A rich and rollicking debut…”—The Boston Globe
“Full of fractured relationships, deceit, love and mystery, the page turner reads like a confessional full of music that readers can almost hear.”—The Chicago Tribune
"It's rare to find characters as richly rendered, a fictional world as expertly drawn, or a story as captivating. Like the best albums, The Singer Sisters is one you'll finish and immediately want to start over from the first track." —Diana Spechler, author of Who By Fire and Skinny
"Tearing through the pages of The Singer Sisters was like flipping through a friend's magnificent record collection and wanting to borrow every last one of them. Sarah Seltzer's sweeping and tenderly crafted novel is a quilted history of American music that reminds us that the past can sing, if we're listening." —Emily Schultz, author of The Blondes and Sleeping With Friends
"I devoured Sarah Seltzer’s debut novel The Singer Sisters as it swung between the 1960s folk scene and the 1990s alt rock scene. Seltzer spins a profound web, showing the complex intergenerational push and pull between mothers, daughters, sisters. Long kept secrets are revealed through songs and albums and mysterious strangers." —Bethany Ball, author of The Pessimists
"Taking the reader from Greenwich Village folk scene of the 1960s to the casually misogynistic L.A. pop-rock world of the late 1990s and early 2000s, The Singer Sisters is a superb novel—inventive, original, and extremely intelligent. It is also fast-paced, absorbing and full of heart, with a well-drawn and appealing cast of characters whose fates the reader comes to care about deeply. I felt bereft when it was over." —Adelle Waldman, author of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.
“What a story: artists, sisters, daughters, mothers, rivals, guitars. The Singer Sisters is a totally fresh and original rock & roll saga of a family full of formidable, creative, unforgettable women. Seltzer writes about different music generations with an expert’s eye and a fan’s ear, nailing all the details of how songs become part of our lives, as the singers connect and clash over the years. She makes the whole novel flow like a brilliantly complex but heart-wrenching love song.” —Rob Sheffield, bestselling author of Love is a Mixtape and Dreaming the Beatles
"The Singer Sisters, which follows a multigenerational folk-rock family, is a breezy, compelling read with momentous questions at its core. What does it mean to be parented sufficiently—to be loved well? What is worth sacrificing for the sake of artistic ambition? Does the muse work on a timeframe, or will it wait? Ultimately, Seltzer presents an entrancing vision not of having it all at the same time, but of finding satisfaction, even triumph, anyway." —Jessica Gross, author of Hysteria
"You’ll be drawn in by the music and the free-wheeling folk scene Seltzer so deftly and convincingly creates, but what will stay with you long after the novel’s end are the main characters—Judie, Emma, Sylvia and Rose—four vibrant women bound, and sometimes tormented by, their fierce ties." —Kitty Zeldis, author of The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights
"An expertly-imagined family drama, suffused with hard truths, deep betrayal, and a most generous, surprisingly steadfast love." —Elisa Albert, author of Human Blues
"In prose as musical as its subject matter, Sarah Seltzer takes us into an unforgettable family of singer-songwriters, exploring maternal ambivalence, the call of art, and the messy, vibrant, ever-changing state of family life. I was sad to reach the final page." —Elizabeth Graver, author of Kantika
"What a pleasure to read this book! A delightful journey through the folk and rock scenes from the 60s through the early aughts, told through the kaleidoscopic voices of one family. I loved dipping down into the early folk scenes of Cambridge and New York, the feminist rock of the 90s, the pop industry of the 2000s, and seeing how a family can be torn apart, and stitched back together, via the miracle of song." —Robin MacArthur, author of Half Wild and Heart Spring Mountain
“Seltzer’s debut novel ends on a high note that will leave readers whistling.” —The Christian Science Monitor
“Though the novel is at its heart a juicy family drama, it’s also a smart and convincing look at the music industry… Unlike too many authors of music-themed novels, Seltzer can write a credible lyric, one that makes you wish the novel had a soundtrack. The lyrics she includes move the plot forward in intriguing directions and reveal the inner lives of her characters.”—The Columbus Dispatch
