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Henry's Sisters
An emergency homecoming forces three sisters to deal with issues they’d rather ignore in this touching novel by the author of All About Evie. Ever since the Bommarito sisters were little girls, their mother, River, has written them a letter on pink paper when she has something especially important to impart. This time, the message is urgent—River requires open-heart surgery, and Isabelle and her sisters are needed at home to run the family bakery and care for their brother and ailing grandmother. Isabelle has worked hard to leave Trillium River, Oregon, behind as she travels the globe taking award-winning photographs. Still, she and her sisters, Cecilia, an outspoken kindergarten teacher, and Janie, a bestselling author, share a deep, loving bond. And all of them adore their brother, Henry, whose disabilities haven’t stopped him from helping at the bakery and bringing good cheer to everyone in town. But going home again forces open the secrets and hurts the Bommaritos would rather keep tightly closed—Isabelle’s fleeting relationships, Janie’s obsessive compulsive disorder, and Cecilia’s plans to get even with her cheating ex-husband. Now, working together, Isabelle and her sisters begin to find answers to questions they never knew existed, unexpected ways to salve their childhood wounds, and the courage to grasp surprising new chances at happiness. As irresistible as one of the Bommaritos’ giant cupcakes, Henry’s Sisters is a novel about family and forgiveness, mothers and daughters—and gaining the wisdom to look ahead while still holding onto everything that matters most.“This finely pitched family melodrama is balanced with enough gallows humor and idiosyncratic characters to make it positively irresistible.” —Publishers Weekly
448 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
486 people are currently reading
5240 people want to read
About the author
Cathy Lamb
24 books1,599 followersCathy Lamb was born in Newport Beach, California. As a child, she mastered the art of skateboarding, catching butterflies in bottles, and riding her bike with no hands. When she was 10, her parents moved her, two sisters, a brother, and two poorly behaved dogs to Oregon before she could fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a surfer bum.
She then embarked on her notable academic career where she earned good grades now and then, spent a great deal of time daydreaming, ran wild with a number of friends, and landed on the newspaper staff in high school. When she saw her byline above an article about people making out in the hallways of the high school, she knew she had found her true calling.
After two years of partying at the University of Oregon, she settled down for the next three years and earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education, and became a fourth grade teacher. It was difficult for her to become proper and conservative but she threw out her red cowboy boots and persevered. She had no choice. She had to eat, and health insurance is expensive.
She met her husband on a blind date. A mutual friend who was an undercover vice cop busting drug dealers set them up. It was love at third sight.
Teaching children about the Oregon Trail and multiplication facts amused her until she became so gigantically pregnant with twins she looked like a small cow and could barely walk. With a three year old at home, she decided it was time to make a graceful exit and waddle on out. She left school one day and never went back. She likes to think her students missed her.
When Cathy was no longer smothered in diapers and pacifiers, she took a turn onto the hazardous road of freelance writing and wrote almost 200 articles on homes, home décor, people and fashion for a local newspaper. As she is not fashionable and can hardly stand to shop, it was an eye opener for her to find that some women actually do obsess about what to wear. She also learned it would probably be more relaxing to slam a hammer against one’s forehead than engage in a large and costly home remodeling project.
Cathy suffers from, “I Would Rather Play Than Work Disease” which prevents her from getting much work done unless she has a threatening deadline. She likes to hang with family and friends, walk, eat chocolate, camp, travel, and is slightly obsessive about the types of books she reads. She also likes to be left alone a lot so she can hear all the odd characters in her head talk to each other and then transfer that oddness to paper. The characters usually don’t start to talk until 10:00 at night, however, so she is often up ‘til 2:00 in the morning with them. That is her excuse for being cranky.
She adores her children and husband, except when he refuses to take his dirty shoes off and walks on the carpet. She will ski because her children insist, but she secretly doesn’t like it at all. Too cold and she falls all the time.
She is currently working on her next book and isn’t sleeping much.
She then embarked on her notable academic career where she earned good grades now and then, spent a great deal of time daydreaming, ran wild with a number of friends, and landed on the newspaper staff in high school. When she saw her byline above an article about people making out in the hallways of the high school, she knew she had found her true calling.
After two years of partying at the University of Oregon, she settled down for the next three years and earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education, and became a fourth grade teacher. It was difficult for her to become proper and conservative but she threw out her red cowboy boots and persevered. She had no choice. She had to eat, and health insurance is expensive.
She met her husband on a blind date. A mutual friend who was an undercover vice cop busting drug dealers set them up. It was love at third sight.
Teaching children about the Oregon Trail and multiplication facts amused her until she became so gigantically pregnant with twins she looked like a small cow and could barely walk. With a three year old at home, she decided it was time to make a graceful exit and waddle on out. She left school one day and never went back. She likes to think her students missed her.
When Cathy was no longer smothered in diapers and pacifiers, she took a turn onto the hazardous road of freelance writing and wrote almost 200 articles on homes, home décor, people and fashion for a local newspaper. As she is not fashionable and can hardly stand to shop, it was an eye opener for her to find that some women actually do obsess about what to wear. She also learned it would probably be more relaxing to slam a hammer against one’s forehead than engage in a large and costly home remodeling project.
Cathy suffers from, “I Would Rather Play Than Work Disease” which prevents her from getting much work done unless she has a threatening deadline. She likes to hang with family and friends, walk, eat chocolate, camp, travel, and is slightly obsessive about the types of books she reads. She also likes to be left alone a lot so she can hear all the odd characters in her head talk to each other and then transfer that oddness to paper. The characters usually don’t start to talk until 10:00 at night, however, so she is often up ‘til 2:00 in the morning with them. That is her excuse for being cranky.
She adores her children and husband, except when he refuses to take his dirty shoes off and walks on the carpet. She will ski because her children insist, but she secretly doesn’t like it at all. Too cold and she falls all the time.
