The Sparrow Sisters: A Novel

A lovely book. The Sparrow Sisters is beautifully written with a narrative that flows effortlessly. There is a timeless quality about the story which works well. I loved it. It's hard to believe that this is Ellen Herrick's first novel... looking forward to the next one.

The scene setting at the beginning of the book was a bit dull and boring. After reading the reviews, I was encouraged to continue reading based on the overwhelming positive reviews.

This book did not disappoint. Truthfully, if I could have given it 4 and ½ stars … I would have. I’m not exactly sure why but as I sit here typing out this review, there’s a sense that the story could have been a little bit more. Perhaps it was the character development. The other two sisters and a couple of the male characters got a little murky to me as the story carried on. Who was that person again? Which sister is which? …. Just a little foggy.

Don’t get me wrong, it was a very enjoyable read. I’m at a place in my life where a touch of magic and mysticism invites me to consider possibilities and set aside a stuffy reality. Perhaps that too is because I believe there is always magic in moments and if we’re adventurous enough or curious enough or open enough, we can all see that this life we live is a grand illusion where we’re always being invited to play along. This story gave me plenty of opportunities to embrace a touch of magic, which left me curious enough to keep reading on. I found myself taking the bait over and over until the story came to an end and I really, really wanted to read more.

Everything is in this story for the exception of the quirky, supportive side-kick that always invites the reader a bit of whimsy and entertainment. Those are my most favorite characters and this story lacked this individual that can add just the special touch to make a story unforgettable.

At any rate, the reader will find an interesting story. At one point, the story takes a drastic twist and the story is never the same after that moment. That was a surprise to me and at that moment, I came to respect this writer for taking the story in a not-so-feel-good direction.

Ellen Herrick has a delicious gift for crafting characters and telling a story that will invite the reader to take bite after bite and before they know it, the story will come to an end and we may find ourselves hungry for more. I know I am!

I was delighted to read this book after it popped up on my recommended list, and for ninety-nine cents Kindle version, who was I to refuse such an offer? I finished it in one fell swoop on my day off and then promptly bought a physical copy of the book. The Sparrow Sisters is impossible to put down, not even for a pee break. It is a story about three sisters, and in this story Ellen Herrick has woven a magical tale about herbs, love, life, sisterhood, spinsterhood, and tragedy so incredibly realistic that this book has become the lighthouse to my sailboat. The scenes are set off the coast of New England, and the words come to life as the author pulls you into the narrative, letting you coast along as you take in the sights, scents, and habits of these beloved characters. On the surface it is a tale of the possibility of witches; ultimately it is a tale of loss and discovery, unlikely friendship, and the unstoppable force women become when protecting one of their own.

About some sisters descended from a woman accused of witchcraft. While they are all known and accepted in the community, one sister knows all about plants and seems to know how to heal whatever is ailing the citizens. A doctor doesn't understand her gift and at first clashes with her, then falls in love with her. When she is accused of murdering a boy and the city's witchcraft frenzy is in danger of repeating itself, he champions her.

Nice story. Maybe a little oldfashioned in its writing style.

The Sparrow Sisters is a book far removed from the books I usually choose to read. It’s full of all of the things I really don’t like in stories; modern settings, boy meets girl/girl doesn’t like boy/yet love is in the air romance, and that new term in storytelling, magical realism. And yet I was enthralled. The titular sisters are all single and live in Granite Point a New England town with a long history. Their ancestors were among the founders of the town. Now the three of them live in their ancestral house and run a flourishing nursery on land once owned by a very special woman from their past.

All is going along well until a new doctor comes to town and questions one of the sisters’ way of helping the townspeople. Patience has always had a way with plants and she uses her knowledge and that of her ancestors to ease some of the complaints they bring her. The doctor, Henry feels this is dangerous – but even more dangerous are the sparks that fly between the two of them. When someone under Patience’s care dies the small town turns against her and history ends up repeating itself with a modern day witch hunt of sorts.

You cannot read this book and expect it to make sense or for everything to align. You need to just release yourself to the story and let it happen. If I were to sit and pick it apart I’d find a million reasons to hate this book but if I take reason out of the equation I want to go back and read it again. It’s a real escapist tale – but don’t let that make you think it’s all unicorns and rainbows because it’s not. The worst of human nature takes a starring role. But the best of human nature has equal billing. The characters are unique and I really want to visit with them again and I truly hope the teaser at the end means there will be another book.

