REVIEW: When We Were Sisters by Emilie Richards

In When We Were Sisters by Emilie Richards, Growing up in the foster care system would have been intolerable for Robin had it not been for Cecilia. They became closer with every trial and situation they conquered together, becoming sisters of the heart. These days, Robin is a stay-at-home mom of two with her career in photojournalism simmering on the back burner until the kids have grown. And Cecilia is now one of the biggest singer-songwriter-actresses on the planet.

“My mother was sixteen when she abandoned me. You were sixteen when you refused to abandon me. How can you imagine I wouldn’t forgive you?”

But after a near-death experience, Robin takes a stand, all but forcing her husband Kris, a lawyer, to spend less time at work and more time with the kids while she helps film a documentary about the foster care system in which Cecilia will star. Kris can’t help but be angry at being put in this position. If he hopes to one day make senior partner, he has to do the legwork now. But as time wears on and the anger fades a bit, he can’t help wonder if he may have been taking his beautiful wife for granted. And he hopes it isn’t too late to salvage the mess they’ve made of their relationship.

‘Why had it taken me so long to see clearly that somehow these two sadly broken children had healed each other and, in the healing, given the world something infinitely precious?’

Cecilia’s hope with the documentary is to find a way to overcome her childhood and to help Robin do so as well. With every stop they make, reliving the abuse and visiting the horrible places in which they had been placed, she wonders if she can hold on to the secrets she has never told her sister. What had been done to her and the things she had to do in order to save them both. Maybe with a completely clean slate, Cecilia and Robin will both be able to look forward to the future instead of forever being tethered to the past.

Resting his head against my hair he said, “Loving you would be hard work, Cecilia. Not because you’re not one of the most lovable women in the world, but because you resist it so vehemently.”

What an incredibly intense and touching tale. When We Were Sisters was the type of novel that opens your eyes, makes you think, makes you feel, and fills you with the hope that there is a silver lining for those who so desperately need it.

‘I’ll share a secret those of us who have been abandoned know, and it binds us together in the saddest of ways. Despite everything our parents did or didn’t do for us, we miss them until the day we die, and worse, we will always be certain, deep inside, that we were the cause of their desertion.’

While this wasn’t necessarily an easy read, it was an important and extremely emotional story about two young girls who bonded and became sisters of the heart as they endured the hardships of being in the foster care system. So as you can expect, there are some issues that are dealt with that some readers may be sensitive to such as child neglect, emotional and sexual abuse, and drug and alcohol references. I didn’t think these were done in too graphic a manner, but I would be remiss not to mention it. I did think that author Emilie Richards painted a picture of Robin and Cecilia’s childhood in a way that would convey their traumatic, humble beginnings and explain the triumph of finding themselves as (mostly) stable, successful, strong women today.

This was told from Cecilia, Robin and Kris’s POVs, cleverly alternating just when a secret or a hidden event was just about to surface. It was easy, for me at least, to empathize both Robin and Cecilia as I read their memories of a childhood no youngster should ever had to have endured. I’ll admit that Kris gave me pause, though. I was disappointed that he didn’t realize how good Robin was to him and their children, being both a mom and a dad for them while he was buried in work. Maybe it’s because I’m a woman and can see things from her perspective. But I was overjoyed with how things finally worked out between Kris and Robin. I won’t spoil it, but that was one part of the story that will be sure to put a smile on your face.

I thought the overall plot was impressive, with a few surprises that I didn’t see coming. And as Richards doled out more and more details while the story progressed, not only did the choices that each character had made make more sense, but it was easy to see why Robin and Cecilia had such a strong bond. And why Kris and Cecilia would feel threatened of each other being number one in Robin’s life. That tug-of-war between them put Robin in the middle and it was interesting to see how that was resolved. It certainly added to the already tense situation of having to relive their traumatic childhoods.

When We Were Sisters was a poignant, oftentimes heartbreaking story that was so moving it brought me to tears a few times. With honest, raw emotions playing out on each page, this was one book I simply couldn’t put down. Cecilia and Robin’s trip to the past will be difficult to observe at times, but the moments of joy and hope will make it well worth it.

Book Info:

Publication: May 31st 2016 | MIRA |

Love and loyalty made them sisters. Secrets could still destroy them.

As children in foster care, Cecilia and Robin vowed they would be the sisters each had never had. Now superstar singer-songwriter Cecilia lives life on the edge, but when Robin is nearly killed in an accident, Cecilia drops everything to be with her.

Robin set aside her career as a successful photojournalist to create the loving family she always yearned for. But gazing through a wide-angle lens at both past and future, she sees that her marriage is disintegrating. Her attorney husband is rarely home. She and the children need Kris’s love and attention, but does Kris need them?

When Cecilia asks Robin to be the still photographer for a documentary on foster care, Robin agrees, even though Kris will be forced to take charge for the months she’s away. She gambles that he’ll prove to them both that their children—and their marriage—are a priority in his life.

Cecilia herself needs more than time with her sister. A lifetime of lies has finally caught up with her. She wants a chance to tell the real story of their childhood and free herself from the nightmares that still haunt her.

As the documentary unfolds, memories will be tested and the meaning of family redefined, but the love two young girls forged into bonds of sisterhood will help them move forward as the women they were always meant to be.