THE ALMOST SISTERS

A comic illustrator struggling to develop her character's origin story learns her own family's origins when she's suddenly summoned to the small Southern town of her childhood to care for her grandmother. That summary hardly does justice to this multifaceted story, rich in heart and significance and showcasing Joshilyn Jackson's double talents as author and narrator. Jackson works to full advantage her "insider knowledge" of what the author intends to convey and conceal at every stage. She makes all her characters engaging--black, white, young, old, and nerdy. What Jackson has whipped up, seemingly effortlessly, is a complex Southern layer cake, exquisite when you bite through it all at once AND when you return to nibble individual layers--as many listeners most certainly will. K.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2017]