4.5

*I received a free copy for my honest review

I've read through the three previous reviews of this book on LT. My first thought was that all of them applied. The book is story that has been told. It covers subject matters that are pretty predictable. The Sparrow sisters are nothing new to literature. What one has to keep in mind when trying to critique a book is the fact that though these subjects may be "old hat" to heavy readers, new readers are introduced to the joy of the novel every day. This book is nicely written, time place and characters are all made real by Ellen Herrick's prose. The story contained a bit of mystery, a little romance and enough magic realism to be intriguing to many readers. I worked in bookstores for many years and as I was reading this I could picture exactly which customers I could recommend this title to. There were plenty who came to mind. Ellen Herrick is kind of a Berg, Hoffman, Weiner mix up. If you enjoy these authors you will like this book. Ms. Herrick deserves credit for putting together a story that is entertaining and sure to please a certain audience. We read so as to grow......The Sparrow Sisters is a great stepping stone to that end. (

Welcome to the small town of Granite Point, home of the Sparrow Sisters. Be prepared to be immediately drawn into their lives and those of the inhabitants of Granite Point. How is Granite Point different from a million other small towns that swell with tourists in the summer and then dwindle down to the hardy, few, full-time residents when the weather turns? You'll have to read this book to find out, but the reader needs to be aware that these sisters are special. They possess talents in areas that are hard to explain via modern science and our willing to share what they know with inhabitants of Granite Point. If you are a reader who is willing to open your mind up to the possibility of abilities and events that may be somewhat hard to explain given our "fact driven society", then this book and the follow on book "The Forbidden Garden" will be right up your alley and definitely well worth the read. Ms Herrick is a gifted author and I am glad she shares her gift with the reader.

The Sparrow Sisters, Sorrel, Nettie and Patience, are famous in Granite Point. Their nursery is flourishing and Patience's healing powers are very important to the inhabitants of the town. When Henry Carlyle moves into town to work as the new local doctor he's intrigued by them. He doesn't understand the sisters very well though. He doesn't believe in anything but science, but he wants to know how Patience works. He's curious and doesn't expect to feel a deep connection to her at all, but something happens to him when he sees her.

When something tragic happens in Granite Point there are people who want to blame someone. Slowly everything the people in Granite Point used to love is changing and Patience is at the center of it. The people in Granite Point used to love her, but now doubt is creeping in and that is the worst thing that could have happened to the town...

The Sparrow Sisters is a beautiful story about a remarkable woman who has the most amazing healing powers. The Sparrow Sisters are fascinating and they each have their own special features. I loved that about them and couldn't wait to find out more about their abilities. Patience is special and she has such a remarkable personality. I enjoyed reading about the way she handles situations very much. Henry is a kind man, but he has his beliefs and it isn't easy to change them. I loved reading about the connection he has with Patience and couldn't wait to find out what would happen to them. I instantly liked the main characters. What I also liked were the setting and Ellen Herrick's way of writing.

I knew I was going to like this book as soon as I read the first sentence. It was love at first sight for me. I think the story is fantastic. It's a contemporary fairytale. There's magic in Ellen Herrick's words, they're both beautiful and enchanting. I think this novel is absolutely brilliant. If you like the genre, you will definitely fall in love with this story. The Sparrow Sisters is a book I want to read again and again and again.

Such an interesting book! The Sparrow sisters, Patience, Nettie and Sorrell live in the ancestral home and own a nursery that seems to be the barometer of the town's mental and physical health. When Henry arrives in town to be the new doctor, he discovers a sort of rival in Patience who is viewed as a healer by the townsfolk. Henry's ire is tempered by his immediate attraction to Patience and her reluctant return of that feeling. As the two become closer to each other, their happiness is tempered by a unspoken distrust of what the other stands for.

When a tragedy happens, the town and the relationship is poisoned by distrust and everything starts to go wrong. Henry has to finally decide how he feels about Patience and her special gift. The townspeople have to look to their own history to see what happens when unfounded suspicion destroys the balance of the natural magic that the Sparrows seem to embody. I loved the people in this book and the way the story played out. There seemed to be a bit of a teaser about one of the sisters which could mean a future book which would be great.

The Sparrow sisters - Sorrel, Nettie, and Patience - are just part of the story that is Granite Point. Albeit a very large part considering the girls' ancestors were one of the founding families of the town. History has it that one of the earliest Sparrow women was even accused of witchcraft.