She is currently working on her next book and isn’t sleeping much.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 956 reviews
July 20, 2011
I KNOW I said not to read anything by this author. I stand by my statement. I read this book because my sister-in-law really wanted me to read it. She's the one who recommended the other book by this author. She said I would like this one. No way. I cannot relate to the characters and I find the plot unbelievable. LIke the other novel, there are horrific things that happen to the characters, and so the characters develop 'issues' to cope or numb themselves. Unfortunately, the author veers between utter depravity and sappy sentimental human goodness, so while there are awful things happening, the spunky strong females just knock back a few drinks (or pies), trash the evil man's Corvette (or genitals), utter some totally stupid-sounding tough talk, and go on about their business. And lo and behold, things work out fine. Well, sure, they've still got some issues to work through, but they're still standing.
These books remind me of a Lifetime channel "made for TV" movie. Bad. No redeeming value. I have gained nothing by reading this book. It does not speak to the human condition. It will turn your brain into mush. Run! Flee!
These books remind me of a Lifetime channel "made for TV" movie. Bad. No redeeming value. I have gained nothing by reading this book. It does not speak to the human condition. It will turn your brain into mush. Run! Flee!
March 15, 2011
In my not-so-humble opinion, Cathy Lamb may well be one of the best, most creative fiction writers in the last 10 or more years. Her stories are brutal and honest; and they're heartbreaking at the same time as they are hilarious. She pulls at your heartstrings, while simultaneously tickling your funny bone. Simply stated, her books are like your favorite dessert. You can't wait to dive in and eat every last bite of it, at the same time that you want to savor it slowly to enjoy every last morsel.
I've read all of Cathy Lamb's books and, after each book, I swear that what I just read was my favorite. Until I pick up the next one. Each book is so well-written that it's hard to even declare a favorite. Each book is unique and lovely.
Henry's Sisters has all of the elements I've come love in her books. It contains all of the humor and heartbreak, the characters are quirky, and yet this one is different in that the only way I can describe it is to say that it's "beautiful."
Henry's sisters is about love and family. It's about pain and healing, as well as forgiveness, understanding and acceptance.
Without revealing too much about this book, I'll tell you that Henry is the anchor that keeps his family together. It is the family's shared love of Henry, and Henry's love of the world around him, that allows his family - his sisters in particular - to survive through their nightmarish childhood and the subsequent mental instability with which each of his family members is afflicted.
Family relationshipa can be difficult. They can be frustrating and confusing and even filled with strife and near hate. But, at the end of the day when your friends have gone home and your feet have been kicked from beneath you, your family will always be there to lean on and provide you the necessary support to make it through another day.
I've read all of Cathy Lamb's books and, after each book, I swear that what I just read was my favorite. Until I pick up the next one. Each book is so well-written that it's hard to even declare a favorite. Each book is unique and lovely.
Henry's Sisters has all of the elements I've come love in her books. It contains all of the humor and heartbreak, the characters are quirky, and yet this one is different in that the only way I can describe it is to say that it's "beautiful."
Henry's sisters is about love and family. It's about pain and healing, as well as forgiveness, understanding and acceptance.
Without revealing too much about this book, I'll tell you that Henry is the anchor that keeps his family together. It is the family's shared love of Henry, and Henry's love of the world around him, that allows his family - his sisters in particular - to survive through their nightmarish childhood and the subsequent mental instability with which each of his family members is afflicted.
Family relationshipa can be difficult. They can be frustrating and confusing and even filled with strife and near hate. But, at the end of the day when your friends have gone home and your feet have been kicked from beneath you, your family will always be there to lean on and provide you the necessary support to make it through another day.
January 30, 2010
OMG, what happened? Cathy Lamb's two previous novels were warm, wonderful, funny and poignant. They were well written and felt so real. Henry's Sisters, however, is nothing like her previous efforts. The story of three sisters (cartoons), a learning disabled brother and the mother from hell. The opening scenes of Isabelle burning underwear on her balcony, sitting outside naked and drinking from a bottle of Kahlua while screaming at the occupants of an office building across from her apartment, and draping herself on her black granite countertops naked while still drinking, were ridiculous. I was rolling my eyes throughout the first 75 pages pages until I'd had enough. Unlike my reaction, the book has generated lots of praise from most reviewers, but I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.
August 11, 2016
I am going to start by saying I almost put this book aside after the first 2-3 chapters because the characters are portrayed in just over the top ways. I had forgotten this about Cathy Lamb's writing; the shock factor she uses to make the awful things that happen a little bit lighter. Just keep reading!
This story is told by Isabelle, one of Henry's sisters, the one that somehow came to seem most real to me. She has serial one night stands because she can't handle getting close to anyone. Then there is Cecelia a kindergarten teacher who overeats, and Janie a best selling author who has to tap and count worse than 'Monk'! Each sister lived through their harrowing childhood by developing these idiosyncrasies, by always sticking together in their love for each other, their down syndrome brother Henry, their mother and grandmother who believes she is Amelia Earhart.
This book took me on quite a journey and left me with tears streaming down my face. Tears mixed with chuckles at some of the antics....because this is how the author rolls! She can make you laugh and cry at the same time!
In my opinion, this author is one you don't want to miss!
This story is told by Isabelle, one of Henry's sisters, the one that somehow came to seem most real to me. She has serial one night stands because she can't handle getting close to anyone. Then there is Cecelia a kindergarten teacher who overeats, and Janie a best selling author who has to tap and count worse than 'Monk'! Each sister lived through their harrowing childhood by developing these idiosyncrasies, by always sticking together in their love for each other, their down syndrome brother Henry, their mother and grandmother who believes she is Amelia Earhart.
This book took me on quite a journey and left me with tears streaming down my face. Tears mixed with chuckles at some of the antics....because this is how the author rolls! She can make you laugh and cry at the same time!
