Between Sisters by American author Kristin Hannah is a heartfelt and emotional novel that explores the complicated bond between sisters with themes of childhood trauma, forgiveness and healing.
The story follows two sisters, Meghann Dontess and Claire Cavenaugh, whose lives have taken very different paths after a difficult childhood.
Being raised by an actress mother who repeatedly deserted them created a chaotic, unpredictable, and emotionally neglectful upbringing for the sisters. With both parents absent from their lives, Meghann felt responsible for protecting Claire and became the caregiver.
Years later, Meghann made the painful decision to leave home to build a life for herself. In doing so, she left Claire behind, although she believed she had no other choice. Claire grew up feeling abandoned by the sister she loved and trusted the most. Over time, Meghann’s decision turned into distance, leaving the sisters emotionally disconnected as adults.
The story ignites when Claire announces she’s getting married to Bobby Austin, a country singer. Meghann immediately becomes suspicious and begins investigating him and questioning his intentions.
But the real danger isn’t the wedding, it’s the devastating medical crisis that strikes without warning. It forces both sisters to confront the emotional roles they’ve been trapped in since childhood.
Each sister is marvellously fleshed out and beautifully developed, never dipping into tired cliches or easy tropes but instead showing the diverse mix of selfishness, sorrow, and joy that forms the human experience. The author uses flashbacks and memories to gradually reveal their painful childhood, allowing readers to understand why they have become the people they are.
Meghann is a highly successful divorce attorney in Seattle who prides herself on being independent and emotionally guarded, jumping from relationship to relationship with younger men – she never allows anyone to get close. Claire, on the other hand, is warm, trusting, and believes in love and commitment. Over the course of the novel, both sisters experience significant growth in their journeys.
The supporting cast adds warmth and texture. Joe is a kind and patient man who gradually breaks through Meghann’s defensive walls to open her heart. Bobby is the catalyst for much of the conflict in the story, who tests the sisters’ trust in one another. The mother is easy to dislike as a shallow, image-obsessed character representing a painful past.
Kristin Hannah is known for writing deeply emotional stories. She excels at portraying internal conflict and layered family dynamics. Her style is accessible and deeply empathetic, making the characters’ struggles feel personal and relatable. This novel is a powerful example of her ability to capture the complexity of human relationships.
Readers who enjoy stories about family, personal growth, and emotional healing will find this novel moving.
A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club members are reading Between Sisters by Kristin Hannah. You can read their comments below, or add your own review.
My love of books started at a very young age. My mum has always been a reader and encouraged me to read, buying me endless book from classic fairy tales advancing to the world of Enid Blyton, CS Lewis, Louisa May Alcott, Kathryn Kenny, Carolyn Keene, Francine Pascal. In my adult years the list of authors is endless and every room in my house is filled with books.
One of my favourite novels is Narnia which has always has a special place in my heart. I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 1978 and when I was given this book to read it let me escape to another world where I felt like I was in the book with all the characters, it wasfun and exciting to escape from reality and eased the ups and downs of the disease at such a young age.
In books nothing is impossible and there is endless potential and hundreds of places to explore or being taken to places that are only made up from the authors’ great minds, the past and future to navigate, characters lives you step into taking you on an emotional rollercoaster ride or being scared out of your wits. I can experience things that I can’t in real life because they’re not possible or real. It challenges my perspective and mindset expanding my worldview.
I find joy, comfort and peace with books, many people may not get it, but I know bookworms like me truly understand. Reading makes my heart happy.
I’ve heard a lot about Kristin Hannah books lately but never actually read one until Between Sisters.
I found it a bit slow to start with but once I was a few chapters in it was drawing me in, by the end I was hooked!
Based around 2 sisters Claire and Meghann, once close as children, past hurts have seen them distance themselves from each other as adults.
The news that Claire is getting married sets the sisters on a healing journey that neither of them anticipates.
The little snippets of the sisters past was intriguing and left you wondering what their story was, and guessing at what went wrong. The inclusion of Joe was interesting, that especially left me eager to know more of his story and how he was going to fit into the storyline.
The characters were all interesting and the varying personalities kept the story real and flowing.
Thank you Beauty and Lace and Pan Macmillan for the copy to read and review, once I got into it, I was eagerly turning pages wanting to know more!
I love Kristin Hannah’s books and The Nightingale would have to be my all-time favourite, so I was looking forward to reading Between Sisters. Although it isn’t a new title—it was first published in 2003—I was still excited to discover another of her earlier novels.
The story follows two sisters who grew up with a very unstable mother who cared more about herself than about her daughters. She drank too much and often left Meg to take care of her younger sister Claire, who was seven years younger. At one point their mother left them alone in a trailer when she went to an audition and didn’t return for a week. After this event Meg who was 16, discovered the whereabouts of Claire’s biological father and took Claire, then aged nine, to live with him.
Since that event, their relationship has been strained and distant. They keep in touch by phone, but their conversations are awkward and the closeness they once shared as young children has faded. As adults, their lives have taken very different paths. Meg becomes a successful divorce lawyer, while Claire remains with her father and manages a small-town resort. Despite their differences, both sisters secretly wish they were closer.
When Claire announces she is getting married, Meg arrives to help with the preparations—and quickly begins to take control.
There are a few twists and turns throughout the novel, and it is an easy read, although it doesn’t quite feel like some of Kristin Hannah’s more recent titles. I found parts of the story a little slow, but I kept reading because I liked the characters and wanted to see how their relationship would develop.