Now, generations later, the sisters run a nursery that brings folks from both near and far thanks to their remarkable green thumbs. And Patience is a known healer, concocting tinctures, teas, and infusions from her garden. The sisters are loved and respected, but all of that is about to change.

The change begins with the arrival of the new town doctor. Henry Carlyle is young, good looking, and a war hero to boot, but Patience doesn't care about any of that. All she sees is another outsider who looks down on her non traditional treatments. Henry doesn't look down on Patience at all - or at least not much. In fact, Henry is quickly smitten by the woman. But when Patience is implicated in the death of a local things start to sour fast. Could history be repeating itself? Is Granite Point turning on Patience as it once did on her long ago ancestor?

Early blurbs for The Sparrow Sisters promised "...a touch of magic..." (Sarah Jio), "...a modern-day fairy tale..." (Sarah Addison Allen), and, according to the publisher, "...echoes of... Practical Magic..." Well, after such promising reviews - and from such fabulous authors - of course I had to get my hands on a copy. As most of us know, though, with such grand comparisons there's always a chance that they might be either overblown or maybe just a little... off. Nope. Not the case at all with this one! Jio, Addison Allen, and the folks at William Morrow had their comps down pat and I was all to happy to discover this for myself.

The Sparrow Sisters is a beautifully written tale that's packed to the brim with lush and vivid imagery. The sisters, their plants, the scents that follow Patience around revealing her moods, everything is detailed so gorgeously it really does make you feel like you're right there with the characters. It's a sensual read in the most literal sense of the word!

It's emotional as well. The sisters haven't had things easy. They were essentially orphaned all at an early age - their mother died giving birth to Patience and their father followed just a few years later. They've stuck together and toughed it all out, though, and have a thriving business to show for it. What's more, they're genuinely loved by most of the townspeople. But there's something missing - a passion, a fire... and they're the last of the Sparrows.

To see how their story unfolds you'll have to read the book yourself. It is quite an enjoyable tale, though, and definitely one fans of both above-mentioned authors - Sarah Jio and Sarah Addison Allen - will adore!

Ellen Herrick brings us a spectacular debut starring three unique sisters and a town that treasures them --- at least until something awful causes the people to step back and take another look.

Granite Point, a charming seaside resort town, seemed like the ideal place for Dr. Henry Carlyle to settle, a place where he could escape from his past and build a quiet, almost anonymous new life. But he didn’t reckon on the Sparrow sisters --- Sorrel, Nettie and Patience, most especially Patience. No, he didn’t reckon on the young Sparrow, nor did he plan to fall in love with her. And from the tenor of their first meeting, it didn’t seem likely it would ever happen. The two of them got off on what you’d call the wrong foot right from the start. No wonder, really, since Patience was advising a concoction of herbs and mixtures that must have sounded like a magical potion to the doctor, by nature a man of science. Unable to control himself, he was appalled and scoffed at her advice. But he’s the new guy in Granite Point.

The Sparrows are part of the fabric of Granite Point. They have a unique history with the town, one that goes back centuries, and the town views them as their own, if a bit off center. The residents quietly think of Patience as a healer, and many come to her when they suffer from a problem that has medical types scratching their heads. The women in the area have long treated their colicky babies with something from the Sparrow sisters’ nursery and secretly dosed their husbands to ease the pains brought on by fishing or some construction project.

So if Henry wants to get close to Patience, he’ll have to swallow his skepticism and try to view what she does with an open mind. But before he has the chance, something goes terribly wrong, and soon the most supportive among the townspeople begin to doubt Patience. In fact, Henry himself has fleeting bouts of distrust. Can his lover actually put a spell on people? Has she put one on him? Is that how he was persuaded to go along with some of her ideas?

If anyone were to do a little digging, they would find that this sort of thing happened before in Granite Point. Back then, its citizens turned against the accused. That was during a time when witch hunts whipped people into a frenzy. So now, will Patience find herself deserted by everyone she has spent a lifetime helping? Or worse, will they believe she is capable of hexes and curses? Is she guilty of what they say she did? As the rumors fly and the truth is distorted, even she begins to wonder. Maybe she is wrong. Maybe all she has done is give people false hope. And maybe this time it ended in tragedy. Wherever the truth lies, Granite Point is going to have to decide what it believes, for Patience isn’t the only one on trial now. And Patience isn’t the only one who needs to do a bit of soul searching.

