Jo’s Pick of the Week: The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson

Joshilyn Jackson once again delves into family dysfunction, Southern style, with her terrific new book, The Almost Sisters.

Leia Birch Briggs is a successful comic book artist who suddenly is facing a lot of family issues. At 38 and single, she learns she is pregnant after a tequila-influenced night at a comicon with a man dressed in a Batman costume. While she is happy that she is going to have a baby, she dreads telling her white family that her child will be biracial. She also is embarrassed that she does not know the father’s name.

Leia decides to put off sharing her news when other family crises emerge. She discovers that her beloved 90-year-old grandmother, Birchie, is declining from a fatal disease that causes dementia. She then learns that her perfect stepsister Rachel is dealing with a marriage that is falling apart. When Leia heads down to her grandmother’s small Alabama town to put things in order, her good intentions uncover dark family secrets that Birchie kept hidden in the dusty attic with the help of her lifelong best friend, Wattie.

Jackson’s books always have her signature humor while tackling heavy social issues. With memorable characters and a plot that keeps the reader guessing, The Almost Sisters was a fun, fast read.