In my opinion, this author is one you don't want to miss!
March 29, 2011
I really thought I was going to like this book based on the synopsis that I read. I usually love reading about eccentric or quirky characters. However, just about every character in this book was a raving lunatic, and as a group they experienced every social ill and traumatic experience known to man. It was just too much and way over the top. This was the first book that I've read by Cathy Lamb, and I'm not sure I'll read another.
August 2, 2021
Sorry, this and "All About Evie" ended up being my least favorite of the re-reads I did of Lamb this week.
There's not much to say here except that River Bommarito was and is a terrible mother and I thought Lamb did not ever deal with a real way in the reckoning that needed to happen there between her and her daughters, Isabelle, Cecilia, and Janie. The character of Henry and the grandmother (or Amelia Earhart--don't ask) actually were just put in this book to be quirky and awesome characters that I just didn't engage with at all.
"Henry's Sisters" follows the three sisters in this one (Isabelle, Cecilia, and Janie) who are asked to come back and help out when their mother has to go into the hospital for surgery. They are also told that their mother's bakery needs help. When Isabelle returns (we mostly follow her since she is our main POV throughout) reluctantly, we get into the past dealing with the whole family and the things that they dealt with after the family's father abandoned them.
I don't even know what to say. No one in this books feels like a real person at all.
This book unlike other Lamb books ends on a weird note. I think the fact that Isabelle did not have a love interest in this one (and you find out why) and that it was more about her finding herself, but it still had me thinking the book was unfinished.
There's not much to say here except that River Bommarito was and is a terrible mother and I thought Lamb did not ever deal with a real way in the reckoning that needed to happen there between her and her daughters, Isabelle, Cecilia, and Janie. The character of Henry and the grandmother (or Amelia Earhart--don't ask) actually were just put in this book to be quirky and awesome characters that I just didn't engage with at all.
"Henry's Sisters" follows the three sisters in this one (Isabelle, Cecilia, and Janie) who are asked to come back and help out when their mother has to go into the hospital for surgery. They are also told that their mother's bakery needs help. When Isabelle returns (we mostly follow her since she is our main POV throughout) reluctantly, we get into the past dealing with the whole family and the things that they dealt with after the family's father abandoned them.
I don't even know what to say. No one in this books feels like a real person at all.
This book unlike other Lamb books ends on a weird note. I think the fact that Isabelle did not have a love interest in this one (and you find out why) and that it was more about her finding herself, but it still had me thinking the book was unfinished.
September 5, 2010
When I first started "Henry's Sisters" I wasn't sure I was going to like it. The characters all seemed so dysfunctional, and I didn't want to read a dark twisty novel. But the more I read, the more I liked it, and by the end of the book I was sobbing and thinking about why I had been so touched.
That's not to say I cried the whole time. The characters are hilarious, actually quite over-the-top strange. From the dementia-plagued Grandma who thinks she's Amelia Earhart to the religion-obsessed niece who wears a burka to express her disapproval of her father's wedding, to the lovable handicapped brother... The message is that we all have our idiosyncrasies, and that's okay!
In the end, "Henry's Sisters" is about the redeeming power of love. No matter how screwed up your life may be, no matter what hard things you face, you are worthy of love, and can give love. It won't fix everything, but it can let you forgive, accept, and move forward more bravely.
DISCLAIMER: This book contains a fair amount of bad language, and though I've gotten good at skipping over objectionable words, I would much prefer they weren't there at all!
That's not to say I cried the whole time. The characters are hilarious, actually quite over-the-top strange. From the dementia-plagued Grandma who thinks she's Amelia Earhart to the religion-obsessed niece who wears a burka to express her disapproval of her father's wedding, to the lovable handicapped brother... The message is that we all have our idiosyncrasies, and that's okay!
In the end, "Henry's Sisters" is about the redeeming power of love. No matter how screwed up your life may be, no matter what hard things you face, you are worthy of love, and can give love. It won't fix everything, but it can let you forgive, accept, and move forward more bravely.
DISCLAIMER: This book contains a fair amount of bad language, and though I've gotten good at skipping over objectionable words, I would much prefer they weren't there at all!
July 5, 2011
The overall premise of the story is good - three sisters "come home" during their adult years to care for their adult mentally-disabled brothers. However, the character development is very juvenile. Absolutely every character has some overly exaggerated 'flaw', but none of the characters are really developed at all. It is like the author just had some random thoughts of scenes and characters that she wanted to write, so decided to piece them all together into a book.
The story line of the book makes absolutely no sense. Their mother goes in to the hospital for open-heart surgery and then basically 'disappears' out of the story because she goes to a "retirement home" to recuperate after her surgery. This is so bizarre because the reason her daughters were 'called home' was to care for her, her mother, and their brother after her surgery. She has no complications at all - the sisters just send her to a nursing home instead of back to her home after the surgery.
The only reason I finished the book is that it is our discussion book for Book Club this month. Also, I kept thinking that it just HAD to get better. Sadly, I was wrong about that.
The story line of the book makes absolutely no sense. Their mother goes in to the hospital for open-heart surgery and then basically 'disappears' out of the story because she goes to a "retirement home" to recuperate after her surgery. This is so bizarre because the reason her daughters were 'called home' was to care for her, her mother, and their brother after her surgery. She has no complications at all - the sisters just send her to a nursing home instead of back to her home after the surgery.
The only reason I finished the book is that it is our discussion book for Book Club this month. Also, I kept thinking that it just HAD to get better. Sadly, I was wrong about that.
April 27, 2019
Wow! Just an amazing book. Grabs you from the first pages to the last pages. I think I cried through the last 50 pages of the book. I went through so many emotions reading this story..... being mad one minute, laughing next, then shocked and appalled.
“Henry’s Sisters” is a story about 3 sisters journey through their deeply emotional, terrifying childhood. Henry is their mentally challenged brother who is the glue that hold this family together. Henry is so endearing, full of love for everyone/everything....he will touch your heart and make you smile.