THE SPARROW SISTERS starts off slowly but eventually gathers speed. By the midway point, it has traction and will carry readers at a breakneck pace to its wonderful ending. The sisters are delightful characters, and Henry is reminiscent of a lovesick schoolboy, making him an endearing man everyone wants to root for. The supporting cast populates the town with people you mostly would like to know. It’s all pretty magical.

Reviewed by Kate Ayers

Favorite Quotes:

“She knew that sometimes Patience’s rich interior life, a thing of bright colors, strong scents, and a good deal of swearing, burst forth. The smells that followed her were the most noticeable, and even the town had learned to interpret at least some of the scents that wrapped around the youngest sister.”

“Matty was the only one Patience shared her secrets with. He listened with rapt attention as if the names themselves held power. As Patience listed the various ailments her plants could help, Matty almost wished he had rheumatism that called for bladderwrack or high blood pressure to be cured by skullcap… Matty thought maybe he could learn to be like Patience, to save someone the way she did. He was sure that if he could, people wouldn’t look away every time they saw him.”

“For her part, Patience felt as if she were holding a soap bubble in her hand. She glided through her day intent on keeping this shiny, temporary, beautiful, perfect thing intact. This in itself was unusual. Patience was adept at snatching misery from the tender jaws of joy.”

“Simon knew that it didn’t matter who was telling the truth, just who told it best.”

“I hate to think what would have happened to be without you. You are the only thing I have ever wanted to keep.”

My Review:

Before I signed on to read The Sparrow Sisters I had checked Goodreads and noticed the reviews were mixed, people either loved it or hated it. I have no complaints as I adored it from the beginning. The written words sparkled, they were more than special, chosen well and smartly written. Like her Sparrow sister character of Patience, Ms. Herrick does indeed have magic, as well as considerable talent and finesse. The writing was crisp, insightful, and keenly observant with an edge of humor. The story was luxuriously detailed, unique, and unfailingly interesting. Ms. Herrick’s characters were as quirky and eccentrically individual as most small town dwellers are. I was transported to that small haven and soon lost myself in the story. I was thrilled when Patience and Henry found their rhythm, and was crushed when they argued. Then I was devastated when something horrible happened and Patience was accused of something heinous, and the small-town people showed their small-mindedness, and became just plain rotten. I will admit to being more than petty enough to enjoy how that bended back on them, as once Patience lost her footing, the town began to fail; birds stop singing, crops and plants died, the weather was frightfully weird, animals acted oddly, livelihoods dried up, and people were angry and snappish to each other. Like the witch hunts of a previous time, all kinds of nonsense circulated and I was afraid things were not going to end well for Patience, Henry, or the town. Thankfully, after a touching revelation that squeezed my heart, they are able to reclaim their smiles and we were all able to breathe deeply again. Sigh.

What you don’t know about another person is often more important than what you do know. The new doctor, Henry Carlyle, had secrets. In a small town like Granite Point, the community started gathering stories, some true some not. The Sparrow sisters, even though they’ve lived there all their lives, heralded a bit of mystery as well. Most wondered why none of them had ever married. They’d had some tragedy in their lives. Their mother died when young Impatience (Patience) was born. Their father took to himself, leaving the twin older girls to raise the two younger ones. Then one of the twins had been diagnosed with cancer and could not be saved. They had little tolerance for doctors. But, Patience found something very intriguing about this new doctor. He felt the attraction too, but he didn’t move to Granite Point to get involved with anyone, much less a romance.

Patience found that she could make many remedies from their lush garden. Many of the townspeople looked to her for healing. Even Henry became very interested in what she actually does. It all seemed fairly benign. That is until the day that an autistic child dies after having received one of her remedies. How quickly people can turn.

Uniquely crafted, these characters will pull your heartstrings. This is a very cozy and comfortable ‘stay-in-your-pjs’ day read. It’s hard to believe this is Ellen Herrick’s debut novel. She certainly has a magic of her own in writing very descriptive and beautiful scenes. The novel is well balanced with character detail, dialogue, and narrative. The ending just may suggest a series, and if so, I would like to visit the Sparrow sisters once again. Rating: 4 out of 5.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I LOVED this story! This is one of the best books that I have read in a while. I have not read a story that elicited so many emotions in a very long time. The characters captured my heart, as well as the story. The characters were so real to life, and their dialogue was so believable that I could just picture these characters so easily. I am eagerly awaiting the next Sparrow Sisters novel. There were a few grammatical errors, but in no way did they hinder the flow of this story. If it weren't for these errors, this would have easily been a five star review. Since the store doesn't allow half stars, I had to give this book four stars, but my rating is actually four and a half stars for this incredible tale. I highly recommend this book.