Overall, it is a story about love, hope, complicated family relationships, and new beginnings.
Once again Kristin Hannah has delivered an exceptional story that hypnotises the reader from beginning to end.
Two sisters with deep emotional baggage finally have the opportunity to reshare and reshape their previous tumultuous relationship. It takes a cancer diagnosis for the youngest sister, and the realisation of her perpetual loneliness for the older one. A travelling musician who becomes an overnight sensation and a grief stricken deregistered doctor are there as love interests for Meg and Claire. Throw in a flustered father/grandfather figure and a small daughter as well as an ego centric mother and the cast is complete. It sounds like a motley mix, but it works extremely well.
Hannah is successful in writing stories of strong, powerful women and once again she excels. A wonderful read!
This was my first time reading a Kristin Hannah book and I get why she is an award winning and bestselling author – her emotive writing is truly heartfelt and engaging.
This is actually one of her earlier books – called “Between Sisters” that was first published in 2003 and has been republished this year.
This one tells the story of two sisters Meghann and Claire – Meghann walked away from her sister when she was young to give her a better life with her biological Father. Their Mother always failed to put her children first and was never present for the girls. The sisters stay in touch occasionally but are full of past hurts and live very different lifestyles. Meghann is a hot shot divorce lawyer who does not believe in love, intimacy or marriage while Claire still shares her life with her father and her daughter at a campground they run as a family.
When Claire announces, she is getting married to a man who she only recently met, Meghann decides to visit to make sure Claire puts a prenup in place.
The pace of the book initially was slow, but it definitely built and I was invested in the sister’s storyline by the end and could not put it down. It was told from both sister’s point of view which allowed the reader to understand the past hurts and why the girls had not been in each other’s lives much. I enjoyed how they navigated this new stage of their lives and it was a beautiful read that I would recommend to others.
Thank you to Beauty and Lace and Pan Macmillan for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Thanks Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read Kristin Hannah’s Between Sisters – this is the first book by Kristin I have read and it definitely won’t be my last.
This was a lovely story of 2 sisters re-United after a troubled childhood.
Meghan the older sister who cared for her younger sister Claire while their mother Ellie was too busy pursuing an acting career to care for them properly and eventually they are forced to part ways and their lives drift apart.
Meghann and Claire’s lives are vastly different and they come together when Claire a single mother falls in love with Bobby and marries him – heart shattering news follows and they all come together again.
A great read ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Between Sisters by Kristen Hannah is an excellent, can’t put down read.
It is a story of love, heartbreak, exploring the complicated bond between sisters.
Meghann Dontess is a hot shot divorce lawyer, haunted by heartbreak. Twenty-five years ago, she was forced to make a decision that separated her from her sister, Claire.
Claire Cavenaugh has fallen in love, and her wedding day is approaching. Claire has invited her sister and her mother.
Meghann and Claire’s mother is self-absorbed and deserted them when Meghan was 16 and Claire 9. She is now a successful actress.
The wedding will be the first time they have all been together since the fateful moment 25 years ago.
The supporting characters are brilliant. The reader is taken on a journey from the present to the past, as we piece together the joys and heartbreaks the sisters have and are enduring.
It is a lovely story of love, relationships and hope. It is never too late to start again.
Thoroughly recommend this book, just a heads up…there will probably be tears.
Four and a half stars.
Thank you Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read Between Sisters by Kristin Hannah.
This was a beautifully written book!
Two sisters who get separated when they are young, end up living very different lives. And they are very different to each other.
This is a story of feelings, life’s ups and downs and decisions that affect them later on in life.
This story made me laugh and cry until I had no tears left.
This is my first Kristin Hannah novel and it won’t be my last!!
Highly recommend ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thankyou for sending me a copy of “Between Sisters” , just a note- this isnt a new Kristin Hannah release- but a republished novel from 2003, in saying that i hadnt read this one so was new to me.
Between Sisters focus’s on family dynamics, reshaping and reclaiming your life and love.
With only sporadic phone calls still linking sisters Meghann and Claire, the upcoming wedding of Claire offers the opportunity for the once close sisters to reconnect. Throughout the book, both sisters face different challenges, Meghanns make her put a spotlight on her life and happiness, while Claire has her newly found happiness shaken to the core. The main message to be was highlighting whats important in life, especially in times of crisis.
I have read alot of Kristin Hannahs more recent releases, and i will say her storytelling has obviously evolved alot since this book was written, with this really being a much lighter read in comparison to the books of hers i love- ie The Great Alone, The Women, but this was still a good character driven read.
Between Sisters written by Kristin Hannah is the story of two sisters Meghann Dontess and Claire Cavenaugh who have been separated for 25 years all because of the decision Meg had to make, one that cost her everything including the love for her sister Claire. Their mother was unstable and cared more about herself than her daughters. With the unstable life at the age of 16 Meg found out the whereabouts of Claire’s biological father and took Claire to live with him.
After Meg left Claire with her dad their relationship was never the same. They were in contact but they really were not like sisters any longer. Meg became a divorce lawyer and Claire and her dad manage a small town resort.
When Claire falls in love for the first time, Meg soon arrives to help with the wedding preparations. It doesn’t take long but Meg takes over the wedding arrangements. With the wedding fast approaching it will be the first time that both sisters and their mother have been together in more than twenty years.
Between Sisters is a story of love, joy, heartbreak, complicated relationships and new beginnings.