I grew up in an all-girl household. Five girls in close quarters! Five girls in the bath. Five girls in matching dresses at holidays. Our identities were shaped in relation to each other. Over the years, we alternately despised each other and adored each other, we fought and reconciled, we were cruel and then compassionate. With five girls, there’s plenty of drama.

The first story I ever wrote was, not surprisingly, about rage: Two sisters have a physical altercation over a blob of mayonnaise purposefully spilled on the table. When I showed the story to my parents, they huddled in their room, mumbling as if concerned. In my story, the younger sister pins the elder to the slate floor, holding her by the hair, and bashes her head into the tile. Blood is spilled. Stitches are required. As I said: rage.

When I was ready to write Hello Wife, a novel about sisters, I realized that despite my ample personal experiences, I needed material from other sources. What is the nature of the intimate bonds between sisters? I did a deep dive into current novels that featured women and girls in various stages of development. I noticed some interesting similarities. Intimacy in fiction is often shown in distinct moments of grief, trauma, loyalty, resentment, longing, and dependency. The nature of those bonds, however, is harder to discern. How do sisters relate to one another psychologically? What is the unique dynamic that defines each sisterly bond, and how can we understand the process of creating passionate sister relationships in fiction?

Stories about sisters abound, but few capture the base, emotional nature of those relationships. The sisterly bonds in these nine novels explore the intricacies of trauma, love, conflict, and support between sisters; each story enhanced my own writing and expanded my understanding of sisterhood.

My Sister and Other Lovers by Esther Freud

This novel follows Lucy, the younger of two sisters who grows up in an unstable and often chaotic household. Both sisters carry deep emotional scars, yet their bond remains true. Lucy tries to connect with her throughout their young adult years while Bea, fiercely independent, is drawn to danger. Bea’s recklessness is in contrast to Lucy’s need for stability. The intimacy between Bea and Lucy is based on kept secrets and unspoken understanding. The nature of their bond is fractured. Their lives diverge and then reconnect repeatedly. No matter the conflict, these sisters find their way back to one another. The relationship endures.

All-Night Pharmacy by Ruth Madievsky

When her erratic sister disappears, the narrator in this story is unable to thrive on her own. She spirals into drugs, sexual experimentation, and crime. Before that event, the sisters share an adventurous and daring lifestyle, and their shared exploits create a sense of complicity between them. Debbie, the elder of the two, is especially reckless, while the younger sister, the narrator, feeds off of that magnetic energy. Like many younger sisters, she craves Debbie’s approval and attention. She admires her sister, and she also realizes that Debbie may well bring them both to disaster. The nature of their bond is toxic and magnetic and has a push-pull effect: The narrator is aware that the bond may, in fact, destroy her. And yet, she is unable to disconnect.

We Were the Universe by Kimberly King Parsons

Enduring love is the nature of this sisterly bond. When her younger sister Julie dies suddenly, Kit’s sense of reality is fractured. She turns to drugs and self-destructive behavior to dull the pain of her loss. Kit wants only to regain the closeness she once cherished. She soon finds that closeness in memory. In fact, Kit is haunted by the memory of her sister. She revisits their stories, their invented worlds, remembering their jokes and the rhythm of their voices. This is a bond unbroken by death.

All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews

Elf and Yoli are sisters who exist in the shadow of their father’s suicide. Elf is a superstar concert pianist plagued by depression—she wants desperately to die. Her younger sister, Yoli, is devoted to her sister and to the intellectual and spiritual closeness they’ve created together. She will do anything to save her sister, and she also respects Elf’s wishes. This conflict is evidence of an extraordinary love that must span the divide between sacrifice and support. The nature of this bond combines nurturing and anguish. Also, check out Miriam Toews’s new memoir, A Truce That is Not Peace, and her latest interview in EL.

The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish by Katya Apekina

After their mother attempts suicide, sisters Edie and Mae are sent to live with their estranged father. While Mae clings to their father, Edie rebels against him, and against their new life. The sisters are pulled in opposite directions for the first time in their lives. Their allegiance is repeatedly tested: to their parents and to each other. Throughout the story, Mae and Edie remain connected, tethered through trauma and despair. The nature of the bond between them is based on loyalty. It can be twisted and bent, but it never breaks.

Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi

When June is diagnosed with cancer, her younger sister Jayne must come to her aid. Theirs is not an easy relationship: it is full of long-honed rivalry, judgement, and old resentments. But illness forces them together, and they find common ground in their Korean American upbringing and experiences. Caregiving solidifies their love. The differences between them recede, and a new closeness forms—one that embraces their imperfections and celebrates a newfound intimacy. This is the story of their sisterly reconciliation.

The Turnout by Megan Abbott

This is a psychological drama of twin sisters who are so enmeshed in each other’s lives, they cannot see outside of their own microcosm. Dara and Marie share a business, a dance academy they inherited from their deceased mother. Like ballet dancers in training, their relationship is about control: control over the body, control over the business, and control over each other. The story is rife with tension and kept secrets, and shows the deep emotional conflict of women in competition. The nature of their bond is characterized by intensity and claustrophobia. 

Shred Sisters by Betsy Lerner

Amy, the narrator of this novel, lives in the shadow of her sister Ollie, whose mental health is unstable. Amy is quiet and obedient, focused on academics and navigating the crises that Ollie brings to the family. The bond between them is very strong, and exemplifies the compassion and steadfastness they have toward one another. Amy’s devotion to Ollie is fierce even though her own life is often sidelined by her sister’s erratic behaviors. Hers is a story of endurance, understanding, and extraordinary patience. The bond between these sisters orbits around hope and duty. 

The Float Test by Lynn Steger Strong

When Jude returns home after the sudden death of her mother, she is forced to grapple with long-kept family secrets and face the unnamed tension that drove her siblings apart. This family drama examines how grief has the capacity to unite and also alienate family members. Theirs is a multi-faceted bond that is complex and strained. The narrator, Jude, reveals layers of discord from within their shared memories, and identifies sources of estrangement between them. The family dynamic in The Float Test is presented as a tapestry of opposites: closeness and estrangement, success and failure, impulse and purpose, intimacy and privacy. Love and tension are woven tightly together.