I couldn't wait to read Rebecca Rasmussen's debut, THE BIRD SISTERS, for three reasons: (1) Love the cover! (2) She's a fellow St. Louis author and teaches at a local college. (3) The premise sounded so intriguing. I had a feeling the book would be good even before I dug in. Not surprisingly, I was captured by the first page and found myself quickly engaged in the tale of spinster sisters Milly and Twiss, who grew up in rural Wisconsin. Their mother came from a wealthy family but gave it all up for their golf-playing father, who coveted nothing more than being part of that society someday. Twiss and Milly couldn't be more opposite: Twiss is a daddy's girl, a true tomboy who'll hang upside-down from tree limbs for attention, while Milly is a gentle, sweet soul who likes to bake. Their world is small but full of eccentricities, comfortable in its own way. That is, until cousin Bett comes to stay with them one summer and turns that comfortable world upside-down. THE BIRD SISTERS is full of colorful descriptions and quirkly people who make choices that aren't always (um, ever!) rational; but they are intriguing and revealing of the things people do in the name of love.