A story about a broken family that learned they need to be there for each other, supporting each other and the importance to have each other’s back at all times....no matter what.
My favorite character had to be “Gramma” who has dementia and in her mind she really is Amelia Earhart... she brings humor to this very dysfunctional story.
I highly recommend this book! I love Cathy Lamb’s books and this one is certainly going to be one of my favorites.
Warning: Have tissues ready for the last part of the book
“Henry’s Sisters” is a story about 3 sisters journey through their deeply emotional, terrifying childhood. Henry is their mentally challenged brother who is the glue that hold this family together. Henry is so endearing, full of love for everyone/everything....he will touch your heart and make you smile.
A story about a broken family that learned they need to be there for each other, supporting each other and the importance to have each other’s back at all times....no matter what.
My favorite character had to be “Gramma” who has dementia and in her mind she really is Amelia Earhart... she brings humor to this very dysfunctional story.
I highly recommend this book! I love Cathy Lamb’s books and this one is certainly going to be one of my favorites.
Warning: Have tissues ready for the last part of the book
May 28, 2011
Not for me, really. It was around page 250 when I decided I'd had enough of all the sordid details of what caused/causes the Bommarito family to be so dysfunctional so I skimmed the rest of the book and didn't feel I missed much. (Except by that time all the graphic things had happened already so my main reason for skimming the rest was pointless. Of course.)
Anyhow, I didn't hate this book... The sisters were interesting, though in serious need of psychological help, and I appreciated their strong bond despite it all. But I couldn't help but find their violent and malicious streak distasteful, even though it was always directed at someone who had done Henry or one of themselves wrong. But I have never been one for piping hot vengeance.
I suppose this story could have been touching except for the fact it was all too much to swallow. Not just because everything bad that could have happened did, but because it had a slightly unrealistic tinge. It felt so over the top. I don't know; like I said, this just wasn't for me and I do sort of wish I hadn't read it. *twitch*
Anyhow, I didn't hate this book... The sisters were interesting, though in serious need of psychological help, and I appreciated their strong bond despite it all. But I couldn't help but find their violent and malicious streak distasteful, even though it was always directed at someone who had done Henry or one of themselves wrong. But I have never been one for piping hot vengeance.
I suppose this story could have been touching except for the fact it was all too much to swallow. Not just because everything bad that could have happened did, but because it had a slightly unrealistic tinge. It felt so over the top. I don't know; like I said, this just wasn't for me and I do sort of wish I hadn't read it. *twitch*
October 27, 2021
OMG. OMG. You will either love or hate this book.
I happen to have loved it, although I abhorred the horrendous events. Yet I am glad I read this on audio. It was narrated by Xe Sand, who should win an award for her nuanced and creative performance(s). And clearly even bigger kudos to the supremely talented author: Cathy Lamb. She is a relatively new to me author and wonder how I hadn’t heard of or discovered her sooner!
I found that a little of this book goes a long way. It was emotionally draining, so read it in parts, take a breather or even a break. Then you’ll be dying to get back to it.
The writing is intelligent, laughable, heartwarming, sad, emotional, quirkier than hell, and just fun and snarky. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything so original as this novel.
You do not have to like the mother or any of Henry’s 3 sisters to appreciate this novel. But you will LOVE Henry. And this dysfunctional family is right up there with so many other tragic family stories.
This will stay with me a long long time.
I happen to have loved it, although I abhorred the horrendous events. Yet I am glad I read this on audio. It was narrated by Xe Sand, who should win an award for her nuanced and creative performance(s). And clearly even bigger kudos to the supremely talented author: Cathy Lamb. She is a relatively new to me author and wonder how I hadn’t heard of or discovered her sooner!
I found that a little of this book goes a long way. It was emotionally draining, so read it in parts, take a breather or even a break. Then you’ll be dying to get back to it.
The writing is intelligent, laughable, heartwarming, sad, emotional, quirkier than hell, and just fun and snarky. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything so original as this novel.
You do not have to like the mother or any of Henry’s 3 sisters to appreciate this novel. But you will LOVE Henry. And this dysfunctional family is right up there with so many other tragic family stories.
This will stay with me a long long time.
October 23, 2010
The title of this book is very fitting because this is a story about Henry and the love he shared with his three sisters. They are all ready to acknowledge that they are dysfunctional and that everyone in the family is insane but Henry. He is the light of the family and the person who is able to bring the best out of all of them. They were a few times where i laughed out loud but there were many more times when i sobbed like a baby for this family. I was glad that even in these moments it was not depressingly sad, but rather a glimpse into the lives of many people in the world.
Review to come soon!
Review to come soon!
October 30, 2010
Was in the mood for a fast, light read. Based on the reviews I read, thought this would fit the bill. However, after slogging my way 53 pages in, I finally quit. Seriously, on page 53 alone were the words or phrases "get laid", "sex with a female King Kong", "loose slut", "sliced off a ball", "boobs the size of Kentucky", "f*** face", and "scumfuzz"....... Are you kidding me??? Don't waste your time....
August 27, 2018
This book broke my heart a million times over and put it back together again and again. This was my first book of Lamb's and will absolutely not be the last.
March 31, 2012
When Lamb writes the narrative here, there's no "fade-in"s or literary shortcuts, every scene is described in details. No "meanwhile back at the ranch"! All the loose threads are tied up at the end, which I was wondering about some of them a few pages before the end. I can't understand the mother's actions, although due to her I could understand the daughter's actions. I appreciated one conversation near the end of the book where the daughters stand up to their mother and for the first time are more than "Henry's sisters". The only time I let out a groan was when the bakery they worked for started making cupcakes...ugh! cupcake overload. But Lamb may not known how popular cupcakes would be when she wrote this in 2008. I loved Amelia Earhart's "bottom bullet wounds" and how Velvet says most men are going about their day imaging holding a breast in one hand.
