2 sisters and their mother all shaped by the way they were loved. I wanted to jump into the story and give them all hugs and smacks up side the bead which, to me, is a sign Of a well written book.

We meet Dorthy, June and Ruth. We learn Dorothy’s story which explains why Ruth and June are the way they are. - well more so Ruth then June. June’s character doesn’t jive with what my mind shapes her to be based on the words I’m reading. But I think Ruth’s character makes up for that.

As the book progresses, besides hear Dorthy’s story, we learn why the girls struggle with their relationship with each other. This book strives for the happy ending. While I don’t find it quite believable how nicely everything wraps up, it is a clean ending to the story.

I did not care for this book. It hit close to home, being a member of a 4 daughter family. The drama and turmoil was just too much for me to enjoy this story.

The Sisters of Summit Avenue by Lynn Cullen
Not a whole lot of excitement in this book but it is an interesting tale about 2 sisters and their past and Dorothy their mother and her story. I found this interesting and it did hold my attention all the way to the end. Thank you Netgalley and the Publishers for this book.

A beautiful and historical novel set in the plains during the great depression. A look into the grit of the the people of that period.

A truley amazing and heart warming read! This story of life . famile, love nad forgiveness was beautifully written! I loved the entire story from beging to end! A must read!!

June and Ruth are the daughters of Dorothy, a woman who has had a hard, often sad, life. Dorothy grew up as the daughter of servants and worked as a servant at the same place her parents worked, until something happened to that caused her to be sent away. June, when the book begins, is married to a wealthy doctor and is one of the behind-the-scenes Betty Crocker ladies, doing what the company wants so that more flour can be sold. Her younger sister Ruth, is struggling desperately to run her husband's farm, a husband who has been bedridden for eight years, due to sleeping sickness.

All three women have been caught in the trap of not being happy with the blessings they have and instead, yearning for something that they lost or that they could never have. Rather than loving her husband or even giving him a chance for her love, June is still in love with John, her former fiance, who is now Ruth's ailing husband. Ruth now feels trapped and wants something else, much more than she's ever going to get. And then there is their mother Dorothy, who still wishes for a life that was never in her grasp.

This story shows us the impact that unhappiness and the inability to express one's love to another, can have on husbands and daughters and how one's actions can be misinterpreted in destructive ways. So much goes on in this story and towards the end, things really get chaotic, but out of the chaos comes understanding and acceptance. My favorite character in the book is John, loved by two women, but shortchanged in life, by illness. It's amazing that so much was done with this character when he spent so much time barely there, because of his illness.

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

A mother with a hidden past, two daughters, one beautiful - that would be June, and the other "plain" daughter, Ruth. Ruth cannot get along with anyone and has spent her entire life squabbling with and being jealous of June. Ruth's husband, John, has "sleeping sickness" (a real disease impacting many during he 1930's), and she is working herself to death to keep the farm going. Dorothy, the mother, takes care of John and Ruth's four daughters and spends a lot of time telling John her life secrets - after all, he is sleeping and he won't know what she is telling. June is one of the Betty Crockers (women who tested recipes and homemaking skills and passed their recommendations to women through Betty Crocker pamphlets, radio shows, etc.). June does not need to work, she married a doctor and has a very lovely life, apart from wanting children and not being able to have them.

The story culminates with June and husband Richard traveling to the farm on the Indiana-Michigan border, where the sisters must face their issues and Dorothy must chase her ghosts.

The timeline was confusing, bouncing from the early 1900s up to the 1950s. Parts of the story flowed well, and other parts were very confusing. Perhaps more should have been laid out at the beginning, and then let the story flow from there.

While this wasn’t a bad storyline to me it just never really grabbed me. I really didn’t feel sympathetic for any of the characters. I actually found them all to be quite shallow. I feel the only good part about the whole story was the “theme” of it all. Loving someone else while someone else who loves you is right in front of you and has been there all this time but you were too blind to see it until the end. All the choices you made in life with that other person in mind while the one who loves you sadly stands there, knowing, but stays anyway.

"Two sisters bound together by love, duty, and pain" - from the blurb. SO MUCH PAIN. The pain was overwhelmingly palpable. Ruth and her 4 daughters barely keep the family farm running during the Depression; her husband was felled several years ago by encephalitis lethargica. Her sister June is one of the "Bettys" -- women developing recipes and answering letters to Betty Crocker. And their mother Dorothy is practically a recluse, hiding from the secrets of her past. Plenty of plot twists and infidelities, and the split-time story line can get a bit confusing. And then there's that cheap trope where one of the characters wants to write a book, and you discover that you're reading the book they're writing.

The basic premise of the story which includes sibling rivalry, lost love, family secrets, and forgiveness to name a few are not new. I had an extremely difficult time actually connecting with some of the characters. I empathized with only one character and frankly the book itself didn't hold my interest as I hoped it would. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.

