Three sisters are summoned home by their mother with no explanation. She wants to give them some news. All three have been estranged, not only from their mother, but from each other. They have rarely returned home to Westport, CT, after they left, and they do not often communicate with each other. They wonder why their mother has reached out to them and wonder if it is just another one of her ploys to get attention.
Ronni Sunshine, their mother, was a famous actress. Nell, Meredith and Lizzy have all lived in her shadow in one way or another, throughout their lives. Ronni had little time for them as they grew up, neglecting them and her marriage, devoting herself to her work in order to further her career.
Each sister has a different personality which developed in response to the way in which their mother treated them and the way they reacted to her often cruel tirades and selfish needs. Lizzie is forceful and confident and would laugh, never letting her mother’s moods bother her. Nell would withdraw and show no emotion, when the moods were particularly unpleasant. Meredith would feel shame and blame herself when her mother harangued her. She lacked self confidence. She took the brunt of her mother’s rage.
How each daughter reacts to the call to return home to see their mother and how they interact with each other is the substance of the novel. It explores the relationship between parent and child, sibling and sibling and husband and wife. Relationships between partners of same and opposite sex, married and unmarried are unmasked and described in detail. How will they all get along when they suddenly find themselves thrown together in their family home, confronting the anger and jealousy they each harbored toward each other and their mother?
There are some humorous as well as some more serious touching moments as the story rolls out. The author presented several important issues and they were developed well. In addition, like most books today, the author seemed eager to subtly present her views on controversial issues through the types of characters she developed, the problems they faced, the careers they pursued, and the lifestyles they chose. At times, it felt a little contrived as it moved back and forth in time, revealing the family’s history and problems by exposing the memories of each character. However, it did keep me interested and was an enjoyable read. It is definitely more of the type of a book I would describe as chick lit or a companion to take with you on vacation. I especially enjoyed reading about some of the communities in the story which were suburban or bucolic and with which I am familiar.

Ronni Sunshine is a famous, wonderful, pleasant actress on stage, but at home she is anything but wonderful and pleasant. She has no time for her daughters.

We follow Meredith, Nell, and Lizzy as they grow up in an unloving household with a mother who is more of a tyrant than a mother and a mother who cares only for herself.

The girls flee the nest one at a time and have troubles of their own because of their childhood, but now that Ronni is dying, she wants her daughters to rally around her. Ronni also had something else in mind when she invited her daughters back to their childhood home.

Each sister has a totally different personality, and it was interesting to follow them to see the path each one took. Nell seemed to be the responsible one. Meredith seemed to still be looking for happiness. Lizzy was still the fly-by-night, spoiled one.

The family issues and the different lifestyles the girls led were nicely developed by Ms. Green and could be the lifestyle of any young girl growing up trying to make choices.

This is my first book by Ms. Green. It was an enjoyable read and not something I normally read so I was surprised how her writing and story line pulled me in.

Nell seemed like a genuine person who worked hard in her life to make up what she had missed during her childhood.

Meredith kept speaking to me because of the way she put everyone before herself and kept the peace.

Lizzy was self-centered like her mother, and I liked her the least.

The characters did grow on me as they grew emotionally and made choices they never thought they would.

Women's fiction fans will enjoy this book because of the family drama, the regrets, the healing, and how Ms. Green addressed both family and friend relationships, as well as addressing end-of-life decisions.. 4/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher and NetGalley in return for an honest review.

this COULD be a book club read...i just personally don't think beach reads are that good for clubs and this is what i would characterize it as....you know whats gong to happen along the way between three sisters...which is typical in beach reads I think.
Ronni Sunshine left London for Hollywood to become a beautiful, charismatic star of the silver screen. But at home, she was a narcissistic, disinterested mother who alienated her three daughters.

As soon as possible, tomboy Nell fled her mother's overbearing presence to work on a farm and find her own way in the world as a single mother. The target of her mother s criticism, Meredith never felt good enough, thin enough, pretty enough. Her life took her to London and into the arms of a man whom she may not even love. And Lizzy, the youngest, more like Ronni than any of them, seemed to have it easy, using her drive and ambition to build a culinary career to rival her mother's fame, while her marriage crumbled around her.

But now the Sunshine Girls are together again, called home by Ronni, who has learned that she has a serious disease and needs her daughters to fulfill her final wishes. And though Nell, Meredith, and Lizzy are all going through crises of their own, their mother s illness draws them together to confront old jealousies and secret fears and they discover that blood might be thicker than water after all.

not a bad beach read...Total dysfunctional family and how each girl deals with their mother.