The Sparrow Sisters was a deeply satisfying read for me and I think I will be under its spell for a while, at least until the author (a publishing world veteran with a conspicuous talent for storytelling) decides to spin this stand-alone novel into a series and dishes out another enchanting tale from quaint Granite Point.

If you are a sucker for romance, if you are fascinated by legends and folklore, if you pine for a little bit of drama with a touch of New England regional feel, you will find yourself right at home in the fictional world created by Ellen Herrick. Granite Point is "a town of fishermen and spinsters, shop-keepers and faith-healers", with a long history and a wide Puritan streak. Only few pages into the book and we already have a remarkably full sense of place. Herrick sets a great scene with a series of well chosen details that aptly paint a supremely evocative landscape as well as an atmospheric mood for the story and the characters populating it: "The whole town feels be-spelled...sometimes it feels like it's one of those enchanted villages the hardware store puts up in the windows at Christmas."

Sorrel, Nettie, and Patience Sparrow, known to everyone as 'The Sisters', are something of a legend in Granite Point. All named after plants and flowers, they live in isolation in their ancestral home on top of the hill overlooking the harbor. Ivy House is filled with the flowers and herbs, vegetables and fruits of their Shakespeare garden (the 'Nursery'), an extra-ordinary place where roses still bloom on New Year's Day, clematis and honeysuckle climb the small eighteenth century barn in November, and morning glories unfold all day. An odd place indeed, planted, according to the legend, by the first Sparrows who settled in the harbor during the seventeenth century. The eccentric sisters are considered a strange but useful part of Granite Point: they live their quiet and uncomplicated existence, firmly settled in their ways, all unmarried although beautiful, planting and reaping, selling the products of their nursery, and preparing herbal remedies to heal all kinds of common ailments. Patience, the youngest and most strikingly beautiful, is the one with the 'touch', an uncanny ability passed onto her, generation after generation, by her great-great-great-great grandmother Eliza, a remarkable woman who dared to use her healing powers at a time when people weren't so happy about someone with such a gift. They called it 'witchcraft' and it usually ended up with a trial, stakes and fire. That notorious part of the Sparrow legacy and history had been buried in the collective memory of Granite Point for centuries and the 'Sisters' might well have gone on with their plants and natural cures if it wasn't for the fact that the old town doctor decided to retire and, in doing so, he set in motion a chain of events - some of them blissful, some others...not so much.

The blissful part is young, tall, and broad-shouldered, good-looking and kind mannered. He goes by the name of Henry Carlyle, and he is the new town doctor. With a past in the army and a deployment in Iraq, Dr. Carlyle believes he'll find solitude and peace by the ocean, in a picturesque little town. He doesn't want to explain how he earned a Purple Heart Medal for putting his life on the line and rescuing a classroom full of children, and neither does he want to talk about that one little life he couldn't save. He came back from that hell alive, but the horrible scar on his leg runs deep, deep through his soul - his limp is a constant reminder of that devastating experience.

They say soul mates are connected by invisible threads, so wherever they are in the world they will find each other at some point: when the young doctor meets Patience, he inexplicably feels the pull of that thread. The attraction is wild and mutual, but "the course of true love never did run smooth", Shakespeare would say. The Sparrows Sisters are meant to be alone, or at least this is what they have convinced themselves of. They don't like needing anyone, especially proud and prickly Patience: when they do, it never turns out well. To say nothing of contrasting opinions in matter of medicine: Henry is a man of science, Patience is a sort of wiccan witch, all herbs, natural cures, and the mysterious healing power of her touch. And yet the connection between them is as strong as a spell: they have obviously found in each other that powerful balm called 'true love'..."if there was magic to be found, that was it." For the first time in their lives, our lovers are standing on the threshold of real happiness, but when Patience's natural remedies are believed to be responsible for the death of an autistic child, and the entire community of Granite Point turns against her as quickly as the tide, even Henry's faith in her is shaken. The tragic story of her ancestor Eliza Howard, accused of witchcraft and hated by the crowd, seems to be repeating itself.