May 9, 2014
I enjoyed this book immensely. I laughed, I cried, I got angry, and happy.
I had picked it up thinking it was a bit of light fluffy chick lit.....
"Ever since the Bommarito sisters were little girls, their mother has written them letters on pink paper when she has something especially important to tell them. This time the message is urgent and impossible to ignore. River Bommarito requires open heart surgery, and Isabelle and her sisters are needed at home to run the family bakery and to take care of their brother Henry, and Grandmother Stella, who believes she is Amelia Earhart."
This happens - but it is not the essence of the book. The book is about families, love and loss, feuding and forgiveness, seeing past the surface of people, change and acceptance.
A great read and I will be looking for others by Cathy Lamb.
I had picked it up thinking it was a bit of light fluffy chick lit.....
"Ever since the Bommarito sisters were little girls, their mother has written them letters on pink paper when she has something especially important to tell them. This time the message is urgent and impossible to ignore. River Bommarito requires open heart surgery, and Isabelle and her sisters are needed at home to run the family bakery and to take care of their brother Henry, and Grandmother Stella, who believes she is Amelia Earhart."
This happens - but it is not the essence of the book. The book is about families, love and loss, feuding and forgiveness, seeing past the surface of people, change and acceptance.
A great read and I will be looking for others by Cathy Lamb.
April 25, 2018
I think I cried the entire last 40 pages!
October 12, 2020
Ask 5 different people to define "family" and you are apt to get 5 different descriptions. You see - how each person defines "family" is contingent on their own childhood; how they were nurtured, cared for; or perhaps how they were NOT nurtured. The word "family" can conjure up love, security and even nightmares and fear.
Henry's Sisters wasn't a story about a dysfunctional family -- it was a story about a grandmother, mom, three daughters and one son who were ALL suffering from either delusion, OCD, depression, feelings of abandonment and a need to be accepted. Their actions were comical (from afar) but at closer examination - very sad and very desperate.
A mother who is married to a disturbed Vietnam veteran soon finds herself the sole caregiver for her three daughters (two are twins) and a severely emotionally challenged young son, Henry. The situations and choices that face this family are almost unfathomable. Their shortcomings are so vividly described you don't even know who to love and who to hate. And just when you think things can't get any worse, you are proven wrong and you are left asking, "how much can one heart take?"
Mom is facing open heart surgery and calls her three daughters home to help tend to Henry and Grandma (who left sanity behind years ago and now is convinced she is Amelia Earhart). Henry is a simple soul who has nothing but love for everyone and everything but couldn't function throughout the day without the help of a loved one.
"Home" for the girls does not cause visions of sugar plums to appear nor make your heart go pitter pat with joy and fondness. They have experienced pain and suffering that few humans are privy to and walking back in the door after all these years is likely to upset much they have tried to keep buried.
This story was heart wrenching -- that is the only way I can describe it. It was difficult to read at times, yet moving and towards the end I cried. I don't mean that a tear trickled down my cheek; I mean I wept out loud. Yes - family can have different meanings to different people. But who is to say whose description is wrong and whose is right? For Henry and his sisters, home is a place of connection, an environment into which they were born and have learned to survive, no matter the cost. For Henry it is a place to express love and admiration. For Henry's sisters it is a place to learn understanding and forgiveness -- and there is much to understand and even more to forgive.
Henry's Sisters wasn't a story about a dysfunctional family -- it was a story about a grandmother, mom, three daughters and one son who were ALL suffering from either delusion, OCD, depression, feelings of abandonment and a need to be accepted. Their actions were comical (from afar) but at closer examination - very sad and very desperate.
A mother who is married to a disturbed Vietnam veteran soon finds herself the sole caregiver for her three daughters (two are twins) and a severely emotionally challenged young son, Henry. The situations and choices that face this family are almost unfathomable. Their shortcomings are so vividly described you don't even know who to love and who to hate. And just when you think things can't get any worse, you are proven wrong and you are left asking, "how much can one heart take?"
Mom is facing open heart surgery and calls her three daughters home to help tend to Henry and Grandma (who left sanity behind years ago and now is convinced she is Amelia Earhart). Henry is a simple soul who has nothing but love for everyone and everything but couldn't function throughout the day without the help of a loved one.
"Home" for the girls does not cause visions of sugar plums to appear nor make your heart go pitter pat with joy and fondness. They have experienced pain and suffering that few humans are privy to and walking back in the door after all these years is likely to upset much they have tried to keep buried.
This story was heart wrenching -- that is the only way I can describe it. It was difficult to read at times, yet moving and towards the end I cried. I don't mean that a tear trickled down my cheek; I mean I wept out loud. Yes - family can have different meanings to different people. But who is to say whose description is wrong and whose is right? For Henry and his sisters, home is a place of connection, an environment into which they were born and have learned to survive, no matter the cost. For Henry it is a place to express love and admiration. For Henry's sisters it is a place to learn understanding and forgiveness -- and there is much to understand and even more to forgive.
March 1, 2010
This is so difficult to review without giving away half the story, but I absolutely loved it - all her other books went straight onto my bookmooch wishlist. The first 50 pages were a challenge - "full on" as Anne said, and I was dreading reading the whole thing. But what a story - superb and complex characters, well drawn, and minor characters springing into full 3D. Lots of laugh out loud stuff - some of those mealtimes, wonderful. So loved Henry - can see him now, swooping round the lawn with Amelia Earhart and handing out the bakery samples with a "Jesus loves you" (read it, you'll understand then!). The ending was fantastic - heartbreaking, but funny + life affirming too. A superb book that worked at so many levels - really loved it!
