The Faraday Girls

"Vivid characterizations and sharply honed dialogue . . . McInerney brings humor and insight to issues of sibling rivalry, family secrecy, and romantic betrayal."--The Boston Globe, on The Alphabet Sisters

"A book to treasure . . . clever, amusing, and heart-warmingly touching."--Woman's Day (Australia), on Family Baggage

From internationally bestselling author Monica McInerney comes a captivating and charming new novel of family secrets, the loyalty of sisters, and the power of redemption.

As a child, Maggie Faraday grew up in a lively, unconventional household with her young mother, four very different aunts, and eccentric grandfather. With her mother often away, her aunts took turns looking after her–until, just weeks before Maggie’s sixth birthday, a shocking event changed everything.

Twenty years later, Maggie is living alone in New York City when she receives a surprise visit from her grandfather Leo, who brings a revelation and a proposition: He’s preparing a special gift for his daughters and needs Maggie’s help. When the Faradays gather from all parts of the world to celebrate Christmas in July–a longstanding tradition–Maggie uncovers unexpected family history and learns that the women she thought she knew so intimately all have something to hide.

Written in McInerney’s trademark warm, heartfelt prose, The Faraday Girls is a sweeping and affecting family saga.

“Crossing the globe, from Australia to Manhattan to Dublin, McInerney’s bewitching multigenerational saga lavishly and lovingly explores the resiliency and fragility of family bonds.”–Booklist

"Vivid characterizations and sharply honed dialogue . . . McInerney brings humor and insight to issues of sibling rivalry, family secrecy, and romantic betrayal."—The Boston Globe, on The Alphabet Sisters

"A book to treasure . . . clever, amusing, and heart-warmingly touching."—Woman's Day (Australia), on Family Baggage

From internationally bestselling author Monica McInerney comes a captivating and charming new novel of family secrets, the loyalty of sisters, and the power of redemption.

As a child, Maggie Faraday grew up in a lively, unconventional household with her young mother, four very different aunts, and eccentric grandfather. With her mother often away, her aunts took turns looking after her–until, just weeks before Maggie’s sixth birthday, a shocking event changed everything.

Twenty years later, Maggie is living alone in New York City when she receives a surprise visit from her grandfather Leo, who brings a revelation and a proposition: He’s preparing a special gift for his daughters and needs Maggie’s help. When the Faradays gather from all parts of the world to celebrate Christmas in July–a longstanding tradition–Maggie uncovers unexpected family history and learns that the women she thought she knew so intimately all have something to hide.

Written in McInerney’s trademark warm, heartfelt prose, The Faraday Girls is a sweeping and affecting family saga.

Publishers Weekly

McInerney's sixth novel depicts the tensions that emerge between five sisters as they struggle to establish their own identities. The book opens in 1979, in Tasmania, Australia, just before the lives of Juliet, Miranda, Eliza, Sadie, Clementine and their father, Leo, are irrevocably altered by 16-year-old Clementine's announcement that she's pregnant. The sisters and widower Leo make a pact to raise the child until it begins elementary school. Despite their unyielding love for baby Maggie, the pact is an enduring challenge for the sisters (who range in age from 16 to 23), who each yearn for independence. Leo, however, sees Maggie's birth as the perfect excuse to keep all his daughters under the same roof. When Maggie is five, one sister's colossal error in judgment ruptures the tenuous familial bonds. The consequences play out as the novel fast-forwards 20 years, with the family fractured and Maggie living in New York City. McInerney (The Alphabet Sisters; Family Baggage; etc.) has written a sprawling tale, though the material is relatively light. Straightforward prose (leavened with spots of humor and upbeat, witty exchanges) keeps the narrative moving along. It should be a crowd-pleaser. (Sept.)