Shred Sisters Cover
Podcast Mentions

Shred Sisters

Betsy Lerner

LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE It is said that when one person in a family is unstable, the whole family is destabilized. Meet the Shreds. Olivia is the sister in the spotlight until her stunning confidence becomes erratic and unpredictable, a hurricane leaving people wreck...

Podcasts 1
Quotes 5
Fresh Air

Podcast

Fresh Air

The novel was praised as incisive and wry, spanning the 1970s1990s and focusing on two sisters in a New Haven family dealing with mental illness. Reviewers highlighted its sharp family dynamics and emotional depth.

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Shred Sisters is indeed incisive and wry.

— Episode: Riley Keough Helps Mom Lisa Marie Presle...

Episode: Riley Keough Helps Mom Lisa Marie Presley Emerge F...

The novel was praised as incisive and wry, spanning the 1970s1990s and focusing on two sisters in a New Haven family dealing with mental illness. Reviewers highlighted its sharp family dynamics and emotional depth.

"

Shred Sisters is indeed incisive and wry.

Shred Sisters spans the 1970s through the 1990s and focuses intensely on the relationship between the two Shred Sisters who live with their parents in New Haven, Connecticut.

Because I admired Betsy Lerner's 2016 memoir, The Bridge Ladies, I thought her new debut novel, Shred Sisters, might just be the right choice.

Turns out, I landed on a good book for the wrong reasons.

Shred Sisters is indeed incisive and wry, but given its central subject, an uppermiddleclass Jewish suburban family all but capsized by the mental illness of one of its members, this novel is anything but contained and controlled.

Note: The book recommendations on this page are discovered automatically from podcast transcripts, and may be incorrect or incomplete.