September 18, 2009
This is the second book I've read by Cathy Lamb (thoroughly enjoyed Julia's Chocolates), and at first I thought, come on! Please don't put your main characters through the tortures of hell again! But I was so hooked on this completely disfunctional family, the agonies they've gone through and the glue that holds them all together that by the time the book was done, even though I was a total wreck, I was completely enchanted. Fortunately, the author ices her literarly cakes with lots of humour, or I'd never get through them. I've already picked up "The Last Time I was Me." Delicious, engaging and a wonderful read.
May 18, 2009
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Some parts, I just couldn't help reading aloud, they were so funny. Other parts were so sad, my heart hurt. Fast paced, this book took me on an emotional rollercoaster. Anyone who has unusual family members creating dysfunction/chaos around them will very likely enjoy this. I think it would be a good book club discussion too.
Profanity, violence against women and promiscuity although it felt story appropriate and not gratuitious.
Profanity, violence against women and promiscuity although it felt story appropriate and not gratuitious.
August 8, 2009
One of the most touching books I've ever read. I laughed out loud and cried serious tears. The writer really digs in deep and doesn't let you go. I finished the book and drove right to Borders to buy other books by Cathy Lamb. A definite MUST READ!
January 9, 2025
4,5 / 5
July 17, 2025
When their mother, River, needs surgery, sisters Isabelle, Cecilia, and Janie return home to care for their disabled brother, ailing grandmother, and family bakery.
Just like with other books by this author, this one was chock full of quirky, odd characters and rambling storylines. It was extremely high energy, and there were way. too. many. exclamation points!!! I enjoyed the interaction between the sisters and their brother Henry was super sweet, but overall, it felt way too whacky and chaotic. I usually love when authors mix humor with heavier topics, but something just felt off this time. Since the writing style was so light and humorous, it was just awkward when the heavier content arrived out of nowhere.
No Place I'd Rather Be (5 stars) remains my favorite by this author.
Trigger Warnings:
Location: Trillium River, Oregon
Just like with other books by this author, this one was chock full of quirky, odd characters and rambling storylines. It was extremely high energy, and there were way. too. many. exclamation points!!! I enjoyed the interaction between the sisters and their brother Henry was super sweet, but overall, it felt way too whacky and chaotic. I usually love when authors mix humor with heavier topics, but something just felt off this time. Since the writing style was so light and humorous, it was just awkward when the heavier content arrived out of nowhere.
No Place I'd Rather Be (5 stars) remains my favorite by this author.
Trigger Warnings:
Location: Trillium River, Oregon
July 5, 2014
In my opinion, the characters fell flat as a pancake in this novel. The three sisters grew up in an extremely neglectful home, raised by a mother steeped in false pride and deep depression that sent her to bed for months. The father abandoned the family due to PTSD after fighting in Nam. All her kids suffered from parentification--becoming the parent to the parent to survive. Yet, all of the daughters had successful careers with rich incomes--successful crime writer, photographer all over the world, and a kindergarten teacher with two children. Who manages that with those neglectful childhoods? Hard to swallow.
Being a writer myself, I found Janie's success as a crime writer, with her OCD and trepidations, gravely unconvincing. For example, she was a timid personality steeped in meditative practices who suffered from OCD and hated conflcit. Yet, she would physically punch out her hated brother-in-law and call him every scum bag name that existed. Totally unconvincing and confusing in character development.
For example, as early as page 53, the words "get laid", "sex with a female King Kong", "loose slut", "sliced off a ball", "boobs the size of Kentucky", "f*** face", and "scumfuzz".......explain the behaviors. If I'm going to spend time reading a book, I want substance, not trash talk. These dysfunctional sisters are all lunatics.
Lamb used wild physical action rather than thoughtful, inner dialogue to develop her characters. The physical fights (to show personality through action, I guess) seemed to do no real harm. The sisters would punch people out only to have them get up and punch them out again. The fat sister was edgy, angry and verbally pummeled anyone that crossed her path. My experience is that often overweight individuals use food to push down there anger rather than express it physically and/or verbally-again, a contradictory personality that fell flat for me. Most of the time . I could see it on the TV screen as a Saturday cartoon better than a story in a book.
Then the rape scene with Isabella felt overly written. This book felt like it was written by an amateur.
There were one or two paragraphs scattered throughout the book that started to go deeper with interesting thoughts and emotions only to be abandoned before turning the page. I felt cheated as if these characters were cartoon characters rather than real people. One minute they would be crying hysterically and the next minute calling others names with grave insensitivity. They didn't ring true as real people.
The only believable dialogue that offered some emotional depth was that of Father Mike and the mentally challenged brother, Henry. Lamb seemed to have done her research for those two characters, but the others were inconsistent in their personalities and actions.
In my sixteen years as a (now retired) social worker, I met a lot of people/clients along the way but none as dramatic and inconsistent as Lamb's characters. Usually people who grow up with this kind of abuse/neglect don't feel good enough to develop their potential to the highest like these sisters did.
Moreover, the Grandmother suffered dementia, and she seemed totally out of character for a person who suffers this kind of deterioration. I guess her character was suppose to create levity in all the dysfunction, but I found it implausible.
It was a fast read because it was mainly based on action, not deeply developed internal workings of the characters. It had a Hollywood ending with everything coming together, each character becoming centered and overcoming her past.
I doubt I would read another Cathy Lamb novel if the others are anything like this one. I prefer books that are more plausible and with more substance.
Being a writer myself, I found Janie's success as a crime writer, with her OCD and trepidations, gravely unconvincing. For example, she was a timid personality steeped in meditative practices who suffered from OCD and hated conflcit. Yet, she would physically punch out her hated brother-in-law and call him every scum bag name that existed. Totally unconvincing and confusing in character development.
For example, as early as page 53, the words "get laid", "sex with a female King Kong", "loose slut", "sliced off a ball", "boobs the size of Kentucky", "f*** face", and "scumfuzz".......explain the behaviors. If I'm going to spend time reading a book, I want substance, not trash talk. These dysfunctional sisters are all lunatics.
