The three Hellinger sisters, Imperia (Perri), Olympia (Pia) and Augusta (Gus) have been playing out their roles for almost 40 years. Set in these roles by their domineering mother, they have fallen into routines, and also routinely argue with each other. However, are starting to unravel for each of them, and when a freak accident lands their mother in the hospital, everything starts to come apart. There's no comfort zone for any of them anymore, and the familiar roles just don't seem to fit.
I found this book to be a page turner, but mostly because I was curious about what was going to happen to the characters. I didn't find it was heavily invested in any of them, but I was curious about them. The dynamic between all three of them would sometimes get a little tedious, and I would start to predict what one sister would do, or how she would interact with another sister. However, I did enjoy the sharp humor in the book, and at times, would find myself snickering to myself.
When I got to this part, near the end, I felt it summed up what I had been thinking halfway through the book. "Olympia released a long sigh. Then she said, 'Perri, do you ever hear yourself? You're always competing with me over whose life is harder, Honestly, it's really tedious." I enjoy stories like this from time to time because they give me that voyeuristic feeling of looking into someone's house window as I drive past, a glimpse of a different life. And, it's a bit like visiting somewhere and thinking to yourself, that was nice, but I don't want to live there.
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