Claire and Her Sister

When historian Patrick Muldoon stops by the small Pennsylvania town of Dunsmuir on his way to Washington, D.C., he has no idea he would be utterly smitten with a young owner of a pet store, Claire Monahan. Patrick decides to relocate to Dunsmuir, and along the way he meets Claire's older sister Sophie, a timid creature who seems to have suffered some unspecified trauma as a teenager. As Patrick further explores the bodies and psyches of Claire and her sister-as well as of their mother, Margaret-he learns of the tragedies that have marred all three lives, and he does his best to help them. This moving novel of love and intimacy shows how an unorthodox relationship between a man and three women can seem natural and inevitable-if it is founded on love, sensitivity, and respect.