Lamb used wild physical action rather than thoughtful, inner dialogue to develop her characters. The physical fights (to show personality through action, I guess) seemed to do no real harm. The sisters would punch people out only to have them get up and punch them out again. The fat sister was edgy, angry and verbally pummeled anyone that crossed her path. My experience is that often overweight individuals use food to push down there anger rather than express it physically and/or verbally-again, a contradictory personality that fell flat for me. Most of the time . I could see it on the TV screen as a Saturday cartoon better than a story in a book.
Then the rape scene with Isabella felt overly written. This book felt like it was written by an amateur.
There were one or two paragraphs scattered throughout the book that started to go deeper with interesting thoughts and emotions only to be abandoned before turning the page. I felt cheated as if these characters were cartoon characters rather than real people. One minute they would be crying hysterically and the next minute calling others names with grave insensitivity. They didn't ring true as real people.
The only believable dialogue that offered some emotional depth was that of Father Mike and the mentally challenged brother, Henry. Lamb seemed to have done her research for those two characters, but the others were inconsistent in their personalities and actions.
In my sixteen years as a (now retired) social worker, I met a lot of people/clients along the way but none as dramatic and inconsistent as Lamb's characters. Usually people who grow up with this kind of abuse/neglect don't feel good enough to develop their potential to the highest like these sisters did.
Moreover, the Grandmother suffered dementia, and she seemed totally out of character for a person who suffers this kind of deterioration. I guess her character was suppose to create levity in all the dysfunction, but I found it implausible.
It was a fast read because it was mainly based on action, not deeply developed internal workings of the characters. It had a Hollywood ending with everything coming together, each character becoming centered and overcoming her past.
I doubt I would read another Cathy Lamb novel if the others are anything like this one. I prefer books that are more plausible and with more substance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 21, 2010
I don't cry over characters in a book.
Well...ok, maybe one time...but who didn't cry when Beth bites the big one in "Little Women?"
But this book had me sobbing over Henry with the rest of the Bommarito family and Trillium River community.
Maybe it was where the novel was set, as I have lived in the Columbia River Gorge for 13 years, and up until July 2010 worked in Hood River (which Trillium River suspiciously resembles...)
Maybe it was the connection between the three sisters and how each one was so strong in their own way, and the fierceness of their love of one another.
But probably it was Amelia Earhart and Henry. We all know of or have had the honor of meeting a "Henry" sometime during our lives, and if you haven't yet, I hope you will.
Well...ok, maybe one time...but who didn't cry when Beth bites the big one in "Little Women?"
But this book had me sobbing over Henry with the rest of the Bommarito family and Trillium River community.
Maybe it was where the novel was set, as I have lived in the Columbia River Gorge for 13 years, and up until July 2010 worked in Hood River (which Trillium River suspiciously resembles...)
Maybe it was the connection between the three sisters and how each one was so strong in their own way, and the fierceness of their love of one another.
But probably it was Amelia Earhart and Henry. We all know of or have had the honor of meeting a "Henry" sometime during our lives, and if you haven't yet, I hope you will.
June 16, 2024
I've read Cathy Lamb's other books and have really liked the ones I've read.
This one, though....hooboy. It did not age well.
Remember when we all thought that fat girls were just stuffing our faces all the time, and that all of us were just repressing our anger with pie, and when it was okay to use phrases like "fat cow" as invectives and for us to deflect with assertions that we have not two double chins, but three, etc. etc. etc.? In other words, remember when it was socially acceptable to have those kinds of opinions, and be giant assholes to each other?
This is from that time, and it shows.
Also, let's touch briefly on how the mental health issues are represented: to say that they were misrepresented and diminished and told they were just bad choices? Understatement.
Lest you think I'm overblowing that, there's a scene where one sister agrees to stop being angry if another one agrees to stop her depression. Emphasis mine. Because, clearly, THAT'S A THING. Just DECIDE not to be depressed anymore. Wish the thousands of people who struggle with it every day had thought of that. It'd collectively save us billions in therapists and medication.
(Oh, and the third sister with clinical OCD? She says she'll work on that, too. I forgot just how much the zeitgeist in the early '00s was to blame the patient for the illness. I nearly threw the book across the room before deciding it's just a teachable moment about how far we've all come.)
There were so many little things that were just this side of completely f'ed up, scattered all around the book.
AND, IMPORTANT: If rape is one of your triggers, don't come near this thing. It's decidedly rapey. Like, on-page rapey. But fear not! It's only the ones doing bad things (stripping, sleeping around) who have the rape tax to pay. Because clearly, only women what sin will ever be assaulted.
(that's sarcasm, btw. In case it wasn't clear.)
I know we can't judge literature that was written decades ago based on what we know as a society in 2024. There are things -- attitudes, beliefs about things, science stuff -- that we were all blissfully ignorant of at the time. But if you want a time capsule of everything that was wrong with the early 'oughts? This would be a good primer.
I think I'll stick to this author's newer work from here on out.
This one, though....hooboy. It did not age well.
Remember when we all thought that fat girls were just stuffing our faces all the time, and that all of us were just repressing our anger with pie, and when it was okay to use phrases like "fat cow" as invectives and for us to deflect with assertions that we have not two double chins, but three, etc. etc. etc.? In other words, remember when it was socially acceptable to have those kinds of opinions, and be giant assholes to each other?
This is from that time, and it shows.
Also, let's touch briefly on how the mental health issues are represented: to say that they were misrepresented and diminished and told they were just bad choices? Understatement.
Lest you think I'm overblowing that, there's a scene where one sister agrees to stop being angry if another one agrees to stop her depression. Emphasis mine. Because, clearly, THAT'S A THING. Just DECIDE not to be depressed anymore. Wish the thousands of people who struggle with it every day had thought of that. It'd collectively save us billions in therapists and medication.
