An accomplished storyteller returns with her biggest, boldest, most entertaining novel yet—a hilarious, heartfelt story about books, love, sisterhood, and the surprises we discover in our DNA that combines the wit of Jonathan Tropper with the heart of Susan Wiggs.Maggie, Eliza, and Tricia Sweeney grew up as a happy threesome in the idyllic seaside town of Southport, Connecticut. But their mother’s death from cancer fifteen years ago tarnished their golden-hued memories, and the sisters drifted apart. Their one touchstone is their father, Bill Sweeney, an internationally famous literary lion and college professor universally adored by critics, publishers, and book lovers. When Bill dies unexpectedly one cool June night, his shell-shocked daughters return to their childhood home. They aren’t quite sure what the future holds without their larger-than-life father, but they do know how to throw an Irish wake to honor a man of his stature.

But as guests pay their respects and reminisce, one stranger, emboldened by whiskey, has crashed the party. It turns out that she too is a Sweeney sister.

When Washington, DC based journalist Serena Tucker had her DNA tested on a whim a few weeks earlier, she learned she had a 50% genetic match with a childhood neighbor—Maggie Sweeney of Southport, Connecticut. It seems Serena’s chilly WASP mother, Birdie, had a history with Bill Sweeney—one that has remained totally secret until now.

Once the shock wears off, questions abound. What does this mean for William’s literary legacy? Where is the unfinished memoir he’s stashed away, and what will it reveal? And how will a fourth Sweeney sister—a blond among redheads—fit into their story?

By turns revealing, insightful, and uproarious, The Sweeney Sisters is equal parts cautionary tale and celebration—a festive and heartfelt look at what truly makes a family.

12/23/2019

Dolan (Helen of Pasadena) weaves together in this breezy tale the stories of three sisters whose family is disrupted after the death of their famous father. While Liza, the oldest daughter of acclaimed author William Sweeney, meets with potential clients in her Southport, Conn., gallery, she receives word of William’s fatal heart attack after years of heavy drinking. While the middle sister, Maggie, a talented artist also living in western Connecticut, struggles with depression and making ends meet, youngest Tricia has distinguished herself with a successful law career. Brought together in Southport to hear the will, the sisters learn that William had another daughter two years before Liza, and they close ranks against their half-sister, whom they’ve long known as Serena Tucker, who was raised as an only child next door to the Sweeneys. With Serena in Southport for the wake, the sisters feel threatened by any claims or intrusions into their family. Their struggle to believe that William had another child drives them to search for a missing manuscript, which they expect would provide definitive answers to the four women’s questions about their father. While Dolan’s prose lacks verve, the juicy sibling rivalry propels the pace, and the presence of Serena helps the sisters form new bonds among themselves and with the outsider. This endearing story of sisterhood delivers on its promise. Agent: Yfat Reiss Gendell, Foundry Media. (Apr.)

Lian Dolan is a writer and broadcaster, whose name is pronounced like “Liam” but with an “n.”  She is the creator and host of “Satellite Sisters”, the award-winning and top-rated radio talk show she produces with her four real sisters: Julie, Liz, Sheila, and Monica. She also created the popular podcast about modern motherhood, “The Chaos Chronicles”, developed by Nick at Nite for TV. Lian is the author of two Los Angeles Times best-selling novels, Helen of Pasadena and Elizabeth the First Wife, and a regular columnist for Pasadena Magazine. A graduate of Pomona College in Claremont, she now lives in Pasadena, California with her husband and two sons