’s dance school. But when a bizarre incident threatens the studio’s equilibrium — in the midst of the ever-busy Nutcracker season, no less — a stranger invites themselves into their lives, threatening to cause irreparable damage. This is a hypnotic, spellbinding novel.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
In the quintessential book about sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March live with their mother in Massachusetts during the Civil War, while their father serves as a chaplain in the Union Army. When their wealthy neighbor, Mr. Laurence, sends the March sisters and their mom a scrumptious Christmas dinner, their world starts to expand.
Things get complicated when Laurie, Mr. Laurence’s grandson, becomes part of their social circle and falls in love with the wrong sister. Little Women encompasses just about everything a book can offer: coming-of-age, love, heartbreak, grief, family…the list goes on. It’s a classic for a reason.
Shred Sisters by Betsy Lerner
In this incisive, sharp novel, Amy Shred’s life is shaped by the unpredictable moods of her sister Ollie. Set over two decades, the book follows Amy and Ollie as they each come of age and try to find their place in the world. It’s a moving, keenly observed book about mental health, sisterhood, and family at large.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Who could forget Merricat Blackwood and her sister Constance, who, along with their Uncle Julian, are the sole survivors of the arsenic poisoning that ravaged their family? Everyone in their village believes Constance was the culprit and got away with the mass murder, meaning the remaining Blackwoods are now completely ostracized. Not that Merricat seems to mind — she’s happy living in isolation with Constance and Julian.
When the sisters’ cousin Charles arrives, the Blackwoods’ fragile, dysfunctional balance is destroyed. The truth about the poisoning — and about the Blackwood sisters — is revealed, as is the mad depth of their bond.
Clémence Michallon is the author of The Quiet Tenant, a USA Today and international bestseller and nominee for the Hammett Prize. She’s also a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Time Magazine, The Independent, and more. Clémence was born and raised near Paris, has lived in New York since 2014, and became a U.S. citizen in 2022. Our Last Resort is her second thriller. She can be found on Instagram and on X.