On a positive note, I enjoyed learning all about the historical facts present in the book which the author did a good job of incorporating her in story. I loved learning about the history of the Betty Crocker Company and the “Bettys” and how they came up with the famous Betty Crocker recipes which was very interesting. I also found it humorous that they carried on their own correspondence with the public. I also learned about the "sleeping sickness" that had afflicted one of the characters. This apparently was a rather large mystery illness that had afflicted so many in the 1920's and 30's. The other piece of history that I learned was a book about the Psychological Care of Infant and Child which was written by a psychologist John B. Watson and released in 1928. He actually warned parents of giving children of any age too much love and affection - and the saddest thing is that people believed him and thought they were doing right by their children.

I will advise the character of the youngest sister had me so infuriated that I wanted to inflict bodily harm on her. So I will concede that the author did a great job on that point. The rest was so very choppy, there were times when things were dragged on so much it was nauseating and other parts were mentioned so quickly they deserved more explanation.

I would like to thank the publisher, the author and Net Galley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book took forever to get nowhere for me. I couldn't finish it. I enjoyed the beginning but, then it just seemed to stall.

I received an ARC edition of this book from Netgalley.

I was initially drawn to this book because it was set in the Midwest, where I spent nine years of my childhood, and also because I thought it might be fun to read about a woman who worked as a "Betty" at Betty Crocker.

The story goes back and forth between sisters Ruth and June's lives growing up and in present time of the Depression. Their mother Dorothy is rather distant although she seems to favor June and we eventually find out why. I didn't think it was ever very clear why Ruth and June's father William married Dorothy and with only a two-week courtship.

Ruth has always felt she lived in the shadow of her older, prettier sister and has always felt short-changed. When she falls in love with June's beau John and conspires to steal him away, there are consequences for all of them. In the end, Ruth still feels short-changed because John comes down with a mysterious "sleeping sickness" and Ruth is left to run the farm and raise their four children while beautiful June has married a doctor, has a glamorous job as a "Betty"...but still loves John.

I had never heard of the "sleeping disease" and thought the author could have done a better job of explaining it. All I could find on the internet was that it was an insect-borne parasitic disease.

Dorothy's story was a little odd to me or the way it was told. I thought the way her old flame came back into her life near the end of the novel was a little farfetched, especially as he arrived in the midst of a big dust storm.

All in all, though, "The Sisters of Summit Avenue" was an entertaining read and I would be interested in reading Lynn Cullen's other novels.

Thank you Netgalley for an early copy of The Sisters of Summit Avenue.

Sisters Ruth and June have always had a strained relationship; June has always given Ruth whatever she has wanted of hers and Ruth has always thought of June as the spoiled one. When Ruth steals and marries the man June loves their relationship teeters on the point of no return. Years later June has married a wealthy doctor and is working as a Betty at the legendary Betty Crocker kitchen while Ruth is managing the family farm raising her four daughters and carrying for her very ill husband. Their mother, Dorothy, calls for June to come help Ruth and try to mend the family fences.

I liked the emotional strain between the two sisters and their sordid past that led them to where they are today but for me the story was pretty flat. There is not a lot of action and neither character is all that memorable or entirely likeable. There is a subplot revolving around their Mother and her history but it didnt seem to flow well and forced its way into the novel. Its an alright read but I was hoping for more. I loved the concept of a Betty from the Betty Crocker company and the scenes surrounding the workplace.

A good book club selection. I enjoyed the different chapters on each of the sisters and Dorothy’s flashbacks. The Betty Crocker storyline was very unique and added to the story. Looking forward to more from this author.

A tangled web of love and loss. Sisters Ruth and June haven't been close in years - not since Ruth stole away June's boyfriend, John, and later married him. Although June moved on, she always had a place in her heart for John, which made it even more heart wrenching when John fell sick and into a coma. When Ruth and June's mom lures June to the farm, all three women must come to terms with each of their stories, and try to reconnect.
Thanks to Netgalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Overall it's a decent book but not a great one for me. The ending threw me, when the past comes knocking at the door, it happened too fast.

This was a difficult book for me to review. It starts slowly and, frankly, I almost stopped reading it. The characters of Ruth and June (the sisters) failed to capture my attention until well into the story. By the end however, I was intrigued and knew a great deal more about Betty Crocker.

The story of sisters Ruth & June is revealed slowly through a series of vignettes that flip back and forth in time from their childhoods to "current" time (the 1930s, then later). There are a few surprises and a great deal of information about life in the 20s, 30s, and beyond. Two of the more interesting aspects are about the outbreak of encephalitis (sleeping sickness) and the development of cultural icon Betty Crocker (June is one of the many "Bettys"). This is a sweet, touching, tender story of sisters and secrets and missed opportunities. Well worth the time, despite the slow start.

This book was just okay. Didn't really get attached to or particularly like the main characters. Wasn't the type of book you couldn't put down.

I really enjoyed this one. This is the first book by Cullen that I've read and I found the descriptions and storyline to be so great.
I just loved her development of the relationship between the sisters and even entangling the mother in it all - it was so interesting to see the generational component alongside the sibling rivalry.
Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres and I've been reading a lot of WWII books lately. It was really nice to step away from that setting and into another format of American history!
I'll definitely be looking into more of Cullen's work!

I tried with this book, but could not connect with the characters or the story line. From what we saw of the sisters and Dorothy, I found myself sympathizing with situations, but couldn't relate to them. I found myself putting the book down and not wanting to come back to it, I ultimately did not finish.