“A melodious debut novel …Seltzer eloquently weaves the exquisite pain of broken relationships and the yearning for finding the lost chord into a colorful narrative that reveals the ways in which music can both shield us from our shortcomings and expose our vulnerability at the same time.”—No Depression, “Best Music Books of 2024”
“Strap in for a very fun ride. Seltzer explores the music scene of two different times and asks what legacy means. The intergenerational relationships are creative and crafty while the scenes all feel alive. Reading this book was like being at a rock concert. It completely engulfed me while I read it.”–Debutiful
“The author writes confidently about the music business… And the folk rock milieu, on- and offstage, is vividly drawn…An original, sometimes stirring story that would probably make an even better movie.”—Kirkus
“Journalist and cultural critic Sarah Seltzer has written a remarkable debut novel that taps into her deep well of knowledge about feminism and rock history. .. This ingenious story weaves in fascinating subplots as it explores the conflict between being a mother and writing great songs.”-Jewish Book Council
“This is a story about the big stuff – life, death, career aspirations, sexual agency, parenting – but all are handled with a light enough touch to make this a debut to savor… Highly recommended.”-New Pages
“The world of contemporary music…presents a captivating new milieu for Jewish fiction… Seltzer, an award-winning journalist, brings her experience and distinctive feminist voice… to both the Jewish and female aspects of her debut novel.”-Hadassah Magazine
“By the end of Sarah Seltzer’s debut novel I could almost hear the music reverberating from the pages… Seltzer is adept at keeping readers hooked… a gorgeous novel that should be televised, if only for the soundtrack.”-The Jewish Chronicle
“The Singer Sisters” is fast-paced and submerges the reader into a musical family, a musical world... I also marveled at Seltzer’s ability to move me among storylines and time frames and musical eras and never lose me; I was hooked beginning to end."-The Jewish Journal
“Seltzer’s human-sized angles won me over. The two storylines form a powerful braid… I’m looking forward to what this writer does next.“-Reading Jewish Fiction
“The Singer Sisters is a fine, emotionally resonant story about the ties that bind families together and the many ways in which mothers and daughters understand (and misunderstand) each other.”-Bookreporter
“Seltzer folds a distinctly Jewish style of domestic tragicomedy into a popular music novel with a feminist lens. It should appeal as an escape for fans of either genre…”—Sydney Morning Herald
“Lots of family drama, unexpected love stories and of course, music, make this pulse with life. It’s arguably better than Daisy Jones and the Six…“—InStyle Australia
“This utterly addictive novel highlights the trials and tribulations women face in the music industry…”
—Woman’s Own
“I devoured The Singer Sisters in a day! Seltzer’s stellar writing is addictive and all-consuming and her characters felt so vividly real, I wished I could go and buy their albums afterwards. An engrossing, heartfelt story of family, secrets, and unforgettable women. I loved it.“—Catherine Walsh, author of SNOWED IN
“Immersive, atmospheric, and absorbing, with three beautifully interwoven stories, The Singer Sisters somehow left me nostalgic for a time and place I’ve never experienced outside this wonderful novel.”
–Andrea Mara, No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of No One Saw a Thing
“My favorite read of the summer . . . Women are the beating heart of this book, and it’s a magnetic story about siblings, mothers and daughters; the things about each other we fail to see; and a yearning to be seen – all with the pulse of musical creativity driving it. It was one of those books that, when I finished it, I wished I could be friends with the characters.”—Kristen Perrin, author of How to Solve Your Own Murder
“A gloriously accomplished debut novel that reads like Sarah Seltzer has been crafting stories for decades. The Singer Sisters is a nuanced family drama disguised as a rock n roll tale of fame, fortune, and what it feels like to be a person who simply must create. Compulsory summer reading.“—Laura Jane Williams, author of Our Stop and Enemies to Lovers