Herrick's narrative has great photographic clarity: her descriptive approach burned each scene into my mind with an array of sensory details, a feast of scents, flavors, colors that made the Sparrow's interior landscape and enchanted world of flowers so vivid and memorable. The 'magical realism' factor is played with symmetric patterns traced between the characters and it ultimately reveals that there is something in this world that is more powerful than a potion spell: love.

Magical realism is outside of my normal reading genres yet I found this book to be an entertaining read. With hints of magic or the unexplained lying below the surface, a tragedy has many residents in a tight knit community split as they point fingers in a modern day witch hunt. This is not a mystery, it is more a story of how the residents of Granite Point react to the tragedy.

I received this book in an exchange for an honest review

Okay this will probably be the shortest review I have ever written. This book had an okay storyline to it, but to be honest I didn't want to finish the book, I wanted to leave it as soon as I started reading it.

The Sparrow sister are kind of legendary in the town, being one of the families that are founders. They are put on a high pedestal, then we meet Sorrow, Nettie and Patience. Each of the sisters are either named after herbs or flowers (I can't remember to be honest). There are alot of things going on in this book but I'd say Henry and Patience are the predominant storyline, as Patience has healing abilities which are supposedly supernatural and she mistakenly kills a child.

I didn't enjoy this story at all, the POV just jumped from one person to another so I had a hard time keeping up with the plot.

As a fan of Sarah Addison Allen and magical realism, I was thrilled to find a new author. The setting was beautifully described and filled with charm; Granite Point was vividly depicted by the author, as were the Sparrow Sisters. What made this book a 4 star read for me was a little loss of momentum. The beginning started off holding my interest quite well, and I wish that the entire book had captivated me as much. I am excited about the possibility of a follow-up on the Sisters. Overall, I really enjoyed this book.

"The Sparrow Sisters: A Novel' (September 1, 2015) by Ellen Herrick is not an "easy" contemporary woman's read. Instead, it is a modern-day hauntingly mystical tale of not only sisterly and romantic love, but an insightful look into the darker side of small-town dynamics gone amok when irrational fear and misunderstanding take hold.

Set in the lush, verdant fictional Cape Cod town of Granite Point in the near past, this enchantingly luxuriant novel delves into the healing alchemy of balms, salves, powders, and potions derived from the plants grown by the eponymous single Sparrow Sisters – Sorrel, Nettie, and Patience – in their nursery first started in the 1600s by their ancestor. Eliza Howard was the wife of one of the town’s founders and, according to local history and a weather-warn gazebo plaque, falsely accused of being a witch. Patience, evidently, has inherited Eliza’s inexplicable talents and abilities to heal.

Enter Henry Carlyle who, a new doctor with a puzzling mystique all his own, settles in Granite Point and immediately, and not so inexplicably, falls in love with the slim, fiery redheaded Patience. Even as his practice and reputation grows, most of the townsfolk still turn to Patience for her homemade remedies until tragedy unexpectedly wells up from the darker side of her magic. And then…true to human nature, the town turns away from her. And then…the town begins to die…

It seems unlikely that, lost in the depths of perdition, both Patience and her once beloved community will survive...and Herrick, at one point, had painted herself and her stunning story into an impossbily inescapable corner. Yet, somehow, she rallies to the challenge as the women of Granite Point and a tenaciously aspiring reporter band together and, with the aide of Patience’s loyal and loving sisters and Henry’s persistence, cause a seemingly surprise miracle to occur.

The characters in Herrick’s literary debut are deeply crafted, delightfully quirky, and nearly life-like. I actually wanted to move to Granite Point just to be among them and offer whatever help I could in their time of crisis. As I read, I consoled Patience, chided Henry, cheered Sorrel and Nettie on, yelled at an ambitious, yet inept Hutchins, ohhed and ahhed during many of the surprise plot twists, and cried at the wanton desecration and destruction of…well, it would spoil the story for you if I told you.

Despite a few very minor disjointed seques and a bit of a contrived but clever twist necessary to bring this novel to its more than satisfying dénouement, "The Sparrow Sisters' is the perfect plush cooling antidote for a long hot summer afternoon. I am hoping the continuation of their, and Granite Point's story, is in the works.

