Richard Yates

Even as little girls, Sarah and Emily are very different from each other. Emily looks up to her wiser and more stable older sister and is jealous of her relationship with their absent father, and later her seemingly golden marriage. The path she chooses for herself is less safe and conventional and her love affairs never really satisfy her. Although the bond between them endures, gradually the distance between the two women grows, until a tragic event throws their relationship into focus one last time.

The Easter Parade

By the author of Revolutionary Road, this is a story of two women struggling to overcome their past.

Bob Simone

Even as little girls, Sarah and Emily are very different from each other. Emily looks up to her wiser and more stable older sister and is jealous of her relationship with their absent father, and later her seemingly golden marriage. The path she chooses for herself is less safe and conventional and her love affairs never really satisfy her. Although the bond between them endures, gradually the distance between the two women grows, until a tragic event throws their relationship into focus one last time. Richard Yates's masterful novel follows the two sisters from their childhood in the 1920s through the challenges of their adult choices, and depicts the different ways they seek to escape from their tarnished family past.

Jade Flynn

A quiet tale of two sisters, who like most of us, never truly find their place in the world. It's a sorrowful, sincere and climactically poignant look at what we sometimes make of our lives. Whilst reading, I did find it hard to not compare it to Revolutionary Road, which I think is of its own calibre. To me, his characters, aren't characters at all. They're out there somewhere living their lives. I've discovered when reading Yates, he leaves me questioning my life and my own place in the world. Very much looking forward to reading a third.

Janet Doré

After loving Revolutionary Road, I decided to try another uplifting Yates book...this one about the downward spiral of two sisters from a dysfunctional divorced "family." The man has a gift for character development. Those of us who are willing to admit and own our flaws can definitely relate, might bond, and may possibly even like his very flawed characters. Clearly, if you're looking for and uplifting summer read, this is not it. If you like diving down into the muck every so often, this is a worthy excursion. Oh, but the ending...really??? Not being a spoiler, that's all I'll say other than I'm still trying to figure it out and am aching from the disappointment.

The Easter Parade

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