The Sunshine Girls
Jane Green, 2017
Penguin Publishing
384 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780399583315
Summary
A warm, wise, and wonderfully vivid novel about a mother who asks her three estranged daughters to come home to help her end her life.
Ronni Sunshine left London for Hollywood to become a beautiful, charismatic star of the silver screen. But at home, she was a narcissistic, disinterested mother who alienated her three daughters.
As soon as possible, tomboy Nell fled her mother’s overbearing presence to work on a farm and find her own way in the world as a single mother.
The target of her mother’s criticism, Meredith never felt good enough, thin enough, pretty enough. Her life took her to London—and into the arms of a man whom she may not even love.
And Lizzy, the youngest, more like Ronni than any of them, seemed to have it easy, using her drive and ambition to build a culinary career to rival her mother’s fame, while her marriage crumbled around her.
But now the Sunshine sisters are together again, called home by Ronni, who has learned that she has a serious disease and needs her daughters to fulfill her final wishes.
And though Nell, Meredith, and Lizzy have never been close, their mother’s illness draws them together to confront the old jealousies and secret fears that have threatened to tear these sisters apart. As they face the loss of their mother, they will discover if blood might be thicker than water after all. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—May 31, 1968
• Where—London, England, UK
• Education—University of Wales
• Currently—lives in Westport, Connecticut, USA
Jane Green is the pen name of Jane Green Warburg, an English author of women's novels. Together with Helen Fielding she is considered a founder of the genre known as chick lit.
Green was born in London, England. She attended the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and worked as a journalist throughout her twenties, writing women's features for the Daily Express, Daily Mail, Cosmopolitan and others. At 27 she published her first book, Straight Talking, which went straight on to the Bestseller lists, and launched her career as "the queen of chick lit".
Frequent themes in her most recent books, include cooking, class wars, children, infidelity, and female friendships. She says she does not write about her life, but is inspired by the themes of her life.
She is the author of more than 15 novels, several (The Beach House, Second Chance, and Dune Road) having been listed on the New York Times bestseller list. Her other novels Another Piece of My Heart (2012), Family Pictures (2013), and Tempting Fate (2014) received wide acclaim.
In addition to novels, she has taught at writers conferences, and writes for various publications including the Sunday Times, Parade magazine, Wowowow.com, and Huffington Post.
Green now lives in Connecticut with her second husband, Ian Warburg, six children, two dogs and three cats. Actively philanthropic, her foremost charities are The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp (Paul Newman's camp for children with life-threatening illnesses), Bethel Recovery Center, and various breast cancer charities. She is also a supporter of the Westport Public Library, and the Westport Country Playhouse. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 4/20/2014.)
Book Reviews
[A] well-realized portrait of a dysfunctional family.… Verdict: Green does a wonderful job of creating realistic and lovable (despite themselves) characters. Fans…who enjoy Elin Hilderbrand and Kristin Hannah will love this book. —Kristen Stewart, Pearland Lib., Brazoria Cty. Lib. Syst., TX
Library Journal
Green…presents readers with another warm and winning family tale.
Booklist
As Green shifts back and forth among the sisters' and Ronni's perspectives, she sifts through the emotional wreckage of women inflicting wounds on themselves and each other. She convincingly depicts a frayed family with a keen eye for the details that snap the threads of sisterhood.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. In her youth, Ronni makes choices to further her career, often at the expense of her family, but we also see moments of doubt and, later in her life, regret. Do you think her choices are entirely selfish? Do you empathize with any of her conflicts? What would you have done differently in her shoes?
2. It seems as though in her own way, Ronni has her daughters' best interests at heart, even if this sometimes hurts them. For instance, she constantly criticizes Meredith’s weight but also worries about her daughter's engagement. In what way is Ronni’s relationship with her daughters like or unlike many parent-child relationships? How do you think parents can strike a balance between communicating parental wisdom and allowing their children to make their own decisions? Does Ronni ultimately succeed in doing so?
3. Nell often remarks that Ronni is a much better grandmother than she was a mother. Why do you think this is?
4. Do you think Ronni’s last attempt to bring her daughters together makes up for her wrongdoings as a mother?
5. Do you empathize with Ronni’s wish to die on her own terms? If you were in her daughters’ place, would you comply with her wishes? Why or why not?
6. It’s often difficult to change old habits, but the Sunshine sisters discover that they must in order to truly connect as a family. Do you find that you revert back to certain habits or roles around your family members? Do you think it’s possible to change these habits and, consequently, your familial relationships?
7. Throughout the book, we see that Ronni and her daughters have difficulty opening up to one another and communicating their true feelings. Oftentimes, it leads to conflict, such as Nell and Lizzy’s argument over using the farm for the pop-up supper club, or the family’s disapproval of Meredith’s fiance. Why do you think it is so difficult for them to be truly vulnerable and open around one another? Do you find you have the same difficulties with your family members?
8. In many ways, the sisters refuse to confront their own problems but are remarkably perceptive at parsing one another’s issues and even predicting romance. Do you sometimes experience the same disparity in perception in your own life? Have you ever had a similar situation with a family member or close friend?
9. In the present day, the Sunshine sisters are not truly content with their lives and choices. Why do you think this is? Do you think it has anything to do with their familial relationships?
10. While talking about relationships with Nell, Meredith says, "There's a large part of me that thinks it's better to have stability, and kindness, and friendship. Those are the things that make a relationship last, I think. Not chemistry." Do you agree? How important were each of these factors in the sisters’ relationships? Do you think they would agree with Meredith’s statement in the end?
11. How is Greta the perfect match for Nell despite being a completely unexpected romantic partner?
12. Are you satisfied with the way things end for the Sunshine sisters?
(Questions issued by the publishers.)