The Sparrow family has been a part of Granite Point for centuries and everyone knows the Sparrow sisters: Sorrel, Nettie, and Patience. The Sparrow Sisters are no stranger to tragedy, but as a new doctor comes to town a greater tragedy may we awaiting them. THE SPARROW SISTERS is not everything I thought it was touted to be. I love the magical realism genre and there were parts of THE SPARROW SISTERS which spoke deeply to me. However, I didn’t feel overly connected to the town of Granite Point or to the sisters themselves. I didn’t enjoy how easily Patience seemed to give up when faced with a terribly tragic event. I was pleased to see how much the women of the town gathered their strength to support Patience and the other Sparrows. THE SPARROW SISTERS has a spark of something magical which could have grown into so much more. I do plan on checking out more of this author’s work in the future.

This story had me from the beginning. I could not put it down! I felt as if I was there; the description of the town, it's unique characters, the unique details had me tasting the salty air on my lips, smelling each distinct plant, flower, and other wonders that wove throughout this lovely tale!

The Sparrow sisters’ family was among the founders of the small New England town of Granite Point and even though they keep to themselves, they are an integral part of their community. The three adult sisters live together in the family home and run a nursery, providing the town with fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers, and, thanks to Patience’s special talents, home remedies. There is a bit of magic, a love story, a tragedy, and a courtroom drama, but mostly this is a charming story of small town life (good and bad), family, and friendship. A great way to while away a hot and steamy (or cool and rainy) afternoon. For fans of Sarah Addison Allen.

The Sparrow family has been a part of Granite Point for centuries and everyone knows the Sparrow sisters: Sorrel, Nettie, and Patience. The Sparrow Sisters are no stranger to tragedy, but as a new doctor comes to town a greater tragedy may we awaiting them. THE SPARROW SISTERS is not everything I thought it was touted to be. I love the magical realism genre and there were parts of THE SPARROW SISTERS which spoke deeply to me. However, I didn’t feel overly connected to the town of Granite Point or to the sisters themselves. I didn’t enjoy how easily Patience seemed to give up when faced with a terribly tragic event. I was pleased to see how much the women of the town gathered their strength to support Patience and the other Sparrows. THE SPARROW SISTERS has a spark of something magical which could have grown into so much more. I do plan on checking out more of this author’s work in the future.

This story had me from the beginning. I could not put it down! I felt as if I was there; the description of the town, it's unique characters, the unique details had me tasting the salty air on my lips, smelling each distinct plant, flower, and other wonders that wove throughout this lovely tale!

The Sparrow sisters’ family was among the founders of the small New England town of Granite Point and even though they keep to themselves, they are an integral part of their community. The three adult sisters live together in the family home and run a nursery, providing the town with fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers, and, thanks to Patience’s special talents, home remedies. There is a bit of magic, a love story, a tragedy, and a courtroom drama, but mostly this is a charming story of small town life (good and bad), family, and friendship. A great way to while away a hot and steamy (or cool and rainy) afternoon. For fans of Sarah Addison Allen.

THanks WIlliam Morrow and Edelweiss for a very pleasant afternoon read. I enjoyed these characters, the town was atmospheric, and while the plot doesn't plow any new ground, it doesn't have to. Sometimes it's nice to read a book like this- relaxing. Thumbs up!

There are some nice elements in this story of three unusual sisters, but it is clearly a first effort. The characters were underdeveloped to the point of cliche, and the magical realism didn't quite manage to be very magical. This isn't as good as an Alice Hoffman novel, but it is a decent effort.

Granite Point is the typical New England small town with three exceptions: The Sparrow Sisters. Sorrel, Nettie and Patience, named after flowers and sometimes acting like them are well known. Healers, gardeners, lovers and, maybe murderers.

A young doctor comes to town and is put out that his potential patients prefer to go the Sisters instead of his office. After all, they don’t know him. Plus, you can tell Patience’ humor by her scent. Bee balm, lemon, gardenia.

Each sister has her own tale of passion unlived. Sorrel is in love but he married another. Nettie is in love but he won’t give her the time of day. Patience loves everyone which does her no good at all.

When something happens in the little town the friends become enemies. The enemies become hunters of witches. It seem the only thing the Sparrow Sisters can do it lay down and give in. Or do they?

This was a rather good story but not as good as I had hoped. I think I was going for another Distant Hours which could never be. On it’s own the characters pop out and you can feel Sorrel and Nettie’s sadness at being alone.