The Sisters

A Novel

By: Jonas Hassen Khemiri

Narrated by: Aleksander Varadian

A New York Times Summer Book We're Looking Forward To

One of Vulture's Books We Can't Wait to Read This Summer

"One of this summer’s most buzzed-about novels."—Nilanjana Roy, Financial Times

"A classic story about sibling rivalry . . . One of the best novels I've ever read about the complexities of mixed heritage."—Fredrik Backman, The New Yorker

"[The Sisters] generates every kind of heat . . . If you welcome this novel into your mind, it will warm and transform you."—Tess Gunty, National Book Award-winning author of The Rabbit Hutch

"Astonishing . . . Every character—every sentence—is startlingly, indubitably alive.”—Katie Kitamura, author of Audition and Intimacies

An addictively entertaining family saga by a National Book Award finalist.

Meet the Mikkola sisters: Ina, Evelyn, and Anastasia. Their mother is a Tunisian carpet seller, their father a mysterious Swede who left them when they were young. Ina is tall, serious, a compulsive organizer. Evelyn is dreamy, magnetic, a smooth talker. And Anastasia is moody, chaotic, a shape-shifting presence, quick to anger.

Ina meets her future husband when she’s dragged to a New Year’s rave by her sisters, only to suffer the ultimate betrayal. Evelyn drifts through life before embarking on a wild career as an actress. And Anastasia runs off to Tunisia, where she falls in love with a woman who, years later, will transform her life.

Following the sisters from afar is Jonas, the son of a Swedish mother and a Tunisian father. Over the course of three decades, his life intersects with the sisters, from a chance encounter in Tunis to the scene of a fighter jet crash in Stockholm. When Evelyn disappears on a trip to New York, Jonas manages to track her down—and helps her to break the curse that has been looming over the Mikkolas for decades. In the process, a shocking revelation changes everything about who they think they are.

Narrated in six parts, each spanning a period ranging from a year to a day to a single minute, Jonas Hassen Khemiri's The Sisters is a big, vivid family saga of the highest order—an addictively entertaining tour de force.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Long-listed, National Book Awards, 2025

©2025 Jonas Hassen Khemiri (P)2025 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"One of this summer’s most buzzed-about novels . . . The effect is startling; you age along with the Mikkolas, feeling the decades fly by as though it were your own life, your own family memories and experiences going past."—Nilanjana Roy, Financial Times

"[A] gripping, ambitious novel of love and lineage."—Isle McElroy, Vulture

"Wondrous . . . Blending humor and pathos, Khemiri perfectly encapsulates the push and pull of living in two different and sometimes dueling cultures. It’s a staggering achievement."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Writing style

Interesting writing style. It made it difficult to get into and a strong unique book overall.

Great storyline - easy listen with super narrative. I really enjoyed it.

Really well read - the story is so easy to follow without being shallow. So much to absorb and easy to fall into the characters. Great read.

The reality of it all

Having read Everything I Don't Remember, I was a bit hesitant, even though I know that Jonas is an excellent writer. his previous novel could be confusing as Faulkner can be both beautiful and frustrating at the same time. but The Sisters was fascinating, felt honest right through and painted a picture of a Sweden that came into its own after I left for New York in 1987 and then again and permanently in 1989. it's a great modern family saga.

The intricacies of the characters

The Sisters is a sweeping family saga that spans decades and continents. I’ll admit I found the writing style a little hard to stay focused on, and the shifting timeline sometimes made it tricky to know exactly what year we were in. But what truly kept me turning the pages were the characters — Ina, Evelyn, Anastasia, and Jonas. They felt so vivid and real that I couldn’t let them go, and by the time I reached the end I was so glad I stuck with their story.