(Oh, and the third sister with clinical OCD? She says she'll work on that, too. I forgot just how much the zeitgeist in the early '00s was to blame the patient for the illness. I nearly threw the book across the room before deciding it's just a teachable moment about how far we've all come.)
There were so many little things that were just this side of completely f'ed up, scattered all around the book.
AND, IMPORTANT: If rape is one of your triggers, don't come near this thing. It's decidedly rapey. Like, on-page rapey. But fear not! It's only the ones doing bad things (stripping, sleeping around) who have the rape tax to pay. Because clearly, only women what sin will ever be assaulted.
(that's sarcasm, btw. In case it wasn't clear.)
I know we can't judge literature that was written decades ago based on what we know as a society in 2024. There are things -- attitudes, beliefs about things, science stuff -- that we were all blissfully ignorant of at the time. But if you want a time capsule of everything that was wrong with the early 'oughts? This would be a good primer.
I think I'll stick to this author's newer work from here on out.
October 21, 2024
This book deserves 10 stars! But it is not for the faint hearted, it describes so much of the ugliness of humans and human nature that it is deeply depressing at times and I cried almost continuously for the last 1/5.
I appreciated the medical themes which were very accurate , religious themes which were deeply valuable, sisterly relationships which made me even more disappointed that I never had a sister, motherhood theme which was painful and miraculously strong at the same time.
To link them all was Henry, his special needs so strong in bringing a community to their knees as his love shines and shows all how his simple abilities are stronger in loving and healing than any other healthy person.
Our society never fully valued people with special needs and this book shows us how wrong we are.
Everyone who wants perfection in relationships, love, or who doesn’t understand the value of the disabled people in our society or who just wants to explore human resilience should read this book.
I appreciated the medical themes which were very accurate , religious themes which were deeply valuable, sisterly relationships which made me even more disappointed that I never had a sister, motherhood theme which was painful and miraculously strong at the same time.
To link them all was Henry, his special needs so strong in bringing a community to their knees as his love shines and shows all how his simple abilities are stronger in loving and healing than any other healthy person.
Our society never fully valued people with special needs and this book shows us how wrong we are.
Everyone who wants perfection in relationships, love, or who doesn’t understand the value of the disabled people in our society or who just wants to explore human resilience should read this book.
November 13, 2020
It took me a long time to get into it. Ended up being a very touching story and I cried for the last 75 pages.
August 26, 2016
Henry's Sisters is a book I personally loved - Cathy Lamb writes with a quick whit and a way that made me feel I was in the room with these quirky characters. I highly recommend this read - it was touching and funny.
Isabelle Bommarito is a mess.
She continuously picks up men... connects for a night and then disposes of them quickly. As in now... as in LEAVE.
Cecilia Bommarito is depressed. Her husband is having an affair right under her nose. And so she eats... and eats... and eats while her anger boils over onto anyone in the way.
Janie Bommarito is a best selling author. While shy and a loner in real life, her books are filled with heinous crimes that would make the strongest persons stomach churn. She lives alone in a boathouse and counts everything out by fours....
The Bommarito sisters all have issues.... BIG ONES. And if you met their mother, River Bommarito (one time stripper, dancer, child neglecter.... ) you may understand why.
Then comes Henry Bommarito. Sweet Henry. Sickly as a baby and later diagnosed to be mentally handicapped.
Honest to God, Henry is the only normal person in the family.
The only one.
The Bookies book club read this for their January book pick. It had been nominated before... and passed on. This time, it won the vote.
The opening line:
I would have to light my bra on fire.
Hmmmm... potential?
When the sisters Bommarito's are all called home to help take care of Henry while their mother goes into the hospital for surgery - there is, to say the least, reluctance. The girls do not have fond memories of growing up with a mother who neglected more than loved... who at times layed in bed for weeks under the weight of her own depression leaving the girls to fend for themselves and Henry. And now added to the top was their grandmother who had Alzheimer's so severely she thought she was Amelia Earhart.
Yet the girls do go back, to care for Henry the brother they love, and to work in the family bakery while their mother is away.
The result? A touching story - at times hilariously funny... heartwarmingly sweet, and occasionally painful. It was a book that put you on an emotional rollercoaster and left you in the end...
breathless.
Isabelle Bommarito is a mess.
She continuously picks up men... connects for a night and then disposes of them quickly. As in now... as in LEAVE.
Cecilia Bommarito is depressed. Her husband is having an affair right under her nose. And so she eats... and eats... and eats while her anger boils over onto anyone in the way.
Janie Bommarito is a best selling author. While shy and a loner in real life, her books are filled with heinous crimes that would make the strongest persons stomach churn. She lives alone in a boathouse and counts everything out by fours....
The Bommarito sisters all have issues.... BIG ONES. And if you met their mother, River Bommarito (one time stripper, dancer, child neglecter.... ) you may understand why.
Then comes Henry Bommarito. Sweet Henry. Sickly as a baby and later diagnosed to be mentally handicapped.
Honest to God, Henry is the only normal person in the family.
The only one.
The Bookies book club read this for their January book pick. It had been nominated before... and passed on. This time, it won the vote.
The opening line:
I would have to light my bra on fire.
Hmmmm... potential?
When the sisters Bommarito's are all called home to help take care of Henry while their mother goes into the hospital for surgery - there is, to say the least, reluctance. The girls do not have fond memories of growing up with a mother who neglected more than loved... who at times layed in bed for weeks under the weight of her own depression leaving the girls to fend for themselves and Henry. And now added to the top was their grandmother who had Alzheimer's so severely she thought she was Amelia Earhart.
Yet the girls do go back, to care for Henry the brother they love, and to work in the family bakery while their mother is away.
The result? A touching story - at times hilariously funny... heartwarmingly sweet, and occasionally painful. It was a book that put you on an emotional rollercoaster and left you in the end...
breathless.
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