After reading a book every few days in the long stretch of March and April, I’ve slowed down in the nicer weather (but I also spent time on a terrible book I finished and didn’t even review) and then I started this 600+ page book three weeks ago. It’s good and also a commitment and would have been an easier read if I had powered through in a week, better able to keep track of characters and events. 

The sisters are the Mikkolas: Ina, Evelyn, and Anastasia, half Swedish and half Tunisian living in Sweden. When the story opens, it’s 1999 and they are 19, 22, and 24. Written in seven sections that decrease in time from one year to one minute, the last takes place in 2035. And while the story centers on them, it is intertwined with the narrator’s own story. He, Jonas Khemiri, knows the sisters, he is also Swedish and Tunisian, his dad knew their mom, and though he’s a narrator, he’s also the author. So this is like fiction meets autobiography as he makes himself a character in the novel. 

The Mikkola sisters’ mother was a carpet seller who believed her family was cursed and would lose everything they loved. Their father was a Swedish musician who died young. To “outrun” the curse, their mother constantly uprooted the girls, creating the beginnings of a chaotic life and passing down not only the curse but instability. 

So the story centers around their lives and challenges–emotional, racial, economic, and romantic. Jonas, for his part, also suffers challenges from a depressed father who struggled with Swedish culture and economic instability. As Jonas watches the Mikkola sisters over time, he celebrates their achievements and empathizes with their rivalries and challenges. 

Excellent writing and unique characters but also a bit long and overly subplotted. Around page 400, I was ready for the story to wrap up and found myself occasionally getting bored or needing a refresher on some minor characters. If I had read faster with fewer breaks, I think I might have liked it much more. After all, it was a 2025 National Book Award finalist. 4⭐️